Lieutenant Colonel Lorne McLaughlin, D.S.O.
2nd (Iron Second) Battalion

Such loyal and ready support as this always goes a long way to foster the already good feeling which exists between your own battalion and the one which I have the honour to command. With very best wishes. (McLaughlin to Bart Rogers, 3rd Bn., 11 Nov 1917)

Lorne Tolbert McLaughlin was a farmer born on 14 February 1879 in Tyrone, Darlington Township, Ontario. He was a militia officer and member of Loyal Orange Lodge No. 764. In March 1915, he enlisted with Lieutenant Colonel J. A. V. Preston’s 39th Battalion from Belleville. After the 39th was broken up, McLaughlin transferred to the 2nd Battalion on the front. McLaughlin took command of the Iron Second from 12 May 1917 until 30 August 1918. He was temporarily replaced by Major Roscoe Vanderwater after suffering a gunshot wound to the thigh. Despite the injury, he continued to direct his men until the end of the battle when he was carried to a dressing station.

McLaughlin returned to duty in October 1918 and led the 2nd home upon demobilization. By the end of the war, he had received the D.S.O. and two Bars and was four-times mentioned in dispatches. He died in Toronto on 27 August 1961.