{"id":1706,"date":"2013-04-30T14:50:08","date_gmt":"2013-04-30T18:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=1706"},"modified":"2013-05-07T14:46:01","modified_gmt":"2013-05-07T18:46:01","slug":"rangers-mark-200th-anniversary-of-battle-of-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/rangers-mark-200th-anniversary-of-battle-of-york\/","title":{"rendered":"Rangers mark 200th anniversary of Battle of York"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aurora\u2019s Queen\u2019s York Rangers marched in the 200 year old footsteps of their predecessors Saturday in Toronto, in what is estimated to be the largest military parade in Toronto\u2019s history since the end of the Second World War.<\/p>\n

The 200th anniversary of the Battle of York was commemorated in full military spectacle over the weekend in the presence of the Duke of Edinburgh, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, and a host of other dignitaries, including Mayor Geoffrey Dawe representing the Town.
\n

\"Major<\/a>

Major Adam Parkin lead the Queen’s York Rangers down University Avenue in the historic parade
(Auroran photos by Brock Weir)<\/p><\/div>
\nFollowing a display of military manoeuvers overseen by the 91-year-old Prince Philip, several regiments, including the Queen\u2019s York Rangers, marched south on University Avenue bound for Fort York, their Toronto base, for extensive ceremonies and re-enactments of the War of 1812. <\/p>\n

Ahead of the ceremony, Lieutenant Chris Wattie, who has served for over seven years with the Aurora battalion of the QYR, spoke of the excitement shared by his fellow Rangers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are going to be over 1,000 soldiers marching down University Avenue and the only thing I can think of that would be comparable in size would have been the 60th anniversary of D-Day,\u201d Lt. Wattie recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a big deal for us. It is a big deal for soldiers, especially to have a representative of our Commander in Chief, the Queen, there. It is a huge honour and to be involved in a parade that big is such a huge deal. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy soldiers, corporals, and troopers are really pumped. Being there for the 200th anniversary of a battle we fought in is really something else. To be on the ground where it was actually fought will be spectacular and I am really looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

While proud, of course, of the efforts the precursors of the Queen\u2019s York Rangers and other regiments put in, it was not a resounding success for the British side. After the battle broke out on April 27, 1812 following an invasion by the Americans the previous day, it was deemed a \u201ctraumatic\u201d day in Toronto history. <\/p>\n

With the city occupied and hundreds killed or wounded, the fledgling town was sacked, and the Legislative Buildings, a symbol of what was to become Upper Canada and, later, Ontario\u2019s democracy, were torched.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe story of the Canadians who fought desperately to defend York (Toronto) in 1813 lives on through today\u2019s part of the Canadian Army\u2019s heritage,\u201d said the Department of National Defence. \u201cThe Queen\u2019s York Rangers (1st American Regiment) (Royal Canadian Armoured Corps) perpetuate the Battalion of the Incorporated Militia as well as both the 1st Regiment of the York Militia (1812-15), and the 3rd Regiment of the York Militia (1812-15). Both regiments of the York Militia played supporting roles at the Battle of York.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Royal Newfoundland Regiment of Fencible Infantry fought gallantly at the Battle of York, with 15 members in the height of fighting. The unit\u2019s traditions are proudly carried on by today\u2019s Royal Newfoundland Regiment. Likewise, a contingent of the Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles and the 1st Batallion Dundas Militia, today commemorated by the Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry Highlanders from Cornwal, ON were present at the battle.\u201d <\/p>\n

For more on commemorations taking place across the country to mark the Bicentennial of the War of 1812, visit www.1812.gc.ca.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir Aurora\u2019s Queen\u2019s York Rangers marched in the 200 year old footsteps of their predecessors Saturday in Toronto, in what is estimated to be the largest military parade in Toronto\u2019s history since the end of the Second World War. The 200th anniversary of the Battle of York was commemorated in full military spectacle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/2013-04-30-04.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-rw","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-12 11:33:33","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}