Ken Thornton donates mace to RCMP band
Ken Thornton may no longer parade with the RCMP Pipes and Drums but in some ways he will march on in perpetuity.
Thornton, 97, has donated a new regimental mace to the Ottawa RCMP Pipes and Drums band.
The mace, said Thornton, is a thank-you gift for helping him realize his dream.
He travelled to Ottawa on March 8 to make the presentation during a medals parade at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.
“He is family to us and a man of some considerable inspiration in terms of how to live life well,” said RCMP Pipes and Drums band officer Graham Muir.
He said Thornton has a very proud association with the Mounted Police.
At the age of 83, after a life-long dream of being part of the RCMP, Thornton learned to play the bagpipes so he could march with the band and wear the uniform.
Muir said Thornton had read an article about the band in an RCMP publication.
He learned the band was forming and it was to be comprised of citizen volunteers.
Thornton phoned Muir, who was the drum major at the time, and explained that as a young man he had a dream of joining the RCMP.
Thornton was in the process of applying for the force in St. Stephen, New Brunswick just before the Second World War when war broke out and the RCMP stopped recruiting. Thornton went on to join the air force.
“He always had this unrequited dream to join the Mounties so when he called me that day so long ago, he said I just want to play the bagpipes for one day and wear the uniform,” said Muir.
Muir told Thornton he would have to learn to play a few standards.
“That was the beginning of quite an adventure for Mr. Thornton and I. After all of these years now we are the closest of friends. He got his dream.”
His first parade was on national police royal service parade on Parliament Hill with several hundred police pipers in a mass band.
“As it turned out, he didn’t just come and play with us for a day,” said Muir.
Thornton continued to play with the band for several years, performing in Toronto, Ottawa, Saskatchewan and New York.
In a military pipe band the drum major carries the mace, to signal commands to the band. The head of the mace has the regimental badge, campaign honours and on the inside is a scroll containing the names of all RCMP officer killed in the line of duty.
Thornton is the first citizen to donate a regimental mace to the band program. It will replace a mace made in 1932, which is being retired. The band has been carrying the other mace on regimental and state occasions since its formation in 1999.
“Ken was kind enough to fund the making of the mace and we were very pleased and honoured to invite him to come to Ottawa to be part of the presentation ceremony,” said Muir. “You can see the big smile on his face. He was quite pleased about it and we were so proud to have him with us and the fact that we gave the mace to the commanding officer, assistant commissioner Gilles Michaud, who in turn presented it to our drum major Rod McLeod. Before that, Ken was welcome to say a few words at the podium, which he did. He is a very eloquent speaker.”
“It is a pleasure to present this token of appreciation to my special friends, whom I love, honour and respect, the RCMP Pipes and Drums band of Ottawa, and I am assured it will be received with pride and humility, as during its use in the ensuing years, fond recollections will be exchanged,” said Thornton at the time of the presentation.
“It was a very special moment for me to present that,” said Thornton. “The RCMP band has treated me with respect, kindness and love.”
Muir said the new mace will be used by the drum major for a century or more as it is of the finest quality.
In 2012, RCMP Pipes and Drums created the Ken Thornton Trophy awarded to the band member who most demonstrated the traits and character of the man himself.
