Messes

OFFICERS’ MESS – ANNUAL REUNION MESS DINNER: The Officers’ – and by extension the Regiment’s – Annual Reunion Mess Dinner has been held since 1920 on the Friday evening preceding Armistice Sunday. The invitation list is limited to seventy former and serving officers and their guests. The first such dinner was held in the old Westmount Rifles mess, located above a chemist’s shop at the corner of Ste-Catherine Street and Greene Avenue in Westmount (the inauguration of the Ste-Catherine Street Armoury not occurring until 28 December 1925). The dinner reunited officers who had served during The Great War, and allowed them to remember comrades who had not returned from France and Flanders. The tradition continues to this day, in the same spirit.

WARRANT OFFICERS AND SERGEANTS’ YPRES MESS DINNER: The Warrant Officers and Sergeants’ Mess Dinner is held on the Saturday evening closest to April 22, and is presided over by the RSM. It is held to commemorate the Second Battle of Ypres, in 1915, which was the 14th Battalion (RMR) CEF’s first battle and incorporated the horrors of gas warfare used for the first time on the Western Front. All associate members are invited as well as the Honorary Colonels, the Commanding Officer, guests from other units, and the guest of honour.

THE JUNIOR RANKS’ MESS DINNER: Near the end of the training season, usually in March, the Junior Ranks’ Club holds a dinner to which the newly qualified recruits are invited to give them an opportunity to integrate themselves into the Regiment prior to their beginning basic training. The JRC is the most active Mess in the armoury and prides itself on having one of the best messes in Montreal, both from the high standards they maintain and their high spirits. Their annual dinner is held with the 34th Signals Regiment and due to their size of the combined membership it is held on the parade square of the armoury.