flag - American flag presented to 43rd Battalion in 1898

photograph - American flag presented to 43rd Battalion in 1898
Originally uploaded by Camerons Museum.

This American flag was presented to the 43rd Battalion, Ottawa and Carleton Rifles, by representatives of the state of Vermont (including the Vermont National Guard) in November 1898 to commemorate the 43rd's visit to that state in July 1898. The flag was originally hung from a silver-headed staff.

photograph - Lieutenant-Colonel Cameron MacPherson Edwards

photo - Lieutenant-Colonel Cameron MacPherson Edwards
Originally uploaded by Camerons Museum.

Lieutenant-Colonel Cameron MacPherson Edwards, DSO, VD, CD, commanding officer of The Ottawa Regiment from 1920 to 1922. When Lieutenant-Colonel Edwards died in 1959 he had fifty-five years of service with the regiment as a junior and senior officer, commanding officer of the 38th Battalion, CEF (1915 to 1918), and The Ottawa Regiment, and as regimental Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel (1930 to 1940) and Honorary Colonel (1940 to 1959).

map - Battalion defensive positions in Iceland, 1940-41

map - Battalion defensive positions in Iceland, 1940-41
Originally uploaded by Camerons Museum.

A sketch map of the medium and light machine gun defensive positions of the 1st Battalion, The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (M.G.), C.A.S.F., at the Kaldadarnes airfield near Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1940 and 1941 (museum holds a scanned image of the original map which is held by Mr. Stephen Walsh, a resident of Ireland).

photograph - Presentation of Colours on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, 5 July 1967

photo - Presentation of Colours on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, 5 July 1967
Originally uploaded by Camerons Museum.

On 5 July 1967 the Camerons and four other battalions gathered on Parliament Hill in order, in the case of the Camerons, to be presented with new Queen's and Regimental Colours. The Colours were duly consecrated and presented by Queen Elizabeth II during the ceremony, replacing the Colours presented to the regiment in 1936. The 1967 Colours are still in use by the regiment.

medals - Lieutenant Frederick Howard Wood, 43rd Regiment

Medals of Lieutenant Frederick Howard Wood, 43rd Regiment
Originally uploaded by Camerons Museum.

Frederick Howard Wood joined the 43rd Regiment, Duke of Cornwall's Own Rifles (an earlier name of the Camerons) some time in the years before the South African War. He served with the 2nd (Special Service) Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, during the South African War and was awarded the Queen's South Africa Medal with bars for the battles or campaigns at Johannesburg, Driefontein, Paardeberg and Cape Colony). After his service in South Africa expired Wood returned to Canada and the 43rd Regiment. In 1902-03 he was a member of "The Silver Seven", the original Ottawa Senators, when the team won its first Stanley Cup for ice hockey. He was named an official representative of Canada for the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902 and was awarded the coronation medal for that honour. Wood was later commissioned as an officer and rose to the rank of lieutenant with the 43rd. In 1906, Wood returned to Africa, serving with the Natal Rangers of the British forces, and was later awarded the Natal medal with the bar for 1906.

photograph - Members of the Carleton Blazers, circa 1870

photograph - Members of the Carleton Blazers, circa 1870
Originally uploaded by Camerons Museum.

One of the local, Ottawa area units with a historical connection to the Camerons was the 43rd Battalion of Infantry (1866 to 1875), nicknamed the "Carleton Blazers". This photograph shows several members of the battalion circa 1870: (back row, left to right) Hugh Falls, Adam Abbott, John Nesbitt, James Corbett, Robert Shore, Harry Harmer, John Sparks, F.C. Clemon, Alex Mowatt, Ambrose Bishop; (front row, left to right) Lieutenant-Colonel William Powell and Major William Corbett.

Welcome

Like the text at the top says, this blog is intended to provide me with an opportunity to showcase or highlight some of the material held in the collection of the regimental museum of The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa. I'm the volunteer curator of the museum and have been thinking about undertaking this project for some time now. The regimental museum is only open typically one night a week, when the regiment itself parades. And, although the museum is open to the public, it's often difficult to get people to enter a military facility to visit the museum. An electronic "exhibition" like what I'm proposing here might help to get the word out on some of the museum's treasures (as defined by me). What I expect in terms of format is the following: each post will highlight an artefact from the museum's collection, providing some context and provenance of the item. There will be a small image of the artefact in the post (otherwise, what's the point of this venture), with a link in the text to a much larger version of the image in my Flickr account.