Mount Pleasant Cemetery
Step through the gates of Mount Pleasant Cemetery and you’ll find a monument that speaks of courage, tragedy and enduring loyalty. The 48th Highlanders of Canada, formed in Toronto on October 16, 1891, proudly carried their motto Dileas gu bath – “Faithful Forever” – into battlefields from South Africa to Europe.
But one of their darkest days came not in war, but on Thanksgiving Monday, 1912. After a military drill near Milton, a train packed with 700 Highlanders collided with the “Detroit Flyer” at Streetsville Junction. The impact was slight, yet an aging coach crumpled like paper. Two young soldiers, Privates Mac Murdock and John Bannatyne, lost their lives and 30 more were injured. To express its grief and honour those fallen and injured, the regiment raised a monument on its burial lot, later etched with battle honours spanning the unit’s decades of service.
In 1969, this memorial was moved to a prominent spot near Mount Pleasant Road, where it stands today, a silent sentinel reminding visitors of the Highlanders’ well-known penchant for sacrifice and steadfastness. It is not just stone; it is a story of faith, duty and the price of service.
Sources:
• 48th Highlanders Museum. “48th Highlander Memorial Monument in Mount Pleasant Cemetery”
• 15th Battalion CEF Memorial Project. “Regimental Memorial, Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto”
• Veterans Affairs Canada. “48th Highlanders of Canada Memorial”
• The Toronto Daily Star, October 30, 1912
Photos:
• Winter - veterans.gc.ca
• Summer - Courtesy of Mount Pleasant Group
