The Grey and Simcoe Foresters are marking their 160th anniversary.
A flag was raised at Owen Sound City Hall Friday to mark the army reserve regiment’s milestone.
Former Grey and Simcoe Foresters Commanding Officer Lieutenant-Colonel Retired Wayne Bruce attended, and says they were initially created on September 14th, 1866 as the 31st Grey Regiment and the 35th Simcoe Foresters. They were amalgamated in 1936.
The Billy Bishop Home and Museum says in a release, “The (Grey and Simcoe Foresters) have a long association with Grey County and Owen Sound dating back to 1866. The modern-day regiment perpetuates the 31st, 147th, and 248th Battalions.”
The museum adds, “The 147th and 248th Battalions enlisted hundreds of individuals from Owen Sound and Grey County who served and sacrificed during the First World War. The Grey Regiment was amalgamated with the Simcoe Regiment in 1936, creating the Grey and Simcoe Foresters.”
They say, “Again, hundreds of local individuals enlisted with 1st Battalion, Grey and Simcoe Foresters (which became the 26th Army Tank Regiment) during the Second World War. Many more served with the Reserve Battalion. Since then, many have served with the Grey and Simcoe Foresters overseas on peacekeeping missions and most recently, in Afghanistan and Latvia.”
Lt-Col. Ret. Bruce says the Grey and Simcoe Foresters currently number about 220 with reservist soldiers from Grey, Bruce and Simcoe counties, and even up into Muskoka. They parade in Owen Sound and Barrie.
Bruce says the regiment is growing, and it currently has some soldiers deployed in Latvia on Operation Reassurance which is a NATO deterrence and defence operation in Europe. As an Arctic Response Company Group, they send soldiers to the Canadian Arctic regularly on Operation Nanook which the federal government says is “designed to exercise the defence of Canada and to secure our northern regions.”
The Grey and Simcoe Foresters are marking the occasion with a freedom of the city parade in Barrie. They held a change of command ceremony Sunday.