{"id":13103,"date":"2017-05-08T20:23:35","date_gmt":"2017-05-09T00:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.royalmontrealregiment.com\/?p=13103"},"modified":"2017-05-08T20:23:35","modified_gmt":"2017-05-09T00:23:35","slug":"tree-planted-in-honour-memory-of-colonel-lawson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/tree-planted-in-honour-memory-of-colonel-lawson\/","title":{"rendered":"Tree planted in honour memory of Colonel Lawson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Westmount, Quebec – 30 April 2017: The RMR planted a maple tree in front of their armoury on 30 April 2017 to honour the memory of\u00a0Colonel (ret\u2019d) Rhett Lawson, CD, KH, KLJ. The ceremony was\u00a0held on Saint-Catherine street immediately upon the Regiment’s return from their annual church parade, under\u00a0a light rain.\u00a0A special tree marker was designed to resemble a World War One fence post, and Colonel Lawson’s memory will be kept alive\u00a0with a plaque affixed to the tree marker for future generations to read.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Commanding Officer, LCol Denis, and Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel, LCol Robinson, pose with Mrs. Debbie Lawson and her family behind the freshly planted memorial tree<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lawson was a former Commanding Officer (1967-70), Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel (1979-84), and Honorary Colonel (1984-90) of The Royal\u00a0<\/span>Montreal<\/span> Regiment<\/span><\/a> (and former Commander of District 1, a precursor to 34 GBC). Comrade Lawson was also a member of the RMR Association (Br. 14)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Colonel Lawson was long considered the soul of the Regiment, and his counsel was sought on all matters. \u00a0His thirst for knowledge was unquenchable and he kept himself up to date with regards to weapons, tactics, leadership, uniforms, deployments, vehicles, etc. His dedication and passion for the RMR was strong to the end of his life.<\/p>\n

Colonel Lawson\u2019s time in command was one of great change in Canadian society and the military, a confluence of history particularly centred in Quebec and Montreal: 1967 \u2013 1970.\u00a0 Remarkably, Colonel Lawson assumed command at the tender age of 30, after only 8-years in the military \u2013 completely unheard of in a peacetime army. From enrollment he had devoted himself to taking every single training course that he could, and he was fully qualified for promotion to LCol and able to take command in September 1967.\u00a0 It cannot be overlooked that Colonel Lawson was part of a new breed who had not served in WW2, and he had new ideas.\u00a0 His civilian career (and passion) was Advertising, and his creative mind certainly served the Regiment well<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Right from the beginning, even compared to all of society\u2019s upheaval, progressive change, and more in the late 1960\u2019s, Colonel Lawson was ahead of his time.<\/p>\n

He took soldiering seriously and forced the Regiment to change from a social club mentality that saw the troops rarely training outside their Armoury.\u00a0 He instituted Saturday field training which replaced the Tuesday & Thursday evening schedules.\u00a0 His training model was so successful that it was mandated across Quebec by the end of the year, and then across the country within two years.<\/p>\n

As a born leader, he understood that fundamentally soldiers crave tough, challenging training \u2013 not being coddled.\u00a0 He even created an \u201cRMR Special Forces Platoon\u201d and personally designed their own patch that they were allowed to wear on their uniforms. Competition to become part of this elite force was fierce.<\/p>\n

Colonel Lawson loved being in the field. He especially enjoyed night recce patrols, shooting, and driving military vehicles at maximum speed across country.\u00a0 It is documented in Volume 3 of the Regimental history that his driving once thrust his passenger\u2019s head straight through the canvas of the jeep.\u00a0 It was a \u201crather peculiar bump\u201d<\/em> according to the good Colonel\u2026 of course his passenger, the RSM, was less than amused by the adventure.<\/p>\n

Colonel Lawson\u2019s contributions to the Regiment were tremendous, here are a few examples:<\/p>\n