The Regimental Museum, a hidden gem Léon Chamois stands in front of several uniforms, all part of The SD&G Highlanders’ Regimental Museum’s collection. — photo Francis Racine
FRANCIS RACINE francis.racine@eap.on.ca
medals, all neatly displayed behind tall glass showcases that are located on every wall of the small museum. “We have a lot of different artifacts,” he said, pointing to mannequins standing motionless behind the showcases. All of them sport different kinds of uniforms of several eras. Even though the museum’s collection contains several hundreds of artifacts, the curator, who has now been in charge of the institution for 23 years, stressed that it will never be complete. There are simply too many artifacts located around the world. “The funds allocated to us by theCanadian Armed Forces aren’t meant to be used to buy
artifacts,” he explained. “It’s an odd choice, but I can understand why. The army could spend millions every year on artifacts, but there would always be more. The world is filled with them.” “The funds allocated to us by the Canadian Armed Forces aren’t meant to be used to buy artifacts,” he explained. “It’s an odd choice, but I can understand why. The army could spend millions every year on artifacts, but there would always bemore. The world is filled with them.” Instead, Chamois recently spoke to the United Counties council in order to seek funding from them, which could in turn be used to obtain interesting and priceless
items. “Last year, they gave us $5000 and it really came in handy,” the curator added, smiling. Upon completing his sentence, he walked towards the back of themuseumand pointed upwards. Most interesting pieces Held up by small custom made metal frames, stands an old, dark green bicycle of which the likes can’t be bought at toomany places. Chamois has an air of pride as he walks towards it. “This is a foldable bicycle that was used during the Highlander’s D-Day landings,” he boasted. The SD&GHighlanders were part of the second wave landing during D-Day. They carried with them several pounds of gear,
Hidden deep within the walls of the mysterious Cornwall Armouries is one of the city’s best kept secret. The SD&G Highlanders Regimental Museum may be less than 2000 square feet in size, but don’t let its size fool you. The door to the small space creaks as Léon Chamois, themilitary historian who is at the helmof the SD&GHighlanders Regimental Museum, pushes it in. He switches the lights on and suddenly, rare pieces of history appear: helmets, original uniforms as well as reproductions and countless rifles and
Le Journal, Cornwall
6
Le mercredi 8 juin 2016
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