By Phil Egan for the Sarnia Journal

Close friends called him “Bungo.”

More formally, he was known as The Right Honourable Lord Julian Byng of Vimy, Governor-
General of the Dominion of Canada.

To many veterans of the Great War in 1922, he was simply the hero of the Battle of Vimy
Ridge – the general who had led the Canadian Army to victory the first time that all four corps of
the army had fought together as one unit.

What ever you called him, his visit to Sarnia with Lady Byng on the Tuesday afternoon of April
18 th of that year was being described as “one of the most notable events in the history of
Sarnia.”

Mayor Crawford had declared a half-holiday, and the streets were described as a “riot of colour.”
Hundreds of Union Jacks waved in the breeze, and red, white and blue bunting draped city
streets along the parade route.

Banners carried various mottos – God Save our King, The Imperial City Greets You, Welcome
to Sarnia, Success to the British Empire, and The Maple Leaf Forever. One banner made an
attempt at poetry – “Biff, Bang Bing, Vimy and Everything.”

Lord Byng had been named Governor-General in 1921. His visit to Sarnia was part of a
national tour that would include a trip down the Mackenzie River and along the Arctic Ocean
coastline.

The vice-regal party was met at the downtown rail depot as their special train arrived shortly after
4 p.m. Mayor Crawford and city councillors extended official greeting s. A parade through city
street followed with thousands of cheering citizens lining the route.

Joining the parade were the Sarnia Band, the Machine Gun Company, the Boy Scouts and the
Imperial Pipe Band, a group of war veterans marching under the command of Major N.L.
LeSueur, M.C., the collegiate cadet corps, as well as civic, county and chamber of commerce
officials.

At city hall, a public reception gave the public a chance to meet Lord and Lady Byng.

After the reception, Lord Byng laid the cornerstone for the new war memorial in Point Edward.
Returning to Sarnia, Byng met war veterans at the Sarnia Service Club on Front Street.

The ladies of the city held a separate reception for Lady Byng.

The visit was over too soon.

For many Sarnians who might have difficulty naming the current Governor-General, the
adulation accorded Lord Byng may seem odd. But the victory at Vimy Ridge has become known
as “The Battle that Forged a Nation.” Canadians were proud of the sense of nationhood that the
battle had generated, and Lord Byng was seen as the architect of that victory.

In 1922, Lord Byng was the rock star of the era.