One of the oldest veterans groups in the country held its final meeting Tuesday night at the Union Club in Saint John.

The Byng Boys started in 1919 after the First World War, and were named after Sir Julian Byng, commander of the Canadian army at Vimy Ridge and later a governor general. Club member George Pridham said that in those days there was a special requirement for membership.

"Originally, to be a Byng Boy you had to be carried off the field of battle, and as it turned out, basically I was the only one in the Byng Boys that really qualified, because I had my leg shot off and left in the aircraft, and the Dutch carried me off the field of battle."...

The club is folding because they're all getting older, said Pridham, and they wanted to call it quits while they could still attend meetings, like the one Tuesday night filled with toasts and camera flashes.