Moreuil Wood 2018

 

 

The countdown to the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Moreuil Wood has begun. The Regimental Society in conjunction with the Regiment has commenced planning this celebration with the intent of having key events take place in two primary locations; Edmonton and France.

Edmonton

The 100th Anniversary of Moreuil Wood parade will be held on Thursday the 22nd of March 2018.  Following the parade, there will be a reception and Open House.  On display will be the four prominent Strathcona paintings by Sir Alfred Munnings.  Further, we will have on loan from Framlingham College and Flowerdew Family, Lt Flowerdew’s Victoria Cross, Death Penny and personal artifacts.  They will be on display for the month of March 2018 only.  I invite you to join the Regiment during this tremendous milestone.  If you are coming in from out of town, the newly built Fairfield Inn & Suites offers a military rate and is very close to Steele Barracks.  We have block-booked 20 rooms for March 21st and March 22nd with a rate of $124 (plus taxes).  Please quote "Moreuil Wood Room Block March 2018", when booking your room.

 

The Officers and Senior NCOs will be hosting their own mess dinners and more details will be published at a later date.

France 

The Regiment will be sending a contingent of soldiers to celebrate the 100th anniversary.  Members of the Strathcona Mounted Troop will re-enact the great charge at Moreuil Wood.  It will culminate with the Freedom of the City of Moreuil.
 
Battle Field Tour:  As many of the Regimental Family has indicated that they plan to be at Moreuil Wood during the 100th Anniversary, the Regiment is also coordinating a user pay Battle Field Tour.  CWO Brian Talty is the OPI for the tour and he has put together an excellent package.  The info is as follows:
 
Who:  All Strathconas and friends are welcome to participate on the Battle Field Tour.  There will be only two buses of participants available, which will be on a first-come, first-serve basis; so get your deposit in early.  Members of the Battle Field Tour will be invited to march with the Regimental Contingent during the Freedom of the City in Moreuil on 31st of March 2018.
 
What: A nominal fee of up to $1900 per person (price could be less based on number of participants).  This included all breakfast and lunch meals, ground transportation while on the tour and hotel accommodations.  This does not include airfare as tt is up to the individual to book their own. Some people want to arrive earlier or stay later or use Aeroplan or Airmiles to purchase their tickets.
 
When:  The RV point will be the Bruxelles airport on 25 March 2018 and the tour ends on 1 April.  The Release Point will be Charles de Gaulle Airport (Paris, France).
 
Where:  These are the highlighted areas that will be visited to give you a glimpse of the historical site by day:
UPDATE-September 2017
This trip is not a scientific tour of the area of operations the Regt worked in during the Great War. Although the Regt played some significant roles in several actions and battles in different areas throughout the First World War, most of those areas have returned to the private farmland they were previous to the conflict, and there are no memorials to the action. However with the centenary of the war that is now coming to a close, the French Government has planned and invested in the cleanup and care of all the WW1 monuments and museums that can educate and tell the story. For us there are several areas in France and Flanders that we can visit in order to explain what happened during the conflict. Therefore in creating this tour I will concentrate on the Canadian contribution working my way from the Ypres Salient, through the Somme and ending up in the area of Amiens and the Battle that means the most to our Regt.


25 Mar – first day meet at the RV in Brussels airport and move to Ypres. Check into the hotel and a short brief on administration of tour followed by a free evening dinner on your own.


26 Mar – Breakfast in the hotel, grab our pack lunch, then off to Memorial museum Passchendaele 1917. Once finished there we move to some Canadian monuments in the area stopping at Sanctuary Wood, Essex Farm, and the famous St Julien monument. Then on to the monument at Crest Farm Passchendaele and finally a visit to Tyne Cot Cemetery before ending up back in Ypres for dinner on your own. For those interested there will be the Last Post Ceremony this night at 2000hrs. 


27 Mar – Breakfast, grab a pack lunch, check out of hotel, load bus and move to France, approx. 1.5 - 2 hr drive. First stop will be the Wellington Tunnel museum in Arras named for the New Zealand soldiers who created the tunnels under the city in preparation for the Battle of Arras, and then to the National French Cemetery Notre Dame de Lorette including the Musee Vivant and Necropolis. After that we will visit the Canadian National Memorial at Vimy, trenches, tunnels and education centre. After Vimy we will move to Arras for dinner on your own and free time.


28 Mar – Breakfast at hotel, grab a pack lunch and off to towards Canal du Nord, stopping at the monument to the Drocourt Queant Corridor and ending up at Bourlon Wood. Then off to the monument to the battle of Cambrai and a visit to the newly created Tank Museum in Flesquieres. Then on to some specific regimental actions in the areas of Masnieres and Guyencourt. Then return back to Arras for dinner on your own and free time.


29 Mar - Breakfast, grab a pack lunch, check out of hotel, load bus and move to the area of the Somme, stopping in Albert to visit the Somme Museum 1916. Then to visit the Lochnagar Crater, the Newfoundland Memorial at Beaumont Hamel and the British monument at Theipval. Then to the area of Poziers and Courcelette before moving on to Amiens for checking into hotel and dinner on your own and free time.


30 Mar – Breakfast at the hotel, grab a pack lunch and off to follow the route the Regiment took on the morning of 30 Mar 18. This will include a wlk through the area and a horse display as well as several activities on the site of which are still in the works. End of day will see us in the hotel in Amiens and dinner on your own.


31 Mar – Today is dress day for those who have Regt’l Assoc kit with medals. Bkfst in hotel and move to memorial ceremonies in Namps au Val Cemetery and then on to the cemetery at Moreuil for the same. There will be a Parade through the town of Moreuil for a ceremony as well as a reception planned. There are more details for this to come, as the Regt is working with JP Brunnel. End of day will see us in hotel in Amiens, dinner is unknown at this time.


01 Apr – Breakfast at hotel, grab a final pack lunch and check out to depart Amiens for the final stop at the Clariere de Armistice Musee, home to where the treaty of Versailles was signed. After that we will move to the CDG airport and the tour will end for those flying out that day or staying on to continue your holiday. I anticipate being at the airport around 1430hrs if you are making arrangements to fly that day.
 
How: Cash, cheque or E-Transfer deposits of $1000 per person are due on September 1st, 2017 to Lea-Ann Burant at Edmonton Travel.  The cost of the tour will not be more than $1900 CAD, but could be lower as we confirm how many people will be attending.  CWO Talty will contact each of the participants to confirm the balance due once we know how many people are participating. The registration form and payment information can be downloaded at this link.

Regimental Society Fundraiser

Own a piece of Strathcona History

 

You can support Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) Regimental Society’s effort to send soldiers to France to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Moreuil Wood. 
The Regimental Society has produced an extremely limited run of commemorative lances that will soon be available to the general public.  In recognition of this milestone anniversary, only 100 serialized lances will made.  Since Lt Flowerdew was only 33 years of age when he led his Squadron during this Battle, the serialized lances will be available in either 33 commemorative singles or 33 commemorative sets (each set containing two lances). The final serialized lance will be kept on permanent display in the Harvey Building at Steele Barracks.
Non-serialized, compact size lances will also be available beginning in November 2017.  

Click the picture for more information.

Click this link to download the order form.

If you have any difficulties opening the above documents, please email ldsh@strathconas.ca for assistance.
 

How Can You Help?

If you are interested in supporting the Regimental Society's Moreuil Wood 2018 initiatives, we would first like to thank you for your consideration. For your convenience the Society has a number of donation options available, and we encourage you to visit our How You Can Help page for more information.  It is recommended that if you use the PayPal one time donation option that you please ensure that you make note that your contribution is to be used for Moreuil Wood 2018 by either making a note in the "Please use funds towards" box (see picture to the left) or by sending an email to ldsh@strathconas.ca after you have completed your donation request. 

 

 

Updates

The Regimental Society will be providing regular updates to the Regimental Family through Strathcona Enews.  Those updates will also be available on this page, so do check back regularly. 


Strathcona Enews Moreuil Wood 2018 Updates

January 2017 Update

July 2017 Update