Born and raised in Eastern Ontario, William Glenn Munro joined the Stormont Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders as a reservist.

He married Eileen Owen in 1950, then joined the regular forces and rebadged into The Queen’s Own Rifles.

He had tours in Victoria, Hemer Germany, Kingston, Regina (as reserve liaison officer), Calgary, Bielefeld Germany (with British Army of the Rhine), NDHQ Ottawa, Kingston (Staff College Directing staff), and finally back to NDHQ Ottawa.

When the QOR was being withdrawn from the regular forces he was working at NDHQ in Ottawa and argued that since he was NOT with the unit there was no need for him to re-badge.  He won that argument and remained a QOR officer until his retirement from the regular forces in May 1979.  He later returned to NDHQ (Directorate of Cadets) as a Class C reservist – still proudly wearing the QOR badge.

He served as a peacekeeper in Cypress and was selected to observe the India/Pakistan border (UNMOGIP) in the mid 1970s. He was rejected by the Indian government when they discovered a heart anomaly which they feared could pose problems at the extremely high altitudes he would have been exposed to in the Himalayas.

The QOR museum has been donated a photo of Defence Minister Barney Danson wearing LCol Munro’s mess dress, which he needed for a special occasion.  The photo was signed by Minister Danson and accompanied by an amusing letter thanking him for providing the uniform.  Minister Danson also sent him a personal note upon his retirement.

It is our understanding that LCol Munro was the last regular force officer serving in the QOR of Canada.  Here is a picture of him with his son – newly commissioned Lt. Ian Munro – taken in 1978.

Following his retirement, he moved to Tichbourne Ontario where, among other activities, he devoted much time and energy supporting the local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.  He died in 1995 at the age of 68.

Biography submitted by the family of LCol Munro.