Major FA Tilston VC Armoury is named in honour of Major Frederick Albert Tilston, VC. Completed in 1902 as the new home for the 21st Essex Fusiliers, it replaced the old wooden barracks that were in place at what is now City Hall Square. An impressive building with its Romanesque design, the armoury is the only of its kind in Essex County.
It later became the home of the Essex Scottish, and later still, the Essex-Kent Scottish Regiment. It was also the home of the Windsor Regiment of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps, and army cadet groups. The armoury was officially named after Major Tilston, after his passing in 1994, and used until 2004, when a new armoury was completed in the city's west end. Ownership was passed to the city administration, and later to the University of Windsor, who are currently renovating the armoury for future academic use.
Frederick Albert Tilston was born in Toronto, Ontario on 11 June 1906. He served with The Essex Scottish Regiment in the Second World War. Before he was awarded the Victoria Cross, Tilston had been wounded twice: the first time while in training, and the second time by a land mine during the fighting around Falaise in France in the summer of 1944.
