A Century Under the Same Roof: RMR Celebrates 100 Years of their Armoury
Photo credit : Corporal Vincent-Gabriel Lamarre, Imaging Technician.
Westmount, Quebec – 15 November 2025: On a crisp November evening during Remembrance Week, The Royal Montreal Regiment (RMR) marked a once-in-a-lifetime milestone: the 100th anniversary of its beloved armoury on Ste-Catherine Street in Westmount. Guests were warned by the customary trumpet calls at 1915 and again ten minutes later before taking their seats for a historic Mess Dinner commemorating a century of service, sacrifice, and connection to the community.
The evening was expertly guided by Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel Isabelle Racicot, who opened by reminding all present that this armoury was built as a living memorial to the 1,192 members of the RMR killed in the First World War. Additional plaques—honouring RMR soldiers of the Second World War and the fallen of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals—have since joined that legacy, further deepening the building’s role as a house of remembrance.
HLCol Racicot recounted how the armoury came to be: its construction in 1925 on land donated by the City of Westmount, its funding through private citizens, and its enduring symbolism as the bond between Westmount and the Regiment. For a century, the city has continued to lease the property to the RMR for a symbolic one dollar per year, a testament to the partnership forged through shared history.
The evening also honoured the long relationship between the RMR and 34 Signal Regiment (formerly 712 Communications Squadron), whose arrival in 1995 brought new traditions and leaders to the building—most notably the late Colonel David Hart, a decorated Dieppe veteran and communications hero. In his memory, the RMR dedicated one of the commemorative tables present at the dinner.
Every table that night carried the image and name of a historical RMR soldier, each with a QR code linking guests to the soldier’s story—an elegant way to ensure remembrance remained at the heart of the celebration.
Honoured at the head table were Honorary Colonel David Bensadoun, HLCol Racicot, LCol Langlois, and four descendants of Major-General Charles Basil Price, the man most responsible for establishing the armoury in the 1920s.
Later in the evening, the Commanding Officer, LCol Kevin Langlois, delivered a landmark announcement: the Regiment will formally rename the Ste-Catherine Street Armoury as the Major-General C.B. Price Armoury. The decision honours the man who not only an original member of the RMR, and the first RSM who rose to command the Regiment twice, but also personally led the campaign that built the armoury a century ago. In a deeply meaningful moment, four descendants of General Price—present as honoured guests—rose to a warm and sustained ovation.
Following a superb dinner, the RMR officially launched its newest regimental history volume, Glory Never Dies: The Royal Montreal Regiment – An Illustrated History of a Century of Service 1914-2014, introduced by former CO and former Honorary Colonel Colin Robinson, the driving force behind the project. 30 people in attendance were named in the book, and Robinson noted many of them in his remarks.
The traditional toasts then began—a cornerstone of every RMR mess dinner—with HLCol Racicot giving a masterclass in port decanter etiquette and rum-shot timing to make sure that things went smoothly and all guests were comfortable with the protocol. Toasts were offered to the King, the fallen and missing comrades, the RMR’s sister regiment, Royal Yorkshire Regiment, and our guests, with addresses by Colonel George Petrolekas, Honorary Colonel Bensadoun, and finally the CO. Prior to the CO, Master Warrant Officer Sara Anvari, a former Signaller, offered a robust reply from the RMR’s toast to their guests.
As the band played the regimental marches, guests stood for those they had served with, culminating in a unified rise for the RMR march in honour of the armoury’s centennial.
The night concluded with a toast to the band and caterer before the head table departed and the celebrations continued in true RMR fashion—music, camaraderie, and an armoury full of history, memory, and pride.
Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense.
