Lieutenant-Colonel J.B. Stewart
Algonquin Regiment

We may be a little short on material riches such as hat and shoulder badges, battle honours for our coat sleeves … But what we lack in some of these little things we make up in others—intangible, yet so apparent that we have but to pass before the people of our country and we are accepted for what we are—a great regiment.

(RSM Balfe Bradley, Winnipeg Tribune, 20 Nov 1941, 14)

Born on 3 February 1890 in Duluth, Minnesota, John Bain Stewart had belonged to the Queen’s Own Rifles of Toronto and worked as a contractor in North Bay, Ontario before the First World War. He was commissioned as captain and adjutant in the 159th Battalion in November 1915. Once overseas, he reverted to lieutenant to join the 4th Battalion, Canadian Railway Troops and later transferred to the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles. After the war, Stewart joined the Algonquin Regiment, which perpetuated the 159th.

In 1938, he assumed command of the militia regiment, which mobilized for active service in July 1940. His predecessor asserted, “Colonel Stewart is an outstanding soldier and the Algonquins have a very capable commander in this gentleman.” After garrison duty in Newfoundland in early 1942, the regiment prepared for overseas deployment. In March 1943, Stewart was replaced by Major Leo Troy who took the Algonquins to the United Kingdom in June.

Stewart’s son enlisted with the RCAF while his wife and daughter went to work at a war production plant. “I wasn’t going to sit at home and do nothing,” his wife told the press, “when everybody else was in the war, so I got a job.”

Stewart returned to civilian life in Toronto and retired to British Columbia in the 1960s, although he remained active in regimental association and the Canadian Legion. He died in Qualicum Beach, British Columbia on 26 September 1971.