CMCEN

Velox Versutus Vigilans Le français suivra Today marks the anniversary of the RCCS Founding Member, Major Bruce Carruthers, which traditionally inaugurates the beginning of C&E Week. Major Wallace Bruce Matthews Carruthers (13 February 1863 – 21 October 1910) was a Canadian soldier and the founder of the Canadian Signalling Corps. Major Carruthers served with the Canadian Mounted Rifles in the South African War, where he won a Mention in Despatches, and Queen’s South Africa Medal with five clasps before he returned home to Kingston in 1902. Upon his repatriation, he leveraged his battlefield experience and lobbied for a separate and distinct corps of signallers within the Canadian Army. He achieved this, and on 24 October 1903, the Canadian Signalling Corps (CSC) was created; the first independent signal service within the British Empire. Major Carruthers died at the age of 47 on 21 October 1910, from tuberculosis contracted during his service in South Africa. He was given a funeral with full military honours at Chalmers Presbyterian Church and was buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery. On the occasion of the Corps Diamond Jubilee in 1963, two lakes were named in honour of Canadian Signallers. ‘Carruthers Lake’ at 62°32′00″N | 100°16′00″W honours Major[...]