72nd Seaforth Highlanders of Canada - Electric Scotland

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the station with a sea of kilts and khaki seeking those
whom they had not seen for so long, and for the next hour
let us leave them.
At about noon the Battalion "fell in" on their last pa
rade. As they swung into the city itself, the packed crowd
at the station seemed to dwindle into insignificance com
pared to the numbers that lined the uptown streets. Never
for a moment had the 72nd expected such a royal welcome.
A civic holiday had been proclaimed, and Vancouver was
en fete. If the welcome of the cheering crowds needed
supplementing, this was furnished by dozens of banners
strung across the streets. It was such a welcome as could
not but deeply stir the hearts of those who were its re
cipients, as with martial tread they passed between the
crowded sidewalks to the Seaforth Overseas Club the fin
ishing point of the march.
The termination of the 72nd Canadian Infantry Bat
talion, as a Battalion, was now approaching. Opposite the
Seaforth Club the men were halted; they faced their front
and stood at ease. Fender Street was packed with people, so
that any formal ceremony was impossible. The Battalion
sloped arms. It wanted but one word to turn a battalion
of soldiers into an equal number of uniformed civilians.
For a few impressive moments the ranks stood at the
slope. The past years of comradeship which had bound
them into an indissoluble whole, flashed like a cinema film
through the minds of officers and men .... A sharp
command, and the curtain fell for the last time upon the
72nd Canadian Infantry Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders
of Canada.
THE END.
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