The Calgary Highlanders

The Calgary Highlanders are a Land Force Reserve infantry regiment.

The Calgary Highlanders File:Calgaryhighlanders.gif Headquarters: Calgary, AB Predecessor: 103rd Regiment (Calgary Rifles) Perpetuates: 10th, 56th & 137th Battalions, CEF Colonel in Chief: HM Queen Elizabeth II Regimental Birthday: 1 April (1910) Current Role: Light Infantry Higher Formation: 41 CBG

Current Information

Location: Since inception, the Regiment has headquartered at Mewata Armouries, located at the western end of 8th Ave SW in Calgary, Alberta.

Mailing Address: The Calgary Highlanders, 801 - 11th Street S.W., Calgary, AB, T2P 2C4.

Telephone Number: The switchboard for all Reserve miltary units in Calgary can be contacted at 410-2320.

Recruiting Contacts: For recruiting, call extension 3345.

Commanding Officer: Lieutenant Colonel Tom Manley, CD

Regimental Sergeant Major: Chief Warrant Officer Flint Walters, CD

Pipe Major/Drum Major: Mr. Mike Giles/Mr. Don Stewart

Abbreviation/Regimental Short Title: The official abbreviation as used in military correspondence, and worn on the shoulder title, is CALG HIGHRS.

Mission Elements: The Calgary Highlanders currently fields one Mission Element. "A" Company is a dismounted rifle company that undergoes challenging training on a yearly cycle. Each year the Company changes its focus to provide as wide a range of experience to its soldiers as possible. Past training years have seen training in dismounted light infantry tactics, mechanized infantry training, tactical helicopter operations, amphibious operations, and mountain warfare training, with emphasis changing between offensive and defensive operations. Other training has included civil security, patrolling, as well as the annual qualification in such things as marksmanship, heavy weapons handling, first aid, defence against chemical and nuclear weapons, and landmine awareness.

Regimental Structure: The regiment is organized on the lines of an Infantry Battalion, with Headquarters Company overseeing and supporting the training of both "A" Company and Headquarters Company. The regiment also has an authorized Pipes and Drums.

Higher Formation: The Calgary Highlanders are just one unit of 41 Canadian Brigade Group, headquartered in Alberta and including all Reserve Army units throughout the province. The Brigade is part of Land Force Western Area.

Current Training

Urban training, 2004. Photo by MCpl Shawn McDonald, 41CBG.

The Regiment is standing down for the summer as of Jun 2006. Training in 2005-2006 has focused on individual skills; the training year 2006-2007 will focus on collective training; the Regiment anticipates sending a large contingent abroad as part of Task Force 4-07. In the first half of 2006, 27 Calgary Highlanders deployed on operations to Afghanistan.

Training in recent years has varied, from standard light infantry offensive and defensive operations, to urban fighting as well as regimental Mountain Operations courses.

Uniforms and Traditions

Facing colour: Yellow

Tartan: Government Tartan Number Two

Regimental March (Quick Time): Highland Laddie

Regimental March (Slow Time): None officially authorized, but The Sloedam is used for this purpose.

Motto: "Airaghardt" (Gaelic for "Onward", the motto of the City of Calgary).

Regimental Alliance: Until the creation of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, an alliance existed between the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) of the British Army, originally formed in 1925. The alliance will be nullified by the amalagamation of the Argylls into the Royal Regiment, until it is made clear whether or not alliances will be granted between individual battalions of the new "super regiment." If so, the alliance will have to be reaffirmed officially.

Events

Annual Commemorations: The Regiment commemorates St Julien's Day on the weekend closest to 22 April, commemorating the counter-attack by the 10th and 16th Battalions, CEF, on Kitcheners' Wood on "The Glorious 22nd of April, 1915". The occasion is marked by the annual reunion dinner of the Tenth Battalion/Calgary Highlanders Association. The Regiment also exercises its right to the Freedom of the City of Calgary on this weekend by marching to church parade and a wreath laying at City Hall.

The Regiment also commemorates the Battle of Walcheren Causeway, one of many hard earned Battle Honours awarded to the Regiment during the Second World War. The commemoration of this battle, on the weekend closest to 31 October, includes a Drumhead Ceremony jointly held with the Dutch community of Calgary.

The Regiment also participates in Rememberance Day services in communities throughout southern Alberta, from where the majority of their recruits were drawn during the Second World War.

Annual Events: Annual public events supported by the Regiment include the Calgary Stampede in July and the Grand Highland Ball each spring, jointly hosted by the Regiment and the Old 78th Fraser Highlanders. The Regimental Pipes and Drums have an extensive calendar of public appearances and may be contacted via the weblink on the main menu of this site.

Battle Honours

The Calgary Highlanders have served in both World Wars, suffering over 1,300 fatal casualties from 1915 to 1918, and over 400 fatal casualties between 1939 and 1945. Two soldiers were rewarded with the Victoria Cross, both posthumously.

Ypres, 1915, '17 St. Julien Mount Sorrel Thiepval Arras, 1917, '18 Arleux Passchendaele Scarpe, 1918 Hindenburg Line Pursuit to Mons Bourguebus Ridge Verrières Ridge - Tilly-la-Campagne Falaise Road Forêt de la Londe Wyneghem The Scheldt The Rhineland The Hochwald The Rhineland Oldenburg

Gravenstafel Festubert, 1915 Somme, 1916 Ancre Heights Vimy, 1917 Hill 70 Amiens Drocourt-Quéant Canal du Nord France and Flanders, 1915-18 Fauborg de Vaucelles Falaise Road Clair Tizon Dunkirk, 1944 Antwerp-Turnhout Canal Woensdrecht Walcheren Causeway Reichswald Xanten Groningen North West Europe, 1944-45

First World War

Ypres, 1915 - 17 - The Second Battle of Ypres in 1915 was the first major action for the First Canadian Division, with whom the Tenth Battalion served. It was also the first instance on the Western Front of the use of poison gas as a weapon of war. A wide scale German attack using this gas routed two entire French Divisions, but the First Canadian Division held firm, at a cost of some 6,000 of its 10,000 men. It was during this battle that the St. Julien battle was fought, and the counter-attack at Kitcheners' Wood was mounted, for which the Oak Leaf shoulder badge distinction was eventually granted. St. Julien's Day is commemorated annually by the Regiment, and one of the Regiment's official toasts is "To The Glorious 22nd of April."

The Third Battle of Ypres in 1917 describes very large operations in this area, including the Battle of Passchendaele.

As a note on pronounciation - while the people of Flanders pronounce this name as "ee-pray" (and in fact have changed the spelling to Iepres), to many Canadians who served and died there, it was known more familiarly simply as "Wipers".

Gravenstafel - The Gravenstafel Ridge was a low rise east of Ypres, one of the key features in the German attacks from 24-26 April, 1915. The Tenth Battalion by this point, after suffering heavily in its counter-attacks of 22-23 April, mustered only 174 men but still contributed enough to the defence of the position to merit a Battle Honour for their work.

Saint-Julien - The town of St. Julien was located east of Ypres, in the south-western part of Belgium known as Flanders. The Tenth Battalion was called forward on the night of 22-23 April to counterattack the strong German formation advancing through a large gap in the line created by the rout of two French divisions. Forming up in front of the Sixteenth Battalion, the two units mounted a hasty assault on an oak plantation known as Bois de Cuisineres, or Kitcheners' Wood, so named because the French had located their field kitchens there. The assault cost the life of the Tenth's Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Boyle, and of the 816 men who crossed the start line on 22 April, only some 193 survived. Nonetheless, the German advance was stopped. This action moved the overall commander of the French Army to describe the attack as the single bravest act of the entire war.

Festubert, 1915 - Fought twenty kilometres north of Vimy, France, this unsuccessful attempt to capture K5, a small hill, was stopped short with heavy losses due to wet terrain, strong German defences, and little time to prepare.

Mount Sorrel - Another unsuccessful assault, this counter-attack by the Tenth Battalion was launched on a small knoll in the Ypres Salient on 3 June 1916. Considerable losses were suffered. Despite the relatively low height of this feature, it provided an excellent viewpoint over the otherwise flat terrain in the area and was of considerable strategic importance.

Somme, 1916 - The Canadians were not involved in the opening phases of this campaign, which began on 1 July 1916 - the "July Drive." That first day was the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army, with 20,000 men being killed and 40,000 more being wounded. That opening day was only the beginning of several months of major operations by both the British and French armies. By the time the battle wound down to an official conclusion in November, hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides of the lines had been killed, and thousands more maimed and injured. The Tenth Battalion was involved in a series of operations from 8 September and 17 October, primarily defensive actions which were successful, north of Albert, France near the town of Boiselle.

Thiepval - Thiepval Ridge, near the town of Courcelette, represented a successful offensive operation for the Tenth Battalion, fought on 26 September 1916, at the cost of 241 casualties.

Ancre Heights - Another successful defensive battle fought by the Tenth Battalion, during the Somme Campaign, near the town of Albert, France. Modest casualties were suffered during the action on 10-11 September 1916.

Arras, 1917, '18 - The Arras battles refer to the overall British offensives in that area of Northern France, the first battle (in 1917) of which included the dramatic Canadian capture of Vimy Ridge. The Tenth Battalion fought in the Arras battles of 1917 and 1918.

Vimy, 1917 - Intended as a diversion to draw attention away from French actions farther south, and often serving only as a footnote to the less successful overall Battle of Arras in 1917 waged by the British armies, Vimy was the greatest victory of the war for the Canadian Corps, which by 1917 numbered four divisions. In a dramatic assault on Easter Monday, the 9th of April, and representing the best in Canadian tactical ingenuity, military engineering, and technical innovation, the Canadians seized most of this dominating feature in a few short hours, and finally clearing the entire ridge in three days. The British and French had been unable to clear these heights since the Germans first seized them in 1914, and had lost more men in the process of trying than the Canadians as a whole started out with on 9 April. The Tenth Battalion had its own role to play in this great drama, and reached all its objectives on time, at the cost of 374 casualties.

Arleux - The Arleux Loop was a follow up to the Vimy operation, launched on 28 April 1917, aimed at capturing a major German billeting area at Arleux-en-Gohelle. The operation went in over open ground and produced serious casualties.

Hill 70 - Rising only 15 feet over surrounding terrain, this hill north of Lens, Belgium was the scene of a diversionary attack to relieve pressure on the city of Lens itself. On 15-16 August 1917, a strong German counter-attack was repulsed by the Tenth Battalion. Private Harry Brown, who was killed acting as a courier during this battle, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. In addition to the VC, three DSOs, 7 MC, 9 DCMs and 60 (!) MMs were earned by the Tenth Battalion - giving the Tenth Battalion the distinction of winning more medals than any other Canadian combat unit in a single action in the course of the First World War. Passchendaele - Named for a village located on a low rise in the Ypres Salient, the very word Passchendaele has become synonymous with suffering and waste. Strong German defences in this area, developed over the course of more than two years, gave the British extremely hard going.

The Tenth Battalion were called out of reserve to assist an attack on Hill 52, part of the same low rise Passchendaele itself was situated on. The Battalion was not scheduled to attack, but the CO wisely prepared his soldiers as if they would be making the main assault - a decision that paid dividends when the unit was called out of reserve. On 10 November 1917, the Tenth Battalion took the feature with light casualties.

Amiens - The offensive Allied campaign under the command of Marshall Foch of the French Army cleared the Germans from positions near the important rail centre of Amiens. Consisting of a series of battles fought from August to September of 1918, it signalled the beginning of the end of the war on the Western Front.

Scarpe, 1918 - A defensive operation, finding the Tenth Battalion once again in the Somme sector. A successful defence of the Fampoux area on the Anzain-Arras Road was made beside the Scarpe River, between 27 April and 4 May 1918.

Drocourt-Queant - The D-Q Line, as it was commonly known, was but a part of the famous Hindenberg Line, a large series of German fortifications and defensive positions. During the Amiens campaign mentioned above, the Tenth Battalion was part of a successful advance along the Arras-Cambrai road towards Viller-lez-Cagnicourt. Acting Sergeant Arthur Knight was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his expemplary courage during this action.

Hindenburg Line - The last line of defence for the German Army in the Amiens campaign, broken when Cambrai fell on 9 October 1918, and the beginning of a German retreat that would not end until the Armistice on 11 November.

Canal du Nord - The last major operation of the Tenth Battalion, part of the Battle of Cambrai. The Fighting Tenth mounted a crossing of this obstacle on 27-28 September 1918, suffering heavy losses.

Pursuit to Mons - The fight at Mons in August 1914 had been one of the opening acts of the war on the Western Front, and the city had great sentimental significance to the British, who had lost it to the Germans. The Tenth Battalion entered the newly captured city during the war's last days, when it was a prime objective for the British Army seeking revenge, and were there when the Armistice was declared.

France and Flanders, 1915-18 - This Battle Honour reflects the continuous service by the Battalion from February 1915, when it went into the lines in France, to November 1918. During the First World War, more than 1300 soldiers were killed while serving as members of the Tenth Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Second World War

Bourguebus Ridge - located to the south of Caen, the capital of lower Normandy and one of the original D-Day objectives, this ridge was the dominating feature crucial to the success of any further movements beyond the city. When Caen finally fell one month after D-Day, this ridge, and the adjacent Verrieres Ridge, became the scene of much fighting. The Calgary Highlanders launched two attacks on the Bourguebus Ridge, a failed attempt on 25 July 1944 to secure the heights, and a successful action from 7-9 August. The cost of these actions was very high. Fauborg de Vaucelles - A suburb of Caen, south of the city and the Orne River. During Operation Atlantic and Operation Goodwood, the Highlanders launched successful attacks in the vicinity of this city during the period 18-21 July 1944.

Verrieres Ridge, Tilly-la-Campagne - Adjacent to the Bourgeubus Ridge, Verrieres Ridge was another dominating feature of which German possession ensured the British and Canadians in Normandy would be pinned against the sea. On 25 July, 5th Brigade assaults on this feature proved costly for the Calgary Highlanders, and especially for the Black Watch who lost over 300 men in the course of a few hours, making their attack the costliest single day of battle for a single battalion, not counting Dieppe.

Falaise - The next significant feature after the Verrierres Ridge was the town of Falaise; a German pocket was created when they counterattacked towards Mortain - the American Armies, moving fast from the south under the command of General George S. Patton Jr., threatened to cut off this pocket of Germans and trap an entire Army. The northern shoulder of the "Falaise Gap" was the scene of much fighting, and the Battle Honour covers all the fighting from the eventual breakout at Verrieres and Bourgebus ridges, to the final collapse of German resistance on 16 August 1944.

Falaise Road - Operations Tractable and Totalize were conducted in the period 7 - 16 August 1944, and The Calgary Highlanders were involved in fighting along the road to Falaise during this period.

Clair Tison - Located near the Falaise Road, this surprise attack by The Calgary Highlanders on the night of 12-13 August 1944 forced a German abandonment of positions during the Falaise Road fighting, and was executed with very few casualties. The Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel DG MacLauchlan, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his handling of this battle.

Foret de la Londe - This forest, located on the Bourgtheroulde-Rouen Highway, was nestled in a bend of the Seine River and was an excellent defensive position for German forces retreating to the other side of the river. A blocking position here was assaulted and overwhelmed during a series of actions from 28-30 August 1944, with moderate losses to the unit.

Dunkirk, 1944 - Allied supplies were being sent to France mainly via the open beaches in Normandy; the need to secure a sizeable port facility was thus acute. The port of Dunkirk was put under siege, and the Highlanders joined these actions from 6 to 18 September 1944. The action here was mainly patrol work, though a successful battle to liberate the town of Loon Plage stands out from this otherwise dreary episode. The port never fell, and like many of the French Channel ports, it remained in German hands until May 1945.

Wyneghem - In September 1944, the acute need for a port promised to be alleviated by the capture of Antwerp, with its large port facilities intact. However, the British failed to act quickly to secure the Scheldt Estuary, the waterway leading into Antwerp. No Allied ship could come within miles of Antwerp until the large number of coastal guns lining the Scheldt were silenced. The Germans were aware of the importance of the Scheldt, and hastily organized an amalgam of veteran parachute units and low grade infantry units. The Canadian Army moved to clear the lands east of Antwerp, and south of the Albert Canal. Wyneghem was one of the towns in this area, and was cleared of Germans by the Highlanders in September.

Antwerp-Turnhout Canal - This canal was one of the waterworks connecting with the city and its badly needed port facilities. The Calgary Highlanders arrived in this area on 18 September 1944, and on the 21st a bridgehead over the Albert Canal was created by Sergeant Ken Crockett and a handpicked section of ten men. His brave foray into enemy territory was soon expanded to a company sized bridgehead, after which the entire Fifth Brigade was able to follow. His nomination for a Victoria Cross was turned down at the highest levels of command for a very well deserved Distinguished Conduct Medal instead.

The Scheldt - The Scheldt battles were fought on both sides of this waterway during September, October and the early part of November 1944. All three Canadian divisions in northwest Europe took part in these actions, as well as several other divisions under the command of First Canadian Army. Major features north of the Scheldt Estuary included, from west to east, Walcheren Island, North Beveland, and the South Beveland Peninsula. To the south of the Estuary was the area known as "The Breskens Pocket". The Calgary Highlanders fought many actions in the Scheldt battles, highlighted by the Battle Honours listed next.

Woensdrecht - a village at the base of the South Beveland Peninsula in the southwest of The Netherlands. Any units seeking to gain access to South Beveland had to clear a series of villages in this area of enemy soldiers. From 22-27 October, much mighting was seen in this area between the 5th Brigade and veteran German paratroops of Battle Group Chill.

South Beveland - a long peninsula marking the northern boundary of the Scheldt Estuary, the waterway through which Allied ships would have to sail to reach Antwerp and shorten Allied supply lines, still being traced over land all the way back to Normandy. The failure to secure a port closer to the front line meant the expenditure of thousands of gallons of gasoline trucking supplies through France, Belgium and Holland. The Highlanders fought their way west down the Peninsula with the rest of the 2nd Canadian Division, in order to reach Walcheren Island and silence the many German coastal batteries there.

Walcheren Causeway - After South Beveland was secured, the only land route to Walcheren Island - last holdouts on the Scheldt Estuary - was a long causeway just 40 metres wide and over 1000 metres long. The Slooe Channel through which the Causeway ran was too shallow for assault boats, and the salt marshes and mud made the way impassable to land vehicles or marching infantry. On Hallowe'en Night, the Calgary Highlanders followed up a disastrous attack by the Black Watch on the Causeway, and managed to force a shallow bridgehead on the far end. Fierce fighting ensued, and the Highlanders were relieved by Le Regiment de Maisonneuve on 1 November. Sixty-four Highlanders were killed or wounded in the action; the ferocity of the fighting was testified to by the actions of Sergeant Emil Laloge, who was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for, among other things, picking up German grenades and throwing them back at the enemy before they could explode among his men. This battle is commemorated each year by the Regiment with a drumhead ceremony and visit from the Dutch community.

The Rhineland - After the Battle of the Scheldt, the Canadian Army spent the winter of 1944-45 in static positions in the Nijmegen Salient. The next big offensive action was in February and Operation Veritable, when all remaining land west of the River Rhine - the last great barrier between the Allies and the heart of Germany - was to be cleared in anticipation of a massive assault crossing of the great obstacle itself. The fighting in the Rhineland was fought in terrible conditions of terrain and weather, and the Calgary Highlanders' part in that fighting is exemplified by the other Battle Honours, listed below, earned in that campaign.

The Reichswald - a small forest by the Hochwald which needed to be cleared to make possession of the Hochwald possible. The fighting here was part of Operation Blockbuster.

The Hochwald - A small national forest just east of the Dutch border, south of the River Rhine. This forest blocked access to the town of Xanten, which was a key German defensive position on the Allied side of the river. Several difficult and costly actions were fought here, also as part of Operation Blockbuster, which commenced 26 February 1945 and ended with the capture of Xanten on 7 March.

Xanten - Key defensive position defending the approaches to the River Rhine, and ultimate objective of Operation Blockbuster. Xanten was completely ruined in the bitter fighting there.

The Rhine - The bitter fighting in the Rhineland paved the way for the much anticipated assault crossing of the Rhine which went ahead on 23 March 1944. Units of the Third Canadian Division participated in the earliest battles on the far side of the Rhine, with units of the Second Canadian Division crossing over after the bridgehead was formed. One of the major battles of this phase was in Doetinchem in which the Calgary Highlanders played a major part. Groningen - Capital city of the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands, this city was held by a mixed force of Germans, stiffened with Dutch SS who felt compelled to fight to the death. The Calgary Highlanders participated in the assault on the city, attacking from the west on 14 April 1945, penetrating the Oranje Kwartier (Orange Quarter) and paving the way for the Black Watch and Regiment de Maisonneuve to advance into the inner city.

Oldenburg - Final battle fought by The Calgary Highlanders in the Second World War, on German soil once again just east of the Dutch border, on 3-4 May 1945. The Regiment was in place in Oldenburg on VE Day, 8 May 1945. "Betsy', the only surviving 6-pounder gun of the original 6-gun platoon, fired the last shot of the Regiment in World War Two here. During the approach to Oldenburg, heavy fighting took place at Gruppenbühren, for which several awards for valour were made.

North-West Europe, 1944-45 - An all encompassing Battle Honour reflecting the long march of the Regiment from the initial landing in Normandy on 6 July 1944 to the final shots in May 1945. Over 400 Calgary Highlanders sacrificed their lives during this campaign.

Notable Personalities

CDS General de Chastelain (left), 30 June 1990

• Victoria Cross holder Private Harry Brown, (VC)
• Victoria Cross holder Acting Sergeant Arthur George Knight, VC
• Lieutenant Colonel J.G. McQueen was the first commander of the Canadian contingent of the First Special Service Force (The Devil's Brigade) in the Second World War..
• General John de Chastelain, who served two terms as Chief of the Defence Staff, began his military career as a private in the Regimental Pipes and Drums of The Calgary Highlanders. On 30 June 1990, while serving as CDS, he paraded as a piper with the band during the Presentation of Queen's Colour at McMahon Stadium.
• Lieutenant Colonel Mark Tennant rose from the rank of private in 1939 to the rank of Major in 1944, and commanded the peacetime regiment after the Second World War. He was also appointed Honorary Lieutenant Colonel. In civilian life he served for many years as an Alderman of the City of Calgary.
• Four Calgary Highlanders officers served in the CANLOAN project during the Second World War, two were captured at Arnhem, one was killed in Normandy with the Royal Scots, and one became the last CANLOAN to die in action when he was killed with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in April 1945.

Regimental Historians and Authors

Historians

Major Roy Farran, DSO, MC

Roy Farran was born in England in 1921, attended school in India, and after service in the Second World War retired to Calgary (at the age of 31) to raise cattle. His Second World War exploits could (and have) fill volumes; Farran was a Commando officer, serving in the now famous Special Air Service. He first saw action in North Africa with the 3rd Hussars before joining the SAS, commanding a troop of tanks. Farran was moved to Crete where he was wounded in action and taken prisoner. After reuperating in a Greek hospital, Farran escaped by boat and were adrift for nine days before being rescued by a British destroyer. After joining the SAS he led many raids behind enemy lines, large and small, and was highly decorated. He won the DSO twice and the Military Cross three times, as well as the US Legion of Merit.

He remained in the SAS after World War Two, being wrongfully accused of the murder of a 16 year old Jewish terrorist in Palestine while serving there. When a mail bomb sent to "R. Farran" at his mother's home killed his brother Rex, he decided to leave the Army.

Once in Calgary, Farran founded the North Hill News in 1954 (at about the same time he wrote the Calgary Highlanders' history), and served as city alderman between 1961 and 1971. Elected a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, he served as Solicitor General from 1975 to 1979.

Roy Farran's account of the Calgary Highlanders (known widely to the regiment as "The Green Book") was published ten years after the conclusion of the Second World War. The book today is a collector's item, long out of print and fetching large sums on the used book market.

• The History of the Calgary Highlanders 1921- 1954 (Bryant Press, Calgary, AB, 1954)

Daniel G. Dancocks

Daniel Dancocks was a graduate of the University of Alberta, and also widely published in the subject of Canadian military history, including a volume on the subject of Canadian prisoners of war. His interest in the First World War led to visits to the Ypres Salient, and the highly acclaimed book Welcome to Flanders Fields: The First Canadian Battle of the Great War: Ypres, 1915.

His research into the Ypres battle, in which the Tenth Battalion played such a vital role, made him a natural candidate when the Regimental Funds Foundation commissioned an author to write the Regiment's First World War history. Gallant Canadians, produced two years after Welcome to Flanders Fields, may be considered one of the best Great War era regimental histories yet written. Dancocks went on to produce an excellent summary of Canadian involvement in Italy in the Second World War (D-Day Dodgers), and unfortunately plans to write the Second World War history of the Regiment went unfulfilled in the wake of his untimely death.

• Gallant Canadians: The Story of the Tenth Canadian Infantry Battalion 1914-1919 (Calgary Highlanders Regimental Funds Foundation, Calgary, AB, 1990). 252pp ISBN 0-9694616-0-7

Dr. Terry Copp

Doctor Terry Copp has been published extensively on the subject of Canadian military history, including volumes on battlefield psychology, operational research, the fighting in Normandy and Holland, and co-authorship of a regimental history of the Royal Regina Rifle Regiment. Terry Copp is a professor of history, and also contributed regularly to Legion Magazine.

His book The Brigade is unique in being the first published volume to examine Canadian military history from the level of an infantry brigade. The brigade he selected was the Fifth Canadian Brigade, to whom the Calgary Highlanders belonged during the Second World War.

• The Brigade: The Fifth Canadian Infantry Brigade, 1939-1945 (Fortress Publications, Stoney Creek, ON, 1992 ISBN 0-919195-16-4

Dr. David J. Bercuson

Dr. David Bercuson, born in Montreal in 1945, has become a leading name in Canadian history. A graduate with honours of Sir George Williams University, he finished his MA at the University of Toronto in 1967, and his PhD in 1971. After years as an assistant professor, he became a full professor at the University of Calgary in 1978 and in 1989 was made Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies there.

After early experiences in radio and editing the Canadian Historical review, Bercuson has moved on to contributing a regular column to The Calgary Herald, as well as commentary appearances on CBC and CTV newscasts.

Bercuson's other published works are diverse, from True Patriot: The Life of Brooke Claxton, to Canada and the Birth of Israel. Other military works include Significant Incident: Canada's Army, the Airborne, and the Murder in Somalia and Blood on the Hills: The Canadian Army in the Korean War.

• Battalion of Heroes: The Calgary Highlanders in World War Two (Calgary Highlanders Regimental Funds Foundation, Calgary, AB, 1994) ISBN 0-9694616-1-5

Authors

The Regiment has also had several soldiers go on to become published authors of Canadian military history.

Jeffrey Williams

Jeffery Williams was born in Calgary, Alberta in 1920 and served with the Calgary Highlanders both before the Second World War, and after Mobilization in the First Battalion, later serving in staff duties in Northwest Europe. After WW II he commanded a company of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in Korea. He has taught at the Staff College and held military appointments in Germany, in the Canadian Embassy in Washington and the Canadian High Commission in London. He retired from the Canadian Forces in 1971.

His awards for writing included the Governor-General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction and the University of British Columbia's Canadian Biography Award, the latter for his biography of Lord Byng, the Governor General of Canada and commander of the Canadian Corps at Vimy Ridge.

In 2003, the University of Calgary Press published his autobiography. Containing 374 pages and many rare photos, the book covers his entire life and is needless to say very well written and engaging.

• Far From Home: A Memoir of a 20th Century Soldier ISBN: 1-55238-119-6

Other works most directly related to The Calgary Highlanders include

• The Long Left Flank : The Hard Fought Way to the Reich, 1944-1945 (Toronto, Ontario: Stoddart, 1988). 384pp ISBN: 0773721940

A 348 page book covering the fighting in Northwest Europe from the end of the Normandy Campaign to VE Day. Many quotes from Calgary Highlanders and good coverage of all the fighting seen by Canadian soldiers in France, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany from September 1944 to May 1945.

• The Capture of Walcheren Island, 1944 (Roosevelt Study Center, 1994). 24pp

A pamphlet on the capture of Walcheren Island.

Additionally, Mister Williams has published a regimental history of the PPCLI as well as a biography of Hamilton Gault, founder of that regiment.

Private Frank Holm

Frank P. Holm served as a signaller with the Calgary Highlanders from September of 1944 to April of 1945 and was a direct participant in many of the Regiment's most famous actions including Walcheren Causeway and Groningen.

In 1989, ex-Private Holm published a succinct but highly detailed and well-written account of his service.

• A Backward Glance: The Personal Story of an Infantry Signaller with the Calgary Highlanders in World War Two (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario: Self Published, 1989)

Corporal Michael A. Dorosh, CD

Born in 1969, Michael Dorosh joined 2137 Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps (The Calgary Highlanders) in 1984. In 1987 he was taken on strength with the Regimental Pipes and Drums, where he served until 1996 (including service as Public Relations NCO) when he was forced to remuster to the Finance Clerk trade, followed by another remuster to Resource Management Support Clerk following the amalgamation of the Finance and Administration clerk trades throughout the Canadian Forces. Service in the Battalion Orderly Room, "A" Company and "B" Company followed, as a clerk, company piper, and driver/signaller. Corporal Dorosh's first book was published in 1995, on the subject of Second World War Canadian Army uniforms, followed by a second volume on the same subject in 2001. A third book on officers' uniform will appear in 2007.

• CANUCK: Clothing and Equipping the Canadian Soldier 1939-45 Volume I: Battledress, Weapons and Equipment (Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, Missoula, MT, 1995) 156pp, ISBN 1-57510-005-3
• Dressed to Kill (Service Publications Inc., Ottawa, ON, 2001) 88pp ISBN 1-894581-07-5

Darrell Knight

Darrell Knight finished editing a book on the history of the 31st (Alberta) Battalion, CEF in 2006.

• History of the 31st Canadian Infantry Battalion, C.E.F. Major Horace C. Singer (Edited by Darrel Knight) ISBN 1-55059-316-1

Mr. Knight is also producing a volume on the Air Observation Post Squadrons that flew in Northwest Europe in the Second World War.

Music

• Calgary Highlanders Duty Tunes

External Links

• Unofficial Regimental Website
• Regimental Pipes and Drums
• Detailed look at regimental insignia