The Royal Military College Memorial Arch: Truth, Duty, Valour

This past September, as I was nearing the end of my first major rowing tour in two years, I came across a monument that reminded me of Paris’ Triumphant Arc de Triomphe. You see, I was touring Ontario’s stunning Bay of Quinte and Thousand Islands. On this particular day, we had departed Kingston, Canada’s first capital, entered the mouth of the mighty St. Lawrence river, and rowed past the historic Royal Military College and Fort Henry. The sun was shining, the wind calm and the scenery breathtaking. It was a perfect day of rowing. And as our rickety school bus returned us from Gananoque, our landing point, to Kingston, I caught sight of the Royal Military College Memorial Arch.

And it took me completely by surprise! Although much less grand than that famous monument in Paris, to my eyes it was just as beautiful. I made a note to stop by for a closer look before returning home at the end of the week. And I am so grateful that I did. For I discovered that Canada’s monument stands in honour of the ex-cadets of the Royal Military College (RMC) that have fallen in conflict. Plaques mounted on the monument, and more recently, paving stones surrounding the Arch, list their names.

For King and Country

Built in 1923, the Royal Canadian College Memorial Arch was officially unveiled in 1924. This honour was bestowed upon Mrs. Joshua Wright, mother of two ex-cadets, #558 Major G.B. Wright, DSO, RCE, and #814 Major J.S. Wright, who gave their lives ‘for King and Country’ in the First World War. Constructed of granite and Indiana limestone, the 48 foot high monument stands gracefully by the water’s edge, the names of the Great War battles Canada fought etched into its sides. Reading these, I was reminded of my deeply moving visit to the Canadian National Vimy Memorial several years earlier, as I wrote about in my post Vimy Remembered. Of the 982 ex-cadets who fought in World War I, 170 paid the supreme sacrifice.

And it is in their honour that the front or North parapet of the Arch bears the inscription:

To the Glorious Memory of the Ex-Cadets of the Royal Military College of Canada Who Gave Their Lives for the Empire

And a series of reliefs depicting ancient Roman trappings of war adorn the base of the monument.

Truth, Duty, Valour

Walking around to the back of the Arch, I discovered the famous motto of the College engraved on the South parapet:

Truth, Duty, Valour

And below that, this moving stanza by Rupert Brooke, taken from his poem, “The Dead”:

Blowout you bugles over the rich Dead,
There’s none of these so lowly or poor of old,
But dying has made us rarer gifts than gold.

While built to commemorate the ex-cadets who lost their lives in the Great War and earlier conflicts, the Royal Canadian College Memorial Arch now also honours those who gave their lives since. For in 1949, two granite pylons were were unveiled by then Governor General, Viscount Alexander of Tunis. They bear the names of those who sacrificed themselves between 1926 and 1945. Situated on either side of the Arch, they also record the names of the battles in which these soldiers fought. And more recently, in 2006, another plaque was attached to the East pylon. It records the names of the ex-cadets who have died in active service since 1945. And so, this humble monument now honours all ex-cadets that have fallen in conflict, in peacekeeping, or to other causes while in service.

Time Capsule

The cornerstone of the monument was officially laid a year before the unveiling by the Governor-General of Canada, His Excellency Viscount Byng of Vimy as part of that year’s Graduation ceremonies. Deposited within the stone, in a sealed copper box, were nominal rolls of cadets and staff, pamphlets concerning the Arch, the RMC Review of May 1923, Canadian coins and stamps and the Roll of Honour of the College.

Lest We Forget

At the unveiling of the Royal Military College Memorial Arch, Rev. J. S. LaFlair prayed for the living as well as the dead being commemorated that day. His appeal was that the ideals of those dead be fostered and perpetuated. He ended with the famous words of Rudyard Kipling:

“Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget, Lest we forget.”

Royal Military College of Canada  3 Valour Drive, Kingston, ON Canada