Lieutenant-Colonel Bert Hoffmeister (left), wearing his Seaforth Highlander balmoral and shoulder flash in Sicily, summer of 1943. Hoffmeister won a Distinguished Service Order for his actions in Sicily. Here he sits with a Major Wood, who wears a Black Watch Canada balmoral and shoulder flash, but oddly wears a 1st Division red patch. The Black Watch were part of Canadian 2nd Division. Perhaps he is temporarily attached? On 25 August 1943 in Sicily, The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada held a “reunion” with three Seaforth units from the United Kingdom – the 2nd, 5th and 6th Battalions, Seaforth Highlanders. Ceremonies opened with the massed pipes and drums of the four battalions marching to the Catania Stadium for the sounding of Retreat. According to the regimental diary it was “a never to be forgotten sight, that kilted phalanx walking through Catania with local populace agape with wonder and admiration.” Afterwards a party ensued at a villa in nearby Misterbianco which housed the officers’ and sergeants’ messes of the 6th Battalion. The C.O. of the Canadian Seaforths (Lt-Col Hoffmeister) toasted the three British battalions with an uplifting speech said “to reach the hearts of all Seaforths present.”
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