Museum Foyer

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The museum is located in the west wing of the historic Wolseley Barracks, A Block, a ‘U’ shaped building constructed from 1886-1888 to house ‘D’ Company, Infantry School Corps. The Infantry School Corps would eventually become The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR). The building’s original 1886 floor plans show a room specially designated to become a regimental museum. It is unknown how this space originally functioned, but it shows there has long been an interest in preserving the artifacts and traditions of The RCR at Wolseley Barracks. By 1973, The Royal Canadian Regiment Museum was accredited as a Canadian Forces Museum. The museum’s foyer was once an open brick archway that led into the parade square at the centre of the “U” shaped building. In 2013, renovations to the museum were completed, which closed in the archway to create a reception area and joined together the lower level of the building that was previously divided. In this space you can find a temporary grave marker from the Battle of Mount Sorrell in 1916 (Flanders Cross), as well as the building’s original jail cells.

Images

The RCR Museum foyer

Jail cell inside Wolseley Barracks

Flanders Cross

The Foyer was once an open archway

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

There are two major historical features in the museum reception area: The Flanders Cross and the Jail Cells.

The Flanders Cross

The RCR was formally presented with a Flanders Cross from the Battle of Mount Sorrel in July 1930. It was brought from Europe and hung outside in the open brick archway. After the renovations in 2013, it now hangs in the museum’s reception area under protective glass. It is a composite cross bearing the names of twenty different soldiers of The RCR who were killed while serving overseas during the First World War. Eighteen of the twenty names have no known graves and are commemorated at the Menin Gate Memorial in Belgium. With the exception of one soldier, they were all killed in action between 2-5 June, 1916 at the Battle of Mount Sorrel.

Mount Sorrel was the first battle honour awarded to The RCR during the First World War. It was the first major action for the regiment after arriving in Europe in late-1915. The Regimental War Diary describes the first day of the battle:

“Night of 31st/1st very suspiciously quiet: At about 8.45am, 2nd June, enemy started violent bombardment which lasted five hours. This was a concentrated bombardment principally directed on SANCTUARY WOODS and MAPLE COPSE. At about 3p.m. the enemy attacked and drove our front line back which had been leveled to the ground.”

The touch screen adjacent to the cross allows visitors to explore the battle and the individuals listed on the cross.

Jail Cells

There is a total of six jail cells located inside Wolseley Barracks. Three are located just off the museum reception area, and three more are located directly below in the basement. They were in active use until the 1950s, when new cells were built elsewhere on the base.

The small, narrow rooms had no amenities beyond a metal bedframe and mattress. There was no heating or air conditioning in the cells. The upper-level cells had only a wooden door standing between them and the weather outside. The lower-level cells are located in a dark, concrete basement.

Confinement in these cells was used for the short-term punishment of soldiers. If they needed to be held longer than two weeks, they would be sent to a service detention barracks. Soldiers would not be idle, spending their time waxing and polishing their equipment and the interior of the cell until everything shined. They would also spend time drilling on the parade square, cleaning the base, painting rocks, shining buildings and equipment (vehicles etc.), physical training (PT) and other duties as assigned.

Sources

Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Accessed July 20th 2020. https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-cemeteries-and-memorials/91800/ypres-memorial.

Greenhaus, Bereton and Jon Tattrie. The Battle of Mount Sorrel, The Canadian Encyclopedia . December 9th 2014. Accessed July 20th 2020. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mont-sorrel.

Parks Canada. Wolseley Barracks, A Block, Directory of Federal Heritage Designations. Accessed July 20th 2020. https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_fhbro_eng.aspx?id=3693.

War Diaries - Royal Canadian Regiment (Item ID 1883200), Library and Archives Canada . Accessed July 20th 2020. https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/CollectionSearch/Pages/record.aspx?app=fonandcol&IdNumber=1883200.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

The RCR Museum Photograph

The RCR Museum Collection

Additional Information

The Royal Canadian Regiment Museum Website