Calgary Highlanders


The Calgary Highlanders is a Canadian Army Primary Reserve infantry regiment, headquartered at Mewata Armouries in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The regiment is a part-time reserve unit, under the command of 41 Canadian Brigade Group, itself part of 3rd Canadian Division, one of four region-based Canadian Army divisions. The regiment is one of only two regiments in the Canadian Forces to wear an honorary distinction on their uniform, commemorating the counterattack at Kitcheners' Wood. On 9 January 2015, the regiment was recognized with the Canadian Forces' Unit Commendation for outstanding contributions to the war in Afghanistan.

Badge

The badge is based on that worn by the 10th Battalion, CEF, which the regiment perpetuates. Significantly, a St. Andrew's Cross has been added to the design.
The crown is of the reigning monarch; a Tudor Crown was used from the introduction of this badge until 1953, and the ascension of Queen Elizabeth II. The crown was then changed to a St. Edward's Crown. These are sometimes referred to as "King's" and "Queen's" Crowns. In 2026 the Canadian Armed Forces announced that the Canadian Royal Crown will be progressively transitioned onto regimental insignia as the perpetual representation of the Sovereign's authority in Canada regardless of the reigning monarch. No timeline for when the Calgary Highlanders will conform to the new standard has been made public.
The beaver and maple leaves are representative of Canada and the scrolls bearing thistles are representative of Scotland. The City of Calgary grew out of Fort Calgary, established in 1875 and so named by Colonel James Macleod after Calgary, Scotland, a location near his sister's home.
The badge appears not only as a cap badge, but is also seen on the regiment's drums, as well as the drum major's sash and regimental pipe banners.

Lineage

On 1 April 1910 the regiment was raised as the 103rd Regiment "Calgary Rifles". In 1914 the 103rd contributed men to several battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and the Highlanders officially perpetuate the 10th Battalion, CEF, 56th Battalion, CEF and 82nd Battalion, CEF. The 103rd Regiment was reorganized on 15 March 1920 as two separate regiments, The Alberta Regiment and The Calgary Regiment as part of the Otter Committee reorganizations. On 15 May 1924 The Calgary Regiment was again reorganized and split into two separate regiments, The Calgary Regiment and The Calgary Highlanders.
On 15 September 1921 The Calgary Regiment divided into six battalions, the 1st Battalion became the 1st Battalion, Calgary Highlanders, The Calgary Regiment. The 2nd Battalion, The Calgary Regiment later became the King's Own Calgary Regiment. The 3rd, 4th and 5th battalions were paper units that were never formed; they disbanded in the 1936 reorganizations of the Militia.
On 15 May 1924, The Calgary Regiment reorganized as separate regiments.
  • Originated 1 April 1910 as the 103rd Regiment "Calgary Rifles"
  • Reorganized 15 March 1920 as two separate regiments, The Alberta Regiment and The Calgary Regiment
  • 1st Battalion of The Calgary Regiment redesignated as 1st Battalion, Calgary Highlanders, The Calgary Regiment
  • Reorganized 15 May 1924 as two separate regiments, The Calgary Regiment and The Calgary Highlanders
  • Redesignated 7 November 1940 as the 2nd Battalion, The Calgary Highlanders
  • Redesignated 15 December 1945 as The Calgary Highlanders
  • Redesignated 21 March 2024 as The Calgary Highlanders

    History

1910–1914

The regiment dates back to 1 April 1910 and the creation of the 103rd Regiment, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel William Armstrong. The regiment did not mobilize for the First World War; however, the 103rd Regiment contributed men to several overseas battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force beginning in 1914, including the 10th Battalion.

First World War

Details of the 103rd Regiment "Calgary Rifles" were called out on active service on 6 August 1914 for local protection duties, but did not mobilize for overseas service. Individual officers and soldiers of the 103rd were employed as internment camp staff and guards at Banff as well as Cave and Basin until 1917. The regiment remained a part time Militia unit throughout the war.
The 10th Battalion, CEF was authorized on 10 August 1914 and embarked for Britain on 29 September 1914. It disembarked in France on 14 February 1915, where it fought as part of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Division in France and Flanders until the end of the war. The battalion disbanded on 30 August 1920.
The 56th Battalion, CEF was authorized on 7 November 1914 and embarked for Britain on 20 March 1916. There it provided reinforcements for the Canadian Corps in the field until 6 July 1916, when its personnel were absorbed by the 9th Reserve Battalion, CEF. The battalion disbanded on 15 September 1917.
The 82nd Battalion, CEF was authorized on 10 July 1915 and embarked for Britain on 20 May 1916. There it provided reinforcements for the Canadian Corps in the field until 18 July 1916, when its personnel were absorbed by the 9th Reserve Battalion, CEF. The battalion disbanded on 21 May 1917.
The Calgary Highlanders perpetuate all three battalions.

Interwar Period

In 1921, the Canadian Militia was reorganized and the 103rd Regiment became simply "The Calgary Regiment". The 1st Battalion of this new unit became known as the Calgary Highlanders. The regiment was permitted to perpetuate the history of the 10th Battalion, CEF, and inherited that units battle honours as well as inheriting the memory of two Victoria Cross holders, Acting Sergeant Arthur George Knight and Private Harry W. Brown, both of whom were awarded the VC posthumously in the last year and a half of the Great War.
The process for awarding battle honours for the First World War took over a decade, and The Calgary Highlanders were first awarded battle honours for the actions of the 10th Battalion, CEF, on 15 September 1929.
The official granting of battle honours to the 10th Battalion was not done until 15 October of the same year. There was also one minor change; while the Calgary Highlanders were granted "Arras, 1917, '18" as a battle honour, the 10th Battalion's honour read only "Arras, 1917."
While the overall battle of Saint-Julien was considered worthy of a battle honour, to the dismay of those regiments perpetuating the units involved, the counter-attack at Kitcheners' Wood was not. This counterattack, 22 April 1915, was thrown into the first German gas attack of the war. In recognition of this gallant effort and the persistence of the Winnipeg Light Infantry, the Calgary Highlanders and the Canadian Scottish, a special 'honorary distinction' was granted by Order in Council No. 10, 1934, of a special oak leaf shoulder badge now unique in the Canadian armed forces, and worn only by those three regiments at the time of adoption in 1938, and today by only two units, The Calgary Highlanders and The Canadian Scottish Regiment.

Second World War

The regiment mobilized for active service as The Calgary Highlanders, Canadian Active Service Force on 1 September 1939. The regiment trained in Calgary until the summer of 1940 when it departed for Camp Shilo, Manitoba.

1st Battalion

On 27 August 1940, The Calgary Highlanders, CASF moved with the Second Canadian Division to Britain. In September 1940, the 1st Battalion arrived in England. The Calgary Highlanders, CASF, was re-designated as the 1st Battalion, The Calgary Highlanders on 7 November 1940. The Calgary Highlanders pioneered battle drill for the Canadian Army, which was a realistic system of training infantry for the hardships of modern war. They themselves learned battle drill from the British 47th Division.
The battalion's mortar platoon took part in the Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942. The mortar platoon commanded by Lieutenant FJ Reynolds was attached to the 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade but stayed offshore during the raid. Sergeants Lyster and Pittaway were decorated with a Mention in Despatches for their part in shooting down two German aircraft during the raid, and one officer of the regiment was killed while ashore with a brigade headquarters.
On 6 July 1944, one month after the Normandy landings, the regiment landed in France as part of the 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, and it continued to fight in North-West Europe until the end of the war. In Operation Spring, the Calgary Highlanders were part of the Battle of Verrières Ridge, along with the Black Watch, in which the regiment took heavy casualties. The battalion's worst day of casualties was 1 August 1944 during the assault on Tilly, part of the fighting for Verrières Ridge. The Highlanders suffered 34 killed and 97 wounded, including 2 company commanders, in a 24 hour period. The unit saw extensive action in Normandy, marched through Dieppe with the 2nd Division in September 1944 as liberators, then moved on to the fighting for the Channel Ports. By the end of September the regiment was in Belgium and forced a crossing of the Albert Canal, northeast of Antwerp.
The regiment saw extensive fighting in the Netherlands in October 1944, opening the way to South Beveland, and then west to the Walcheren Island Causeway where the brigade fought an extended battle beginning on Hallowe'en night.
From November to February 1945 the regiment wintered in the Nijmegen Salient, then was back in action in the Rhineland fighting, clearing the last approaches to the River Rhine itself. Fighting resumed on the far bank in March, and city fighting in Doetinchem and Groningen followed. The regiment ended the war on VE Day on German soil.
The Victory Campaign had cost The Calgary Highlanders over 400 men killed, from a war establishment of just over 800 men. Several times that many were wounded in action.
Sergeant Clarence "Ken" Crockett, DCM, of the 1st Battalion, Calgary Highlanders, was nominated for the Victoria Cross for actions in September 1944 and instead received the Distinguished Conduct Medal. The regiment selected the Battle of Walcheren Causeway for annual commemoration after the war. The 1st Battalion disbanded on 15 December 1945.
AwardNumber
Distinguished Service Order5
Military Cross2
Distinguished Conduct Medal7
Military Medal15
Mentioned in Dispatches13
Foreign Awards 13