THE POWDER HORN

Quarterly Newsletter
January 2022

Commanding Officer's Update

During the first week of December, paratroopers from The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada successfully conducted two parachute descents during Exercise Quick Rig in CFB Trenton.  A few days later we held our Annual Holiday Dinner.  During the dinner we were able to take a Regimental Photo, something we were unable to do last year.  We also made several promotions and recognized members with commendations and awards.

This year we recognized the following Riflemen:

Cpl Divito
British Airborne Forces Association / RSM Harry Fox Award for the Most Promising Rifleman

MCpl Rowell
Outstanding Airborne Rifleman of the Year Award

MCpl Tang
Reg Walker 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion Award for Top Junior NCO

WO Winnicki
CSM Charlie Martin Leadership Award for Top Senior NCO

Promoted to Corporal

Cpl Bakshi
Cpl Boone
Cpl Clark
Cpl Davidson
Cpl Demkiw
Cpl Gondos
Cpl Goodier
Cpl Gurney
Cpl High
Cpl Kang
Cpl Kaplun
Cpl Kennedy
Cpl Kurish
Cpl Lepan
Cpl Linardatos
Cpl Lynch
Cpl Mahoney 

Promoted to Master Corporal

MCpl Baxter
MCpl Divito
MCpl Lee
MCpl Low

Promoted to Sergeant

Sgt Baruwa
Sgt Doria
Sgt Patoine
Sgt Strack
Sgt Stethem
Sgt Thiers-Gomez 

Promoted to Warrant Officer

WO Humphrey
WO Thomas

Promoted to Lieutenant

Lt Goldman

Commanding Officer's Commendation

Cpl Conquer
Cpl Do
Cpl Kalogerakis
Cpl Karapostolakis
Cpl Savage
Cpl Tsui
MCpl Mao
MCpl Tanaka
Sgt Fabry
Sgt Hernandez
Sgt Strack
WO Humphrey
OCdt Ye
Lt Leung

On December 11th the QOR of C Officers’ Mess held our annual luncheon at RCMI.  This event was open to members of the 1860 Club and was well attended.  As we were unable to hold the Annual Children’s Christmas Party, Gift Cards were delivered to families with children to thank them for their support.  We thank the Regimental Trust for their support with these gifts.

A well-deserved leave period started for most of members in mid-December, with stand-to set for January 5th, 2022. 

The Colonel P. F. Hughes, CD and Mrs. Bev Hughes Award for Excellence

The QOR of C Association had awarded The Colonel P. F. Hughes, CD and Mrs. Bev Hughes Award for Excellence in 2021 to former Honorary Colonel MGen (Ret’d) Walter Holmes, MStJ, MSM, CD, MBE in recognition of his 56 years of service and his dedication to Canada, as well as his outstanding work as Honorary Colonel of the Regiment.  He has left the Regiment and Association immeasurably stronger, as his tenure came to a conclusion last year.

Book Recommendation

A special mention to one of our former members Andrew Kirsch, who is releasing a book in March:

“I Was Never Here: My True Canadian Spy Story of Coffees, Code Names and Covert Operations in the Age of Terrorism”

Available at https://www.amazon.ca/Was-Never-Here-Operations-Terrorism/dp/1774581337

The QOR AssociatioN

On behalf of The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada Association (Toronto Branch) Executive, I would like to wish all members of the Regimental family and their families all the best for a festive season and a prosperous Happy New Year.

It was outstanding to attend the QOR Soldier’s Holiday Dinner at MPA on December 8th, where three members from the Association were honoured at the Head Table; Jerry Senetchko, former RSM Mark Shannon and myself.  It was a great evening; Congratulations to those that were presented with various awards and to those that received promotions!

QORA Rifleman of The Year

I'm very pleased to announce that this year's (2021) Rifleman of the Year is former RSM Shaun Kelly.

Shaun has been very involved with the Association; as deputy curator of the QOR Museum, he has shared a great wealth of knowledge.  His service in Latvia this year for 7 months has been a credit to Canada and the QOR of C.  He stayed connected with the QORA group by sharing pictures and updates, and also by keeping track of all the emails that have been shared with the Keep Connected Group since we started.  Congratulations Shaun, and well deserved!

Also, for Association members: I encourage you to join the 1860 Club. It’s free, and comes with access to the monthly newsletter and more.

Health & Welfare Report—QORA (Toronto Branch)

Members at Sunnybrook Health & Sciences Centre
Major (Ret'd) David Vine - "L" Wing 2nd Floor - Room L2 - 40 LSSE
Sergeant (Ret'd) Andy MacNaughton - "L" Wing - 3rd Floor LTSE L341 

In Hospital
WWII D-Day Veteran - Alex Adair (98 years old) — Cobourg, Ontario 

In Veteran’s Wing at Parkwood — London, Ontario
WWII Veteran - George Beardshaw (98 years old) — London, Ontario

In Pace Paratus

Rifleman Strong!

Brian Budden
President
Health & Welfare Chairman
QORA (Toronto Branch)

QOR of C Kit Shop 

If you are interested in purchasing QOR of C merchandise, you may do so via our online Kit Shop. We now have the ability to accept payment online. This month, we are pleased to offer a custom-made wall plaque featuring our cap badge.

Please visit the QOR Kit Shop here.

Our volunteers have continued to work from home in supporting the Regimental Museum and Archives. Please visit our website at qormuseum.org for more information, as well as our Instagram page and YouTube channel!

If you have potential items for our Museum and Archive collection, please read this page and complete the online form, or contact us at museum@qormuseum.org.

Trust Fund and Fundraising Update 

Regimental Trust Update (December 2021)

The past year presented many difficulties and opportunities to the Regimental Trust.  Covid-19 forced extensive use of Zoom and MS Teams for meetings and the slow pace of activities due to Covid restrictions allowed the Trust to focus on areas that normally would not have had much attention.  During the year the Trustees met twice, the Executive Committee met six times and the Investment Committee met three times.

The final meeting of the Regimental Trust was held on December 11th at the Royal Canadian Military Institute with some Trustees attending in person and some participating by teleconference.  The President opened the meeting, and the Secretary confirmed that a quorum of members was present and asked for a minute of silence in memory of fallen comrades.

The President then provided an update on the activities of the Trust in 2021 with a focus on the 1860 Club.  The 1860 Club came into being through the work of an ad hoc Fundraising committee composed of Hon Col MGen Walter Holmes, CO LCol Scott Moody, Trust President Maj Tony Schultz, Trust Fund Trustees WO Phil ten Kortenaar and Mr Chris Donald, Regimental Senate Member Ms. Michele McCarthy, Regimental Museum Representative Ms. Jenna Zuschlag Misener, and National Association President Mr. Ron Craig.  The concept of the 1860 Club was provided to the Committee by LCol Rob Zeidler and the implementation of the 1860 Club was strongly supported by the serving Battalion through the work of OCdt Steven Ye, 2Lt Martin Bunch, and WO Adam Winnicki.

The 1860 Club was created to improve communications within the Regimental family and to provide a fundraising platform for the Regimental Trust.  The Club has been a great success, with 300 registered members and over 100 donors, with over 60 “Founders” who donated an amount of $1,860 or more in the first year of the Club’s existence.  In addition to the amounts received through the 1860 Club, the Regimental Trust continued to receive donations through Canada Helps and by mail.

As the next order of business, the Trustees approved the appointment of two new Trustees for three-year terms: MGen (Ret’d) Walter Holmes and Lt (Ret’d) Marco Petta.  MGen Holmes brings a wealth of experience to the Trust, as does Mr Petta with a very strong financial background.  The Regimental Trust Meeting continued with the tabling of budget asks of the serving Battalion, the Regimental Museum and Archives, the Monuments and Memorials Committee, the Regimental Headquarters, and the Trust.  After review and discussion, the budgets were approved with some minor adjustments and caveats.  The total of the approved budget will require a continued focus on fundraising to meet the needs of all the stakeholders in the Regimental Family. At this time it is uncertain what the impacts of Covid-19 will be in on the plans and activities budgeted for 2022.

As the year comes to an end, the Trustees would like to thank all 1860 Club members and others in the Regimental Family who supported the Regimental Trust in 2021. We wish them a Happy New Year!

Since the launch of the 1860 Club, our members have donated over $100,000 to support The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada Trust Fund.  We would like to express our sincere gratitude for your generosity, and recognize the following members:

Normandy 1944 Donors
Over $186,000 in lifetime contributions 

HLCol Lionel Goffart, OStJ, CD 
Col Paul F Hughes, CD (Ret’d)

Vimy 1917 Donors
Over $18,600 in lifetime contributions

Capt (Ret’d) Bernie Aaron
HLCol (Ret'd) Brendan Caldwell
Lt J. Chris Donald
Mr. Bryan Gransden
Capt (Ret'd) Adam Hermant, OStJ, CD
Hermant Family Foundation
HCol Larry Stevenson, CD
LCol (Ret’d) John Strathy, CD
WO (Ret’d) Philip ten Kortenaar, CD
True Patriot Love Foundation

1860 Club Founders 

Col (Ret’d) William Ball—US Army
LCol (Ret’d) William Barnard, CD
LCol Sandi Banerjee, CD
Mr. Hans G. Bathija
Bruce Beauchamp Memorial Fund and Mr. Terry Beauchamp 
Hon Col Bryan Brulotte, KJ, CD 
Cpl Brian Buchan 
2Lt Martin Bunch
LCol (Ret’d) Greg Burton, CD
HLCol (Ret'd) Brendan Caldwell
Maj (Ret’d) Allan Champion, CD
Capt (Ret’d) Robert Chan, CD and Ms. Annie Li
Mr. Michael Chisholm
Lt Ricardo Chiu, CD
Ms. Linda Di Felice 
Lt J. Chris Donald
WO (Ret’d) Bob Dunk, CD
Lt Brandon Filatow
LCol (Ret’d) John Fotheringham, CD
2Lt Juron Grant-Kinnear
MCpl Robert Grieve
Cpl Lee Harrison, CD
Capt (Ret'd) Adam Hermant, OStJ, CD
Hermant Family Foundation
WO David Hodgson, CD 
MGen (Ret’d) Walter Holmes, MStJ, MSM, CD, MBE
Ms. Lana Holmes
Col (Ret’d) Paul F Hughes CD
Jackman Foundation
CWO Jeff Johnson, CD
CWO (Ret’d) Shaun Kelly, CD
2Lt Matthew Kocal
LCol Frank Lamie, CD 
MWO Darnel Leader, CD
Maj Samuel Leibel, CD 
Capt Ben-Jaemin Lee, CD 
Capt Roland Llewellyn-Thomas, CD
Mr. James Lutz
Capt (Ret'd) Brian MacDonald 
Maj Henry McCabe, MMM, CD (Ret’d)
Ms. Michele McCarthy
Ms. Jenna Zuschlag Misener
Lt David Merrithew
Mr. Nick Migliore
LCol Scott Moody, CD 
CWO (Ret’d )John O’Connor, CD
Mr. Carmine Nigro
Mr. Jansen Ng
Capt David Pampe, CD
2Lt Weng Pan
Dr. Dylan Pannell, CD
Lt Marco Petta
Cpl Sharl Robinson
Maj (Ret’d) Adam Saunders, CD
Maj (Ret’d) Anthony Schultz, CD
CWO Mark Shannon, MMM, CD 
MGen (Ret’d) John Sharpe, CMM, CD
Capt Kevin Sheedy, CD
LCol Peter St. Denis, MSC, CD
Maj (Ret’d) John Stephens, CD 
Mr. Tristan Strathy 
WO (Ret’d) Philip ten Kortenaar, CD
Dr. Lynn Tomkins 
Capt (Ret'd) Usman (Uzi) Valiante
Mr. Jeffrey Wallace
LCol (Ret'd) Tony Welsh, CD
LCol (Ret'd) Rob Zeidler, MStJ, CD

Please click here to find out how to become a Founder. For more information on supporting the Trust Fund, please click here.

For any additional questions, please contact us.

Online Links

The QOR of C Regimental Association 
More information about The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada Association Branches can be found at:

Toronto Branch
https://www.facebook.com/qortorontoassociation 
East Coast Branch
https://www.qor-east.com
Calgary Branch
https://www.qorcalgary.com 
Vancouver Island Branch
https://www.qorvi.com

The Rifleman Magazine (Annual Journal of the QOR of C)
https://fliphtml5.com/insrc/jjni
The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada Regimental Museum
https://qormuseum.org/
The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada Website
https://www.queensownrifles.com/

Kit Shop
https://sites.google.com/view/qorkitshop/

Submissions

To submit comments or content to the Rifles Report or The Powder Horn, please contact Martin Bunch, 1860 Club Communications Director at editor@1860club.ca