Lieutenant-Colonel G.T. Baylay
21st Armoured Regiment (The Governor General’s Foot Guards)

… a cheery soul of artistic temperament who, being gifted with magnificent good nature, quickly became one of the most popular men of the class. His famous drawings were the mainstay of the “artists fatigue” and of the class during many a dull lecture.

(RMC Review, 1936, 28)

Born in Peel, Ontario on 13 June 1913, George Taylor Baylay was a graduate of RMC where he had a reputation of an entertaining cartoonist. He joined the Governor General’s Foot Guards as a lieutenant on unit mobilization in 1940. He rose from platoon leader, intelligence officer to adjutant to squadron commander to second-in-command, serving throughout the Normandy campaign. He succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel E.M. Smith in September 1945, recurving a promotion to lieutenant-colonel himself soon thereafter.  

In addition to dealing with troops’ restlessness for repatriation, he took over as editor-in-chief of the unit newspaper, the Guard Star during the postwar wait in the Netherlands. As tribute to the fallen he send issues and photos to families in Canada. “It will soon be a year since Lorne was killed,” one father wrote to him, “which I know we will never forget. You have done your part in making things easier for his Mother and myself. If when you get back to Canada you could tell us more about Lorne. Again on behalf of my family and myself I want to thank you for your kindness.”

 One of the few originals left in the regiment, Baylay lead the guardsmen home to Ottawa in January 1946. “We were a lot longer sitting around than most units,” he told the press. “However, thanks to an energetic sports and recreation program, we had very little trouble. In my experience, there was extreme good-will between the Dutch population and the men of my regiment.”

It has been my privilege to command this unit, but I would have been equally proud to have served in the unit in any capacity. It was not my privilege to take the unit into battle but it is my privilege to bring it back home.

 (Ottawa Citizen, 17 Jan 1946, 13)

He served as joint chairman with the original commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel W.G. Wurtele, of the committee that prepared the regimental history of the Governor General’s Foot Guards.

Baylay died in Toronto on 2 February 1998.