The 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles - ElectricCanadian.com

ARMISTICE TO DEMOBILIZATION 155Captain R. G. Layton, D.C.M., Captain N. V. Waddell,M.C. and Lieutenant F. B. Fairbrother) who came backwith the unit, went over in the ranks.Mar.Receiving the Colour was the last event in the Battalionannals overseas. The following day they entrained atLiphook for Liverpool, were addressed by the LordMayor of Liverpool, who spoke of the new bond betweenthe Mother country and the Dominions and wished thetroops bon voyage. Together with other units of theThird Division, they went aboard the S. S. Carmania,which weighed anchor in the darkness of the 9th and inthe early morning was leaving behind the emerald fieldsof Cork and Kerry on its way to Halifax.The men began to crowd the decks with the breakingof dawn on March 17th to catch the first glimpse of Mar 17Canada. At 8.30 a.m. the massed bands of the 8thBrigade were playing as the Carmania warped into thedock. Officials, newspaper reporters and telegraph representatives came on board and it was not until afternoonthat the Battalion was despatched on two trains whichdivided at Moncton, the first going by the southern andthe second by the northern route to Montreal, wherethey rejoined and proceeded to the North Torontostation, arriving at 8.00 p.m. on March 20th, the second Mar -20.train pulling in fifteen minutes behind the first.Toronto was the home of the Battalion and the cityhad prepared to welcome back its own. Thousands ofrelatives crowded the station, throngs lined the streetsand swelled the Armouries, making one of the greatestovations which the city ever witnessed. The Battalionwith difficulty formed up on Yonge Street, wearing theirsteel helmets and war regalia and marched in column-ofrouteto Bloor Street, through Queen s Park to theArmouries. In front of the Parliament Buildings, Brigadier-General J. Gunn, Commanding Military DistrictNo. 2, was waiting with his staff and other officials on asaluting base and for the last time the Battalion gave"eyes left. At :the Armouries families and friendsswarmed in, surrounded the Battalion and capturedit with a last outburst of welcome. Lieut. -Colonel