72nd Battalion CEF Colour Party marching past General Sir Arthur Currie, Ohain, Belgium. 1 April 1919. From left to right are General Sir David Watson, Lt Col Guy Kirkpatrick, General Currie and BGen James Kirkaldy who commanded the 12th Infantry Brigade from December 1918 to June 1919. James Kirkaldy (1866 - 1957) was a member of the Canadian Militia (Manitoba Dragoons) from 1907 to 1910 and Major of the 99th Manitoba Rangers in 1914. He joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in August 1914 serving as a Major in the 8th Winnipeg Rifles. He was wounded at the second Battle of Ypres and was invalided to Canada. He then raised the 78th Battalion of the Winnipeg Grenadiers and took it to France in 1916, serving at The Somme, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, Arras, Amiens, and Cambria. On the death of Brigadier-General McBrien, he was given Brigade Command, serving at Canal du Nord, Valenciennes, and Mons. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (2 Bars), Croix de Guerre, and the C.M.G. He returned to Canada in June 1919. From the Regimental History, pages 182, 183 "At about the end of March it was 'arranged that the Battalion should have their colours presented to them by the Corps Commander Sir Arthur Currie. This was the most important event of the period following the armistice, and much preparation was made for it. April 1st, the date set for it, dawned beautifully, and at ,about 11 a.m. the Battalion was formed up, drums piled in front, in review order on the parade ground. As the Corps Commander walked on to the parade, the long line of bayonets flashed into the "Present" and the always impressive ceremony of consecration, conducted on this occasion by Capt. (Rev.) Wilkin, began, the Battalion having formed into hollow square about the piled drums. Although for obvious reasons the colours do not take the place in modern warfare that they did in the wars of former centuries, they still retain much of their ancient significance and there was not a man present who did not feel that they focussed the romance of the Battalion's history and the memories of the Battalion's dead. With appropriate words the Corps Commander placed the colours in the hands of the officers selected to bear them, and to the impressive strains of "God Save the King," played in slow march time, the King's and the regimental colours moved into their position in the centre of the phalanx. The Battalion then marched past the Corps Commander, its new colors blowing out bravely in the fresh breeze. An interesting fact in connection with the presentation was the presence of Brig.-General N. A. Thompson, C.M.G., D.S.O., now commanding the 1st Battalion Seaforth Highlanders, and Lieut.-Col. A. W. Turnbull, M. C., commanding officer of the 8th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders."