Robert Labatt

Lt-Col. R.R. Labatt

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Lieutenant-Colonel Bob Labatt
Royal Hamilton Light Infantry
Labatt

I hope you all came through safely. We will have to celebrate Dieppe every year at the mess after this … Little did I dream when I wrote the history of the Regt. that the biggest story was still to be told. I know from a very undistinguished experience in 1916 what a grim business “shows” infinitely smaller that your can be, and this makes one realize what a test you have come through … I wish I could be with you.

(E.D.H. Boyd to Labatt, 20 Aug 1942)

Born on 25 January 1903 in Wentworth, Ontario, Robert Ridley Labatt was the son of First World War battalion commander and pension commissioner Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Hodgetts Labatt (1864-1919). He attended RMC and took a commission with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (RHLI) in 1923. A stockbroker in civilian life, he also served as battalion adjutant from 1932 to 1936. Labatt succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel H.G. Wright in command of the RHLI in April 1940. The regiment departed for England that summer and Labatt would lead regiment ashore at Dieppe two years later on 19 August 1942.

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The Kentuckian

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Lieutenant Colonel W. W. Stewart †
86th (Machine Gun) BattalionStewart

The cost of this tremendous war cannot be stated in terms of the Stock Exchange, for life and happiness mean infinitely more than dollars and cents.

Who can assess the value of a genial disposition, a kindly, sympathetic nature, a forceful personality, a large heart, a noble, earnest spirit?

(The Canadian Machine Gunner, June 1917, 12)

Born on 1 June 1871 in Covington, Kentucky, Walter Wilson Stewart immigrated to Canada with his family as a boy. He pursued a career in architecture, working in Hamilton and Cleveland, Ohio. In the Canadian militia, he served for two years with the 13th Regiment and twelve years with the 91st Highlanders. Beginning in 1915, he organized the 86th Battalion based in Hamilton with former 4th Battalion commander Robert H. Labatt.

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The Pensioner

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Lieutenant Colonel R. H. Labatt
4th (Central Ontario) Battalion
Labatt

He was prominent in all manly sports, and for years a member of the champion Tiger football team. A successful oarsman and canoeist, Chairman of the Hamilton Club, an organization of outstanding ability, both in military life and in sport. His passing will be regretted by a very large circle. Personally he was the soul of honour and loved by all his friends.

(Trinity College School Record, 1919, 33)

Born on 24 Feb 1864 in London, Canada West, Robert Hodgetts Labatt was a member of the famous Canadian brewing family. A long time militiaman, he had volunteered as a private during the 1885 Northwest Rebellion. In August 1914, he was appointed commander of the 4th Battalion when the First Contingent assembled at Valcartier.

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