More info HERE.

Come back to the Legion and support our Veterans!

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Thursday Karaoke Dinners are CANCELLED until further notice.

Come and enjoy fresh cooked meals from Barry the caterer and the Ladies Auxiliary.

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IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

 Our Monday Meetings are suspended for a period

of time, due to a Maintenance Project

in the Boardroom. Membership dues can still

be paid online, at the bar (Wednesdays to Saturdays)

or by a mailed-in cheque. We thank you.

Watch this website for restart date. More membership info HERE.

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Please note Branch 60 has made considerable improvements in order to be COVID-safe and friendly thanks in great part to the government grants awarded to us. This poster is on display in the Branch for all to see as they enter. Help us fill the Legion again!

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Branch 60 Veteran Celebrates 103rd Birthday and MORE!

 Branch 60 member Douglas Ross Rickard was born in Toronto on June 25, 1918 just before the last German offensive at the battle of Amiens in the First World War. The deadly Spanish flu that killed 55,000 Canadians was still raging.

On Friday, June 25th he was joined by a handful of people outdoors, including Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and fellow veteran Gordon Schottlander, at Branch 60 to celebrate his 103rd birthday. He has experienced a lot of what life has to offer. Things most of us read about in the history of Canada in the past century, Doug has lived through.

Recently, in a small ceremony at Branch 60, Doug was presented with the French Legion of Honour medal, Chevalier or Knight degree. The award was presented by Col. Roger Vandomme, Deputy Defence Attache with the French Embassy in Canada. In Col. Vandomme's words, “ Mr. Douglas Rickard, on those dark days of 1942 many young Canadians crossed the Atlantic and landed in France to defend our common values in a sacrifice mission whose invaluable lessons contributed to shape future Victory. For what you did and the sacrifices you made, the people of France will be forever grateful.”

As witnessed at the ceremony, Doug was quite happy and when asked for a comment he thanked Col. Vandomme in English and French and said he was sorry the men he served with could not be with him to share in the honour.

What did Mr. Rickard do to deserve such an award? Like many Canadians, Doug enlisted in 1939 and as his father before him, joined The Royal Canadian Corps of Signals. He drilled and trained with a commando unit in Scotland for an important mission. Just before first light on August 19 th , 1942 Doug arrived at the coastal town of Dieppe in France. He and other members of his unit were aboard a tank landing craft (TLC) containing three tanks. His station was in the stern of the TLC with an officer in an armoured cabin. Doug's job was to act as a signaler relaying messages from three other signalers that landed with the South Saskatchewan Regiment, the Essex Scottish and the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry.

After some hours of battle, he was knocked unconscious by a shell blast but was revived by an officer. Refusing to leave his post under fire, he continued to receive and transmit messages until further damage to the vessel knocked out an engine and forced them to leave. With only one propeller working, they slowly tried to return to Britain. They were set upon by enemy fighters off the coast of England and to avoid injury Corporal Rickard was forced overboard. He was able to remove his heavy boots and swim over a kilometer back to an English beach and safety.

At this Royal Canadian Legion event, Don Cranston, Honourary Colonel for the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry Wentworth Regiment, presented information on the Dieppe Raid that highlighted the logistics, cost in lives and the lessons learned to help us prepare for D-Day. Branch 60 member Bob Ankrett presented information on the importance of the success of D-Day to the free world and background material previously mentioned about Doug in this article.

Doug Rickard returned to Canada with his wife Jean after the war and went on to be a very accomplished artist, inventor, businessman and father of two girls. Men like Doug not only fought for our freedom but did something more. They came home to that freedom and built a country that we enjoy today.

See the story that CHCH-TV did here: https://youtu.be/G4uCJ96pOFc

A YouTube link to the Legion of Honour ceremony is available at: https://youtu.be/Vl77BKRSDso

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