On March 4, 1922, a ceremony was held at St. John the Evangelist (Garrison Church) for the formal opening of a Medical Mission in honour of members of the congregation and parishioners who lost their lives in the First World War. It was established under the leadership of the rector, Captain the Reverend John Russell MacLean, and ran until sometime after the Second World War. Four hundred men from the parish answered the call during the First World War. Of these, 40 paid the supreme sacrifice. The ceremony was conducted in the crypt by Bishop James Fielding Sweeny where the brass tablet erected to the gallant dead was blessed.
Reverend MacLean was the rector of this Garrison Church and Chaplain to his Majesty's Forces as Stanly Barracks. In organizing the medical mission, he worked closely with two prominent Toronto doctors: John Taylor Fotheringham and Herbert Ernest Clutterbuck. Dr. Fotheringham was the postwar commander, as a major general, of the Militia component of the Canadian Army Medical Corps and, in the civilian world, on the faculty of the University of Toronto. He had joined the Militia as a student at the university and served as Surgeon Lieutenant of the 12th York Rangers and later the Queen’s Own Rifles. Fotheringham went overseas with the 2nd Canadian Division and was appointed the formation’s senior medical officer in 1915. Dr. Herbert Ernest Clutterbuck, a friend and colleague, was chief surgeon at St. John’s Hospital and later chief surgeon of Toronto Western Hospital. Clutterbuck was a graduate of the University of Toronto and had served as a medical officer with the British army during the war. He also taught at the university. Dr. Alex D. McKelvy, another experienced physician, volunteered to be the ear, nose and throat specialist.
St. John the Evangelist (Garrison Church) was located at the corner of Portland and Wellington Streets. The church was filled with row after row of smartly uniformed soldiers who always left the church before the rest of the congregation. By 1963, the building needed serious repairs and it was decided to demolish the building. It was replaced by a modern building that served the congregation until 1985 when the church property was sold.
The cairn remained in place until about 1982. It is not known what happened to the cairn or its plaque.
