Every year the cadets of 2963 Seaforth Highlanders of Canada hold their Christmas dinner at the beginning of December, which is also a remembrance of the Ortona Dinner, which took place in 1943, in a church during some of the fiercest fighting the campaign had ever seen.
Capt. D.B. Cameron, Regimental Quartermaster of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, made the decision that the matter of a frenzied battle should not prevent a proper Christmas dinner, so he and his support staff scoured the countryside for foodstuffs. Cameron’s work led to the entire regiment enjoying a Christmas feast that left none wanting, and the effect on the morale of the troops was considered so great that the Ortona Dinner, as it became known, was the foundation for Cameron being invested as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (M.B.E.).
In tribute to Capt. Cameron, the cadets, staff and guests at 2963’s Christmas dinner collected non-perishable food items for the local food bank, as well as donating a couple of totes full of obsolete but still serviceable sweaters that the corps had stored at their training property.
For information on the army cadet program, go to www.cadets.ca, visit the corps’ Facebook page at facebook.com/2963seaforthhighlanders, or call 604-885-2965.
– Submitted
