Taking time to remember

Prince Edward County citizens young and old gathered around cenotaphs at Picton, Wellington and Consecon to remember those who have passed, those who lost their lives in battle, and to honour those who are serving today.

John Inrig, CD, of Picton, a former Hastings Prince Edward Regiment Commanding Officer, shared the story of this most decorated regiment with those attending the Remembrance Day service at the Picton United Church.

During the First World War, men from the 49th Hastings Regiment and the 16th Prince Edward Regiment volunteered to serve overseas and, at that time, were enlisted in numbered battalions. After the war, the militia and regular units were reorganized. On March 15, 1920, the two county regiments were amalgamated to form The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment. The regiment was part of Montgomery’s Eighth Army and took part in the invasion of Sicily and throughout Italy.

Inrig explained the regiment liberated Assoro, a small hilltop village west of Mt. Etna in 1943 in a daring surprise attack. The regiment also took part in battles in Northwest Europe in 1945.

“The County will always be the spiritual home of the ‘Hasty Ps'”, said Inrig, though when it finally arrived at Belleville Station on October 4, 1945, “The Plough Jockeys” returned to their farms and businesses. Their war was over.

The Regimental Museum, on the main floor of the Belleville Armoury, is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1-4 p.m.

John Inrig flanked by officiants Rev. Aruna Alexander and Padre Bill Kidnew. Behind, the Picton United Choir members who presented David Colwell’s choral presentation of In Flanders Fields’