Currie Hall is a hall within the Currie Building, which is an annex to the Mackenzie Building at the

Royal Military College of Canada The Royal Military College of Canada (), abbreviated in English as RMC and in French as CMR, is a Military academy#Canada, military academy and, since 1959, a List of universities in Canada#Ontario, degree-granting university of the Canadian ...

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

. It was built in 1922, and is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building. The hall was designed by

Percy Erskine Nobbs Percy Erskine Nobbs (11 August 1875 – 5 November 1964) was a Scottish-Canadian architect who was born in Haddington, East Lothian, and trained in the United Kingdom. Educated at the Edinburgh Collegiate School and Edinburgh University, h ...

and built just after the end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

by Sir

Archibald Cameron Macdonell Sir Archibald Cameron Macdonell, (6 October 1864 – 23 December 1941) was a Canadian police officer and soldier. Education He was born in Windsor, Canada West. His cousin was Archibald Hayes Macdonell, and his grandfather was Alexander M ...

while he was commandant of the Royal Military College of Canada. It was built as a memorial to the

Canadian Corps The Canadian Corps was a World War I corps formed from the Canadian Expeditionary Force in September 1915 after the arrival of the 2nd Canadian Division in France. The corps was expanded by the addition of the 3rd Canadian Division in December 19 ...

of the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF; French: ''Corps expéditionnaire canadien'') was the expeditionary warfare, expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed on August 15, 1914, following United Kingdom declarat ...

. It plays a prominent role in the life of the University. During special events, invited speakers and dignitaries may address the university population or general public from the Great Hall. Many conferences held in Kingston, Ontario may book the halls for lectures or presentations. The Currie building also houses the Language Centre, administrative offices and Otter Squadron - University Training Plan Non Commissioned Members (UTNCM). The building was named in honour of Lieutenant-General Sir

Arthur Currie General Sir Arthur William Currie, (5 December 187530 November 1933) was a senior officer of the Canadian Army who fought during World War I. He had the unique distinction of starting his military career on the very bottom rung as a pre-war ...

, who is a National Historic Person of Canada. Currie Hall is decorated with the crests and battle colours of every unit that fought in France during World War I.

History

At the official opening of Currie Hall at Royal Military College on 17 May 1922, General Sir Arthur Currie remarked: Under the supervision of Eleanor Milne, then Official Sculptor of Canada (1962–93), Maurice Joanisse, then an apprentice carver, sculpted the Royal Coat of

Arms of Canada The coat of arms of Canada, also known as the Royal Coat of Arms of Canada or, formally, as the Arms of His Majesty The King in Right of Canada is the arms of dominion of the Canadian monarch and, thus, also the official coat of arms of Ca ...

and Canada's motto, ''Ad mare usque ad mare'' (English: From Sea to Sea; French: ''D'un ocean à l'autre''), over the main entrance to the building. Joanisse also sculpted the arms of Sir

and General Currie over the main entrance. Joanisse later served as Official Sculptor of Canada 1993 to 2006. File:Lt-Gen Sir A C Macdonell Arms @ Currie Building, Royal Military College of Canada.jpg, Lt General Sir

's arms File:Gen Sir Arthur William Currie arms, Currie Building, Royal Military College of Canada.jpg, General Sir Arthur William Currie's

Decorations

Major Stuart Forbes offered to paint the insignia as a gift to the College. General Macdonnell said that "no greater incentive or inspiration could be given to the Gentlemen Cadets of the Royal Military College of Canada than the sight of the emblems worn by the Canadian Corps." His Excellency

John Ralston Saul John Ralston Saul (born June 19, 1947) is a Canadian writer, political philosopher, and public intellectual. Saul is most widely known for his writings on the nature of individualism, citizenship and the public good; the failures of manager-l ...

(February 2004) described the Currie Hall decorations, The initials of

Canada Corps Canada Corps was a program created by the Canadian Government with the purpose of improving good governance and institution building in developing and unstable countries. The programme was administered by the Canadian International Development A ...

commanders General Sir Arthur Currie; Sir

Edwin Alderson Lieutenant-General Sir Edwin Alfred Hervey Alderson, KCB (8 April 1859 – 14 December 1927) was a senior British Army officer who served in several campaigns of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. From 1915 to 1916 during the Fir ...

(1915–1916), and Sir

Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, (11 September 1862 – 6 June 1935), was a British Army officer who served as Governor General of Canada, the List of governors general of Ca ...

(1916–1917), are emblazoned on the ceiling of Currie Hall as are the initials of Sir

Henry Edward Burstall Lieutenant General Sir Henry Edward Burstall, (26 August 1870 – 8 February 1945) was a Canadian general. Early life Born at Domaine Cataraqui, Sillery, Quebec, the son of the wealthy merchant John B. Burstall (1832–1896) and Fanny Bell Fors ...

, Garnet Hughes, General Macdonell,

Louis Lipsett Major-General Louis James Lipsett (14 June 1874 – 14 October 1918), was a senior officer in the British Army and Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. He commanded the 3rd Canadian Division during some of the bitterest ...

Frederick Oscar Warren Loomis Sir Frederick Oscar Warren Loomis, (February 1, 1870 – February 15, 1937) was a Canadian soldier who fought in the First World War. Military career He enlisted as a private in the Canadian Militia in 1886 with the 53rd Sherbrooke Battalion of ...

, Malcolm Mercer,

Sam Steele Major-general Sir Samuel Benfield Steele (5 January 1848 – 30 January 1919) was a Canadian soldier and policeman. He was an officer of the North-West Mounted Police, head of the Yukon detachment during the Klondike Gold Rush, and commandin ...

, Richard Turner, and David Watson. File:Cadet roll of honour, Currie Hall, Currie Building, Royal Military College of Canada 2011.jpg, Royal Military College of Canada Gentlemen cadets Roll of Honour, Currie Hall, Currie Building, Royal Military College of Canada 2011 File:Battle list Canadian Troops on the Western Front plaque in Currie Hall, Royal Military College of Canada.JPG, Battle list Canadian Troops on the Western Front plaque in Currie Hall, Royal Military College of Canada The badges and battle patches belonging to the units of the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds, The Second, or (The) 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Minute and second of arc, ...

, 3rd,

4th Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

, and

5th Canadian Division The 5th Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army responsible for the command and mobilization of most army units in the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador; as well as some un ...

s of the Canada Corps and the cavalry brigade adorn 132 oak panels on the face of the gallery.

Coats of arms

Nineteen coats of arms tell the story of Canada's experience during the First World War. The first four brigades of the Canada Corps trained in

Valcartier 2nd Canadian Division Support Base Valcartier (2 CDSB Valcartier), formerly known as and commonly referred to as Canadian Forces Base Valcartier (CFB Valcartier), is a Canadian Forces base located in the municipality of Saint-Gabriel-de-Valca ...

and

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

. The Corps landed in

Devonport, Devon Devonport ( ), formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock, is a district of Plymouth in the English county of Devon, although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. It became a county borough in 1889. Devonport was originally one o ...

, in

Plymouth Sound Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a deep inlet or sound in the English Channel near Plymouth in England. Description Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point in Devon, a distance of abo ...

. After spending the winter on the

Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies within the county of Wiltshire, but st ...

, they crossed to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Major battles fought by the corps were the following:

Battle of Mount Sorrel The Battle of Mont Sorrel (Battle of Mount Sorrel) was a local operation in World War I by three divisions of the German 4th Army and three divisions of the British Second Army in the Ypres Salient, near Ypres in Belgium, from 2 to 13 June 1 ...

;

Battle of Flers-Courcelette A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

;

Battle of Morval The Battle of Morval, 25–28 September 1916, was an attack during the Battle of the Somme by the British Fourth Army on the villages of Morval, Gueudecourt and Lesbœufs held by the German 1st Army, which had been the final objectives of t ...

;

Battle of Thiepval The Ba ...

;

Battle of Le Transloy The Battle of Le Transloy was the last big attack by the Fourth Army of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the 1916 Battle of the Somme in France, during the First World War. The battle was fought in conjunction with attacks by the Frenc ...

;

Battle of the Ancre Heights The Battle of the Ancre Heights (1 October – 11 November 1916), is the name given to the continuation of British attacks after the Battle of Thiepval Ridge from during the Battle of the Somme. The battle was conducted by the Reserve Army ( ...

;

Battle of Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...

;

Battle of Arleux The Battle of Arras, also known as the Second Battle of Arras, was a British offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. From 9 April to 16 May 1917, British troops attacked German defences near the French city of Arras on the We ...

;

Third Battle of the Scarpe Scarpe may refer to: * Scarpe river, in France * Battle of the Scarpe (disambiguation), four Battles of the Scarpe were fought during World War I * USS Scarpe (SP-713), a United States Navy ship * Scarpe Mountain * A scarpe in heraldry, a diminuti ...

;

Battle of Hill 70 The Battle of Hill 70 took place in the First World War between the Canadian Corps and attached units against five divisions of the German 6th Army. The battle took place along the Western Front on the outskirts of Lens in the Nord-Pas-de-Ca ...

;

Second Battle of Passchendaele The Second Battle of Passchendaele was the culminating attack during the Third Battle of Ypres of the First World War. The battle took place in the Ypres Salient area of the Western Front, in and around the Belgian village of Passchendaele, be ...

;

Battle of Cambrai (1917) The Battle of Cambrai (Battle of Cambrai, 1917, First Battle of Cambrai and ''Schlacht von Cambrai'') was a British attack in the First World War, followed by the biggest German counter-attack against the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) sinc ...

; Battle of Amiens;

Second Battle of the Somme The Second Battle of the Somme of 1918 was fought during the First World War on the Western Front from late August to early September, in the basin of the River Somme. It was part of a series of successful counter-offensives in response to th ...

;

Battle of the Canal du Nord The Battle of Canal du Nord was part of the Hundred Days Offensive of the First World War by the Allies against German positions on the Western Front. The battle took place in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, along an incomplete porti ...

(including the capture of

Bourlon Wood The Bourlon Wood Memorial, near Bourlon, France, is a Canadian war memorial that commemorates the actions of the Canadian Corps during the final months of the First World War; a period also known as Canada's Hundred Days, part of the Hundred Day ...

); Battle of Cambrai: October 8–9 (including the Capture of

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-pref ...

Provincial Shields

Edwin Tappan Adney, who had served as engineering officer at the Royal Military College of Canada 1916-1919, created a set of three-dimensional shields of the Canadian provinces that adorn Currie Hall. File:Major Percy Esrskine Nobbs plaque @ Currie Hall Royal Military College of Canada.JPG, Major

plaque File:Maj Stuart Forbes plaque in Currie Hall Royal Military College of Canada.JPG, Maj Stuart Forbes plaque

Artwork

Painting by Emily Warren in Currie Hall Royal Military College of Canada

In 1947,

Emily Warren Emily Warren Schwartz (born August 25, 1992) is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album, ''Quiet Your Mind'', was released in 2019. Warren had her first hit as a songwriter in 2016 as a co-writer on the Chainsmokers song "Don ...

's two large, , canvasses entitled ''Canada's Tribute, The Great War 1914–1919'' and ''Placing the Canadian Colours on

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

's Monument in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

''. Canada's Tribute was hung in the Currie Memorial Hall at RMC. The paintings depict the 52 sets of

colours, standards and guidons In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours, standards, flags, or guidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt some 5,000 year ...

being placed for safekeeping on the Wolfe Monument in

. The paintings were initially hung in the

Canadian Parliament Buildings The Canadian Parliament Buildings are the parliament buildings housing the Parliament of Canada, located on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Parliament Buildings The Parliament Buildings are three edifices arranged around three sides ...

. In 2010, thirty one paintings of

Canadian war memorials Canadian war memorials are buildings, monuments, and statues that commemorate the armed actions in the territory encompassing modern Canada, the role of the Canadian Armed Forces, Canadian military in conflicts and Canadian peacekeeping, peacekeep ...

by F.A. (Tex) Dawson were unveiled outside Currie Hall.

Memorial staircase

Royal Military College of Canada Memorial stairwell

As you enter the Mackenzie Building, which is connected to the Currie Building, you immediately see a staircase which was designated the memorial stairway after the First World War by RMC Cadet #151 Sir Archibald Cameron Macdonell, RMC Commandant 1919-1925. The staircase is decorated with the photographs of 358 alumni including Captain Nichola Goddard who had died in military service.

Memorial and Commemorative Stained Glass windows

Outside Currie Hall, stained glass windows feature images of the

Royal Canadian Sea Cadets The Royal Canadian Sea Cadets (RCSC; ) is a Canadian national youth program sponsored by the Canadian Armed Forces and the civilian Navy League of Canada. Administered by the Canadian Forces, the program is funded through the Department of Nati ...

Navy League Cadet Corps (Canada) The Navy League Cadet Corps (French: ''Corps de cadets de la Ligue navale'') was created by the Navy League of Canada for boys in 1948, and the Navy League Wrennette Corps was formed for girls in 1950. The Wrennette program no longer exists, since ...

and

Navy League Wrennette Corp The Navy League Wrennette Corps was formed by the Navy League of Canada in 1950 as a cadet organisation for girls to complement the Navy League Cadet Corps of Canada. It had similar objectives to the boys' organisation, and taught girls seamanshi ...

. In memory of David H. Gibson, C.B.E. National President, Navy League of Canada, 1938-1952 a stained glass window features images of a young sailor and God behind the ships' wheel. The window is dedicated to Canadians who in defence of the country went down to the sea in ships. The window includes a poem by H.R. Gillarm: Outside Currie Hall, on the first floor, two stained glass windows feature images of a military saint holding a staff and a shield and a military saint with a horse and three angels. The subject of the middle window is Truth Duty Valour, Royal Military College of Canada with the College shield and armour.

References

Stained glass in the Royal Military College of Canada Currie Hall
{{coord, 44.23030, N, 76.46790, W, display=title Historic buildings and structures in Ontario Buildings and structures in Kingston, Ontario Royal Military College of Canada Percy Erskine Nobbs buildings 1922 establishments in Ontario University and college buildings in Canada