Toronto Scottish Regimental Association

R I P Toronto Star DAYTON JOHN OSTROSSER 1943 - 2020... photo OSTROSSER, DAYTON JOHN 1943 - 2020 It is with much sadness that we announce the unexpected passing of Dayton John Ostrosser, on March 28, 2020, at age 77. Born February 1, 1943 in Timmins, Ontario, Dayton was the son of Henry and Bernice Ostrosser. His grandparents, Dayton and Mildred Ostrosser, were pioneers in Timmins and established Ostrosser Men's Wear. Dayton attended Timmins High School and Northern College prior to graduating with a B. Comm from McMaster University, in Hamilton, ON. After completing his B. Ed at the University of Toronto, he began his lifelong teaching career in 1974 at A.Y. Jackson Secondary School in the former North York Board of Education. As a teacher, Dayton inspired his students in business and marketing studies. He introduced Co-Op Education at A.Y. Jackson to meet the hands-on learning needs of students. He encouraged the love of the outdoors, mentoring students as an extra-curricular coach of the cross-country skiing and running teams. Dayton was always interested in lifelong learning himself, branching out beyond business, completing courses in guidance and special education as a further commitment to the well-being of all students. He was highly regarded by students and colleagues, and long past his retirement in 2002, he kept in touch with many of them. Dayton devoted much time to the Canadian Reserve Forces, serving in the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry while he was at university and then as a Major in the Toronto Scottish Regiment and the 48th Highlanders of Canada. In addition to his love of cross-country skiing, Dayton was an avid golfer and curler and enjoyed long walks at the Toronto Zoo. He will be missed and always remembered by his good friends and by his family, Shilagh Ostrosser of Toronto, his sister Carolyn Ritchie of St. Catharines, his nephews Philip (Debbie) and Trevor (Christine) and his niece Cheryl, as well as his cousins in Canada and the United States. His goddaughters, Allyson Burns in Timmins and Aislinn Old in Ottawa, will also remember him with love. A celebration of Dayton's life will be arranged when circumstances permit. If you wish to make a donation in Dayton's honour, please consider the Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy https://www.wildlifeconservancy.ca/donate Published in Toronto Star on Apr. 8, 2020.

RIP Ian Starkie. Ian was a wonderful man who always had time for everyone he met. Ian will be missed by all who knew him. Our deepest Condolences to his wife & children.

THE CANADIANS HAVE ARRIVED - 80 YEARS AGO TODAY Eighty years ago today, 18 December 1939, the TSR (M.G.) arrived in Aldershot England. Major D. Grant's book CAR...RY ON (1949) picks up the story - "...the train pulled into Farnborough Station where a massed band of the 5th and 6th Gordon Highlanders welcomed them. These same sturdy fellows piped them through the cheering throngs to their first English billets, in Tourney Barracks. THE CANADIANS HAD ARRIVED, AND THE SCOTTISH HAD LED THE WAY." The regiment was also welcomed by its Allied regiment, the London Scottish. One of the hand made placards from the LSR (pictured) has survived from that first Christmas in the UK. Below the 'A' on the upper left is a faint inscription in pen - "Our best wishes from your England home" The signature looks like G. or H. Storey

Write to the Troops 2019 Thank you Everyone! Our Write to the Troops program has had an overwhelming response this year! FACT 1: Letters and packages from Cana...da are like a piece of home away from home for deployed Canadian Armed Forces members. FACT 2: It could be argued Canadians are the most generous people on earth. FACT 3: Canadians showed their appreciation and respect for their military members by sending over 400,000 letters to the approximately 2,100 Canadian military members serving overseas during the holiday season! "Letters of support and appreciation are very special to our deployed CAF members who are far away from their families and friends over the holidays. I want to thank each of you who took the time to reach out and send a letter to our troops," - LGen Mike Rouleau, Comd CJOC. #WritetotheTroops2019 #LettersFromHome

T'WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HE LIVED ALL ALONE, IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE, MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.... I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY, WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE, AND TO SEE JUST WHO, IN THIS HOME, DID LIVE. I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE, NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE. NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND, ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES, OF FAR DISTANT LANDS. WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS, A SOBER THOUGHT, CAME THROUGH MY MIND. FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK AND DREARY, I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY. THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE, CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR, IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME. THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE, THE ROOM IN DISORDER, NOT HOW I PICTURED, A TRUE MODERN SOLDIER. WAS THIS THE HERO, OF WHOM I'D JUST READ? CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED? I REALISED THE FAMILIES, THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT, OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS, WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT. SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY, AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE, A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY. THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM, EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR, BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE. I COULDN'T HELP WONDER, HOW MANY LAY ALONE, ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE, IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME. THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT, A TEAR TO MY EYE, I DROPPED TO MY KNEES, AND STARTED TO CRY. THE SOLDIER AWAKENED, AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE, "SANTA DON'T CRY, THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE; I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, I DON'T ASK FOR MORE, MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS.." THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP, I COULDN'T CONTROL IT, I CONTINUED TO WEEP. I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL, AND WE BOTH SHIVERED, FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL. I DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE, ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT, THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR, SO WILLING TO FIGHT. THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE, WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA, IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE." ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT. "MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT." This poem was written by a Peacekeeping soldier stationed overseas. The following is his request. I think it is reasonable PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favour of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to all of the service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us. Please, do your small part to plant this small seed.

Carry On - The Story Behind the Regimental Motto With one of the most colloquial mottos in the Canadian Army, it would be easy to assume that The Toronto Scot...tish Regiment’s founders chose Carry On simply for its immediate and ordinary military meaning. Indeed Canadian soldiers are expected to persevere in the face of adversity and few phrases capture this better than carry on. However, the simplicity of our Regimental motto belies its true origin on the battlefield at Vimy Ridge and the fateful trench raid launched by the 75th (Mississauga) Battalion, our predecessors, on March 1st, 1917. The intent was to conduct a raid on the German trenches to capture prisoners and gain intelligence in advance of the main battle that followed a month later. Maj James Langstaff led ‘A’ Company on the raid which became bogged down under heavy German fire. After Langstaff was killed, confusion set in and ‘A’ Company became trapped in ‘no man’s land’. From the forward trench, the CO and founder of the 75th Battalion, LCol Samuel G. Beckett, assessed the situation and then made the fateful decision to move forward and take command of the raid directly so as to rally ‘A’ Company back to Canadian lines. Foreshadowing his own death shortly thereafter, LCol Beckett’s last orders to his command staff before leaving the forward trench were fittingly Carry On. And though Beckett’s immediate intent clearly was to ensure that his orders were carried out should he be killed or captured, his words have much greater meaning given Beckett’s significance to the 75th and the Toronto Scottish. As a seasoned cavalry officer with the 9th Mississauga Horse before the Great War, Beckett was called upon in 1915 to raise an infantry battalion for overseas service and a year later at 47 years of age he led the 75th onto the Somme battlefield. He was the driving force behind the 75th and his personal skill and character shaped the Regiment during those early formative years. Beckett’s death was a traumatic blow to the 75th which had taken such a beating on March 1st as to be unable to participate in the main Vimy battle. Indeed it was only with the arrival some weeks later of LCol Colin Harbottle (the patriarch of the Toronto Scottish) that the 75th began to recover from Beckett’s death. Harbottle would lead the 75th for the remainder of the war whilst doing his best to carry Beckett’s vision forward. After the war, when Harbottle led the veterans of the 75th in the creation of the Toronto Scottish Regiment, it was Beckett’s last known orders that were chosen for the Regimental motto. More recently the Mississauga Armoury was also named in Beckett’s honour. Thus, for Tor Scots, Carry On is much more than a simple expression or throwaway phrase. It is a verbal ideogram representing a Regiment that has for more than a century followed the example set for us by Samuel Beckett of leading from the front and facing adversity and death with extreme courage. As the serving members continue to chart a path forward for the Toronto Scottish in the perilous 21st Century, Beckett’s words are just as meaningful today as they were at Vimy. Carry On! https://matthewkbarrett.com/2014/07/02/the-cavalryman/