Sam C. Nickle was born on 5 April 1913 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Gudrun Olga Mylada Simonson and Samuel Clarence Nickle. In 1917, Sam moved to Calgary with his family, attending school at Sunalta, Connaught, South Calgary and Western Canada High Schools. In November 1926, he enlisted in the 13th Division Signals, Royal Canadian Signals (R.C.S.), and in May 1932, he enlisted in the 23 Field Battery and 19th Artillery Brigade, Royal Canadian Artillery (R.C.A.). Sam founded the Nickle Map Service Ltd. in 1935, during the Turner Valley oil boom. He joined the Calgary Highlanders in February 1938 and served overseas from 1939 to 1945. He was commissioned in the Canadian Intelligence Corps (C.I.C.) in April 1943. Sam married Rosemary June Ellison on 7 December 1945. In 1946, Sam was discharged from active duty, rejoining the Highlanders until retiring in 1948.

Robert J.S. Gibson was born in Bently, Alberta, in 1946, the eldest son of a homesteader, farming near Rocky Mountain House.  Bob was raised in a number of towns in Alberta.  By the time he was five his father was working for the Department of Indian and Northern affairs as a farm instructor and settled with his wife and four children in High Prairie where Bob began his schooling.  He graduated with honours from Bow Valley High School in Cluny, Alberta, and was active in the King's Own Calgary Regiment Cadet Corps in Gleichen.

Service in the Royal Canadian Navy followed, as an officer cadet, and Mr. Gibson attended his first year at the University of Alberta.  His schooling was interrupted by several years working as a surveyor in the seismograph industry throughout Western Canada, after which he returned to the University of Alberta for another year.  He became a realtor, joined the team at Southland Canada, and became District Sales Manager with responsibility for thirty-one 7-Eleven stores.

Mr. Gibson went on to become involved in real estate development, rising to Area Manager for Western Realty Projects, responsible for southern Alberta.  In 1976 he accepted the position of President of United Management Ltd. and ultimately Managing Director of Alsten Holdings Ltd, the holding company of the Singer Family of Company, a position which he held for over twenty years.

In 1986, Mr. Gibson returned to his family roots and acquired the Bobtail Ranch in Penticton, BC, where he and wife Brigitte raises a commercial herd as well as a reputable herd of pedigree Angus cattle.  His other interests included sailing, flying and the military, and Mr. Gibson is a certified offshore sailor, multi-instrument rated pilot, and helicopter pilot who has served as Honorary Colonel of 15th (Edmonton) Medical Company and sat on a number of committees related to Army Reserve restructuring.  Charitable works include activities with both the Order of St. Lazarus and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Program.

Mr. Gibson became Honorary Lieutenant Colonel on 8 August 2001, and later moved up to Honorary Colonel on 31 December 2001 and currently still holds that position.

A full biography is given above under Honorary Colonels.  At left, Honorary Lieutenant Colonel Cameron is piped into the annual military band display at the Museum of the Regiments in August of 1996 by Piper Paul Ritchie (left) and Piper Mark MacDonald.

RR McDaniel
1 Apr 1992 - 24 Jul 1994

A full biography is given above under Honorary Colonels.

Colonel Jack Pierce created Ranger Oil in 1958 and grew it into a major firm among the many Oil and Gas related companies in Alberta.  Prior to embarking on this business venture, he had graduated from McGill University in 1948 with a degree in Geology.  A veteran of the Second World War, he flew with the Royal Air Force and RCAF Ferry Command.  His death while on a cattle drive at the age of 67 was a surprise to the Regiment; Colonel Pierce was survived by his wife Erna May, three sons and two daughters.

FP Mannix, OOC
1981-1987

A full biography is given above under Honorary Colonels.

Mark Tennant was born on 27 June 1913 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, attending school at St. Rose du Lac, and later moving to Alberta where he completed his schooling in Lethbridge.  In 1925, Tennant joined the Royal Canadian Army Cadets, leaving that organization in 1929 when he joined the Militia, enlisting in the South Alberta Regiment.

On 27 August 1939, two days after Militia units across the country were placed on active service, Tennant re-enlisted in the 20th Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Canadian Artillery.  He was given Regimental Number M7.  On 6 September 1939, five days after the Calgary Highlanders were mobilized, Tennant transferred to the Regiment as a Private.

Tennant was promoted very quickly, by 1940 he was a Platoon Sergeant Major, an experimental position which was abolished in 1940.  Along with many of the other PSMs, Tennant was commissioned as an officer and made a full-fledged platoon commander. As orderly officer, he earned the nickname "The Green Hornet" after a popular radio show character who always knew what the "bad guys" were thinking.  Promotion to captain followed in June 1942.   Tennant was still with the battalion in July 1944 when the unit landed in France.   Tennant served in Support Company and specialized in reconnaissance missions.   Captain Tennant seemed fearless and performed all manner of dangerous missions under fire, including spotting for field artillery and using universal carriers to move ammunition and wounded men.  He was with the CO of the Black Watch, Lieutenant Colonel Cantlie, when he was killed just prior to the disastrous Verrieres Ridge attack on 25 July 1944.   In August 1944 he was promoted to major, and in October was severely wounded during the fighting to open a path onto the South Beveland Peninsula.   During a fierce German counter-attack, Tennant was hit by 20mm gunfire as he mounted the steps of a church.  The CO, Lieutenant Colonel MacLauchlan, was moved tears on news of his injuries and proclaimed "There goes a stout fellow!  Worth three men to us."

Tennant was wounded a total of three times during the war, and the wounds suffered that day were serious enough to have him hospitalized for several months.  In 1945, after being informed he would be sent home, he convinced the medical authorities to allow him to rejoin the Highlanders, and he commanded "D" Company in the absence of George Stott, who was on leave, during the action at Doetinchem and later at Groningen.  Company rolls have him commanding "B" Company in June 1945 after George Stott returned to "D" Company.  In addition to his wounds, he had been Mentioned in Despatches three times.

After the war, he remained with The Calgary Highlanders, serving as the Training Officer and in 1948, he became Second in Command of the Regiment.   In June 1950, Tennant married Joyce Jalland, a marriage that would endure until Tennant's death.  He commanded the battalion from 1953 to 1956, and retired from the military in 1962.  In civil life, he had founded the North Hill Auto Body Works, and he served as an Alderman for the City of Calgary for twelve years.

On July 13, 1977, he was appointed Honourary Lieutenant Colonel of The Calgary Highlanders, and held that post until 1981.  In June 1981 was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. As a measure of thanks on the fiftieth anniversary of Holland's liberations, the City of Doetincham named a park "Mark Tennant Plantsoen - A Canadian Liberator" in his Honour in May 1995.

Lieutenant Colonel Tennant's last public act as a Calgary Highlander was to lay the wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day, proudly wearing his Regimental Glengarry headdress.

Lieutenant Colonel Mark Tennant, CM, ED, CD was buried with full military honours, his casket borne by serving non-commissioned officers of the Regiment he served faithfully, and draped with the Union Jack by special request.

H. Ovas Wagg was born on 6 January 1929 in Ravenna, Ontario.  He was educated at Queens University in Toronto and became a Doctor of Medicine as well as Master of Surgery.   In 1959 he joined the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada, and specialized in Gynecology until his retirement.

His military career began in 1950 when he joined the Queens University Contingent (COTC), and on 1 October 1952 went to 1 Field Ambulance of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps.

His postings included 110th Manning Depot in Calgary (1 July 1954), 16th Medical Company RCAMC (1 July 1955) and Regimental Medical Officer to the Essex and Kent Scottish from 1 January 1957 to 1 September 1960, when he joined The Calgary Highlanders.

He was appointed company commander and later Deputy Commanding Officer.  On 12 January 1962 he assumed command of the regiment with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, serving until 31 December 1966.  In civilian life, he maintained his medical practice, and on 1 January 1970 assumed the duties of Honorary Lieutenant Colonel of The Calgary Highlanders, serving in that capacity until 1 January 1975.  He also continued to hold an active rank of Lieutenant Colonel with the Southern Alberta Militia District, serving from 1 January 1973 to 30 June 1973 with the headquarters of that formation, before promotion to Colonel and assuming command of the District, serving from 1 July 1973 to 15 August 1975.  He was then promoted to Brigadier General and commanded Prairie Militia Area from 1 July 1975 to 15 August 1978.

Brigadier General Wagg was also a member of the Order of St. John, eventually being made a Knight of Justice.  He had three daughters and a son with his wife Joan Foreman, and Doctor Wagg retired from his medical practice on 1 November 1996, moving to Collingwood, Ontario.

SC Nickle, Sr.
1964-1970

A full biography is given above under Honorary Colonels.

A scene from 1961; Colonel Fred Johnson talks to a factory representative (at left) and Harry Critchley, in the boardroom of the Motor Car Supply Company.

Fredrick Hope Johnson was born 20 October 1898 in Dublin, Ireland.  During World War I, he served with the Irish Company, 6th Battalion, Black Watch, part of the famous 51st Highland Division of the British Army.  He was commissioned in 1917 and won the Military Cross in 1918.  He also served as a battalion second in command in Palestine.

Emigrating to Canada after the war, he joined the Militia in Calgary and served with the Calgary Regiment as a Captain, and later on staff with 3rd Infantry Brigade.  He was credit manager for the Motor Car Supply Company in Calgary, and in 1939 was selected by J. Fred Scott to become second in command of the First Battalion, Calgary Highlanders.  He was known as "The Black Douglas" within the Regiment, and was invalided back to Canada in 1941.  He served as Honorary Lieutenant Colonel from 1961 to 1963 and passed away on 9 April 1978.

EL Harvie, OC, CD, QC
1948-1949

A full biography is given above under Honorary Colonels.

JH Woods, CMG
1922-1941

James Hossack Woods was born in Quebec City on 12 July 1867 and was educated in Quebec and later McGill University.  After completing his studies at the University of Manitoba, he joined the Toronto Mail and Empire in 1893 as a newspaper reporter, first as House of Commons parliamentary reporter and later rising to City Editor.  He moved on to work for the Montreal Herald as news editor and later became business manager for The Toronto News. On 21 March 1907, he came to the Calgary Herald as managing director, and negotiated the purchase of the paper by the Southam family of Hamilton, Ontario.  He ran the newspaper for 28 years.  During the First World War, he was deeply involved in many related projects, such as chairing the provincial branch of the Belgian Relief Committee, assisting the Victory Loan campaign, and visiting war related destinations such as the front line in France and Flanders as well as munitions factories and the Royal Navy anchorage at Scapa Flow.  He managed the founding of several press organizations, and traveled extensively after the War.
 

In 1922, he became the first Honorary Lieutenant Colonel of the Calgary Highlanders; he was thereafter nicknamed "Colonel" at the Calgary Herald.  Civic projects also interested him, and he was involved in the creation of the cenotaph at Central Park in Calgary.   He retired from the newspaper in 1935, and intensified his involvement in the Boy Scouts movement after meeting Mr. and Mrs. Baden Powell.  At the outbreak of World War Two, he once again became a war loans organizer.  JH Woods passed away on 20 May 1941.