Montreal's Black Watch celebrates its 150th anniversary

By P.A. Sévigny , October 3rd, 2012

It's always a good day when a Canadian regiment can call upon three generations of its own to come celebrate its 150th anniversary in the company of no less than the nation's Governor-General.           
Following last Saturday's parade on Fletcher's Field in front of the Royal Canadian Grenadier Guards armory on Esplanade Street, three generations of soldiers marched in front of Canada's Governor General in much the same way as they did on the same field 100 years ago when the Duke of Connaught took the regiment's salute.
“We have our cadets on parade, we have our veterans on parade and we have of course our current soldiers,” said Daniel O'Connor who is the regiment's honorary colonel.
While there's much about Canada's military which has changed since the regiment first formed its ranks in 1862, a lot has remained the same as the regiment took the time to remember all of its officers and men who fought (and sometimes died) in Canada's battles up to and including the nation's recent hot and bloody decade in Afghanistan. Following Saturday's parade in which the regiment 'trooped' its colors which are covered with battle honors stretching all the way back to the part Canada played in the British Empire's South African wars, His Excellency David Johnson received the regiment's salute after which the soldiers carried out a 'feu de joie' which is a military custom in which all of the soldiers fire their weapons to celebrate the event. While parade organizers made a big effort to assure the audience that the soldier's automatic rifles were loaded with blanks, the assembled weapons made an ominous CRACK which could be heard throughout the Mile End district.
Once the parade was over, the regiment's famous Pipe and Drum Corps led the parade down the street back to its Bleury Street Armory where the Governor-General proceeded to declare the building to be a national historic site. Built in 1905, the armory is meant to resemble a Scottish baronial castle with its massive doors, its twin turrets and its massive chains. Designed by architects Samuel Findley and David Jerome Spence, it should be noted that most of the money required to build the armory was raised by several of the city's wealthier families who used to dominate most of the nation's commercial and economic affairs during a time when Montreal defined the nation's economy and commercial life.n