General Wingate Branch 256, Royal Canadian Legion fonds

Physical Description: 35 photographs : b&w and col. ; 21 x 79 cm or smaller; 2 folders of textual records

Admin History/Bio: The Jewish Brigade was a member of the Great War Association in the 1920s. After its first president was installed in the early 1930s, the Royal Canadian Legion granted a charter for a Jewish veterans' branch. The brigade was renamed the General Wingate Branch in the mid-1940s after the British army officer Major General Orde Charles Wingate, DSO. Although Major Wingate was not Jewish, he was a passionate Zionist, hence the name.; At first, the branch met at a veteran’s hall at Crawford and College Streets in Toronto, but later purchased its own house at 1610 Bathurst Street. In 1968, the branch moved to Eglinton Avenue West. It was then located at the Zionist Centre on Marlee Avenue.; The branch held an annual memorial march and service at the Mt. Sinai Cemetery, and distributed poppies to raise funds for veterans and their families, hospitals and medical research. Members also gave speeches at schools on Remembrance Day. It closed in September 2018 after more than eighty years.

Scope and Content: Fonds consists of photographs and textual records that document the activities and history of the General Wingate Branch 256. Included are images of parades, memorials, picnics and executive members. There is also one 1950s branch newsletter documenting the branch's purchase of Wingate House.

Related Material: See also Fonds 51, series 5-3, file 15 for images of Remembrance Day ceremonies held by the General Wingate Branch 256.