When the call to arms sounded, two brothers from Edinburgh, Scotland answered the challenge. One of those brothers, John Munro, enlisted with his native Cameron Highlanders of Scotland.
George Finlay Munro, John’s brother, decided instead to enlist with the Canadians, and served with the 43rd Division of the Cameron Highlanders of Canada.
George had moved to Canada in 1911 and settled in Winnipeg. Enlistment with the Highlanders sent the twenty-six year old back across the Atlantic and, beginning in 1916, through some of the fiercest battles in the Western theatre. The young lieutenant fought at Mount Sorrel, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, Amiens, and the Hindenburg Line.
On Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, Munro was fighting at Mons. When the dust settled and the armies returned home, demobilization of the enlisted officers began. Munro was officially discharged in March of the following year and returned to Canada. Brother John Munro never left France —he was killed early into the war. According to George’s son, Donald, there is no evidence the brothers had communicated during the war.
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