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The First Battalion Calgary Highlanders 1939-1945 fonds
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2.75 m of textual records
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Biographical history
On 1 September 1939, the Calgary Highlanders mobilized, enlisting over 836 men, primarily from the Southern Alberta region, into the battalion. The battalion trained at Sarcee Camp until 25 May 1940, then moved to Camp Shilo in Southern Manitoba to unite with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada and the South Saskatchewan Regiment to form the 6th Brigade. At Camp Shilo, they engaged in physical training, parade drill, and target practise, interspersed with route marches and the occasional company exercise. Finally, on 21 August 1940, the battalion boarded trains bound for Halifax, and on 27 August, they embarked to the United Kingdom. Upon their arrival in Gourock, Scotland on 4 September 1940, the men boarded trains for Guillemon barracks near Aldershot (about 40km South-West of London). Shortly after their arrival at the barracks, the Highlanders were moved from the 6th Brigade to join the other battalions of the 5th Brigade; the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada, the Fusiliers Mont Royal (FMR), le Regiment de Maisonneuve, and le Regiment de la Chaudiere. There they practised with small arms such as the Thompson .45 calibre sub-machine gun and the Bren gun, and Anti-tank exercises with the Boys Anti-tank rifle and the 2-Pounder Anti-tank gun. They participated in Platoon drill and night marches, route marches, and classes in basic infantry skills, such as map reading. On 16 December 1940, the battalion moved to Talavera barracks, where training intensified. At the barracks, the men began to receive lessons on how to fight at section level. In the fall of 1941, Battle Drill training was initiated in the battalion by Col. Fred Scott. On 10 August 1942, the 3rd Platoon left the battalion on attachment to the Royal Canadian Artillery for training, but instead participated in the raid on Dieppe. The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division landed in France on 6 July 1944. The following Battle Honours were awarded to the Calgary Highlanders; Bourguebus Ridge, Faubourg de Vaucelles, Verrieres Ridge-Tilly-la-Campagne, Falaise, Falaise Road, Clair Tizon, Foret de la Londe, Dunkirk 1944, Wyneghem, Antwerp-Turnhout Canal, The Scheldt, Woensdrecht, South Beveland, Walcheren Causeway, The Rhineland, The Reichswald, The Hochwald, Xanten, The Rhine, Groningen, Oldenburg, and North-West Europe 1944-45. During the course of the war, 403 Calgary Highlanders were killed in action, and 1,354 were wounded. At 2:30pm on 25 November 1945, 476 Highlanders returned to a storm of cheers and confetti in Calgary.
Custodial history
The records came from a wide variety of sources including former members of the Regiment.
Scope and content
Consists of books and research papers; "Battalion of Heroes" (manuscripts and book), Battle Drill and the Calgary Highlanders, 1941-1945: a Different Perspective? (paper), The History of the Calgary Highlanders - Drafts I & IV. The Nominal Roll of the Battalion - 1945, sailing list for the S.S. Pasteur, August 1940, Regimental Photo dated 15 April 1941 with corresponding names, a list of the War Dead, War Diaries for the battalion dated 1939 -1945 (appendicies and Battalion Orders parts I & II are not available at this time), personal War Diaries, Uniform measurement guide, information regarding the mounting and wearing of awards and medals, interviews with veterans, Critiques of Command Exercises, Battalion Head-Quarters in North-West Europe 1944 -1945, Home Forces Exercise "Bumper" - Exercise Copy, Tactical Problems of an Invasion of North-West Europe, Canadian Operations in North-West Europe, newspapers and newsclippings, The Glen (regimental newspaper), a selection of photos and articles of the Battalion in England and North-West Europe, souvenir programmes for track meets, parades, and dinners, and Personnel files for J. Fred Scott, Donald Munro (includes P.P.C.L.I. service), W.J. Riley, F.J. Reynolds, R. Kerfoot, W.L. Lyster, Bruce McKenzie, Marvin Vosko, J. Bakewell, Vladimir P. Ignatieff, W.F. Harris, Harry L. Hodge, "Sonny" Collens, H.A.L. Duffin, O.L. Fuson, W. Dalton Heyland, Ross L. Ellis, H.J.E. MacDonald, B. Pittaway, Gerald Richards, J.P. Grofton, E.J. Whatley, S. Sadler, Harry F. Chrichley, William T. Wright, G.F. Guise, Walter Howard, Robert Gordon, Niel Sutherland, A.M. Foreman, George S. Whitehead, H.J.S. Pearson, P. Van Kyck, Stanley T. Colquhoun, F.H. Johnson, F.H. Clarke, R.A. Johnson, John E. McQueen, H.T.R. Gregg, F.O. Rourke, Milton Clemonts, W.S. Palmar, Harry Veiner, E. Winfield Lasher, John R. Harrison, Arthur Rice-Jones, J.C "Bert" Valentine, Herbert H. Houston, Donald C. Matthew, Walter Onia, W.N. Rawluk, Edwin E. Sucee, Peter Buitendyk, William E. Measor, Joseph W. Hodge, J. Nadon, F.A. Hileman, C.R. Sharp, Gordon S. Coen, C. Bishop, Gerald A. McMechan, Frederick "Grant" Dunsmore, Logan L. Middlemis, Gordon T. Pocock, Jean P. Bon, A.D. Melrose, Robert W. Nelson, Edward Tomas Brandon, Edward P. Ford, Lloyd R. Riddell, James C. Allan, Malcolm MacCrimmon, John Bright, Gordon "Red" Anderson, Gerald J. Amiro, F.C. McCusker, Beatrice Corbett, William S. Wills, John MacDougall, Alexander M. Macleod, S.R. Wallace, J.W. Stephen, E.J. Williams, William J. Wright, William J. Norrie, John George Morasch, Floyd E. Nowlin, Rose Mendelin, David McDonald, Clare Grover, Arthur H. Annett, Leslie Charles Holmes, John David Moffat, Alex Lerner, A. Elchuk, J.J. Doherty, John Gowans, Harry C. Botham, Bill Powell, George H.V. Jones, Edward C. Carleton, Clarence Crockett, C.E. Anderson, A.G. Richard, Leopold Lewis, Gordon Sellar, H.O. Larson, William S. Wills, John M. Melville, Gordon Atkinson, J.A. Keegan, Donald Shiell, Colin McIntosh, Sherwin O. Robinson, Bert W. Murray, H. Stuart Moore, E.V. Stanley, O.H. Mace, Albert Gallaway, William H. (Bill) Powell, William Leo Howse, Denneth Albert McKenzie, Elmer L. Lennox, Arthur H. Wilderman, Earl L. Kellar, Glen E. Lockwood, Don Adolph, C.F. Lemna, Rob Roy McGregor, Norman J. Bannon, Vernon Stott, Frank P. Holm, Norman MacLeod, Ray L. Parkins, Arthur Ames, George Stott, James Taylor, Douglas K. Robertson, John Morrison, Donald T. MacIvor, Thomas J. Reed, J.C. Haddon, Ralph Dangerfield, Geno Truant, George Meunier, Donald Stewart, Emile Michon, Melvin L. Lund, Napolean Langdeau, Robert E. Bingham, Floyd Krause, Michael Melenchuk, T.J.B. Apps, Percy George de Wolfe, George Mellenchuk, Arthur Case, Bill Kay, John Protti, Edward Bradish, Elvin de Bow, Donald Campbell, Ivan Booth, Don Muir, Dennis Culver, Joseph Segal, Vernon Cape, John Carter, Howard Schoening, Alfred Ames, Bert Sunderman, Cameron Fitzpartick, Lloyd Daniel, David Amos, Norman Beech, John Martin, Charles Jacquist, Maurice Silver, Hebert Jepps, Jack Logue, Edwin Rhodes, Ralph Teter, John D. Balmer, Bob Hahn, W.J. Megill, John Shaw, Gordon McQueen, Earl Congdon, Amos D. Chandler, R.C. McKenzie, Douglas F. Middleton, Cecil H. Rayburn, Mike Seaman, Boyd Southwood, John B. Malkin, Lee M. Painter, Ken Lemly, Aubrey Mason, A.J. Medhurst, Charles D. Dent, Wilfred J. Heard, Maurice Drolet, George F. Stratton, Stanley Guttman, Bruce Queen, Thomas Frederick Oakes, Ernest B. Hetherington, Mark Tennant, and Mark R. Bell. Also contains "Bon Coeur et Bon Bras" (French text) - a history of the Regiment de Maisonneuve (book), "1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment - The History of the Kangaroos" (book), "Canada - Netherlands 1945-1980 Commemoration" (pamphlet), 5th Brigade History Sketch (paper), and War Diary - Regiment de Maisonneuve.
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Record No. Files 90-1 to 99-1<br><br>
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- The Calgary Highlanders 1939-1945 (Subject)