Cover Photo

The 2 PPCLI website has identified Calgary Highlanders Corporal Bryan Rowlandson as the machine gunner in the first photograph of this series of pictures taken on patrol in Afghanistan. As at 6 April 2008, The Calgary Highlanders had 55 soldiers on deployment in Afghanistan.The numbers are remarkable for a reserve unit and speak to a changing culture of commitment both within the Canadian Forces and without. The City of Calgary recently enacted landmark legislation pledging to provide financial support and job security to any of its employees tasked with military duties through the reserves such as operational deployments.

Master Corporal Trevor Reid Photos

Summer Camp was a traditional Militia activity from the early days of the 20th Century and through to the end of the century. Called "MILCONS" or Militia Concentrations in later years, the purpose of summer training was to collectively train units in battle tasks, as units, as well as part of larger formations and accustom them to relatively longer periods of field conditions than would be possible during the course of the normal training year with its weekend and weeknight training periods. In recent years, summers have been utilized for individual training and courses, and military concentrations have been moved to the spring. This years major Militia concentration is Exercise PRAIRIE DEFENDER and will involved units of 38 and 41 CBG operating together. Full details can be found by clicking the EXERCISES link in the top title bar, which will open a new window with the pertinent information regarding this upcoming training opportunity.

Technical Quartermaster O.T. Hansen of the 14th Canadian Armoured Regiment (Calgary Regiment) looks on in bewilderment at a pile of kit received with the regiment's newly issued Sherman Vc "Firefly" tanks in Dottignies, Belgium, 22 March 1945. The 103rd Regiment (Calgary Rifles), formed in 1910, was reorganized after the First World War and split to form both the Calgary Highlanders and the Calgary Regiment. In 1941, the Calgary Regiment mobilized the 14th Canadian Army Tank Regiment, which fought famously at Dieppe and was later renamed the 14th Canadian Armoured Regiment before sailing for the Italian Campaign in the summer of 1943. Equipped with Sherman tanks, the regiment fought in several famous campaigns in support of Canadian, British, Indian, New Zealand and American infantry before moving to Northwest Europe in early 1945, where it finished the war as part of First Canadian Army. In 1949, the unit was renamed to become the King's Own Calgary Regiment, the title it still bears today. In 2010 both the Calgary Highlanders and the King's Own will commemorate their 100th birthday.

Public Archives of Canada Photo

Corporal Dave Parry on top of a Canadian M113 armoured personnel carrier in the former Yugoslavia during his tour of duty with Roto 4 of UNPROFOR in the autumn of 1994. The M113 is still in use in Afghanistan, referred to as a TLAV. The green armour on the commanders hatch is part of the ACAV (Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle) kits retrofitted to Canadian vehicles for duty in the Balkans. The ACAV kits had originally been added to US Army M113 vehicles in Vietnam in the 1960s, and provided additional armoured protection for the crew commander (providing all around protection as well as an armoured gun shield for the .50 calibre machine gun mounted at his station) as well as two side-mounted gunshields (one is visible at left) which in US service housed the M60 machine gun. Corporal Parry wears a blue painted kevlar helmet, which phased into Canadian service in the 1990s.

Christian McEachern Photo

Calgary Highlanders on parade to mark the 80th Anniversary of the raising of the Regiment, 1 April 1990. The FN C1A1 assault rifle became the standard service rifle of the Canadian Army in 1957, replacing the bolt action Lee Enfield rifle, and continued in service into the early 1990s when it was replaced with the C7. In 1990, the distinctive green DEU jacket had only been in service for a couple of years; the uniform today remains largely identical to that worn in 1990, though the Force Mobile Command badge worn on the breast pocket has been replaced with that of Land Force Command.

Calgary Sun Photo

In October 2007, in conjunction with the annual commemoration of the Battle of Walcheren Causeway, The Calgary Highlanders conducted a Change of Command Parade. From left to right in the photo are: Colonel Art Wriedt, Commander 41 Canadian Brigade Group; incoming CO Lieutenant Colonel Mike Vernon; Regimental Adjutant Captain Hugh McReynolds, attached from The Royal Canadian Regiment; and the Queen's Colour ensign.

Photo courtesy Warrant Officer Bailey

In the 1950s, the Hiram Walker & Sons Distillery in Ontario produced a series of colour plates depicting officers of Canadian Highland Regiments.  The prints are today collector's items, and are notable in some cases for being more fanciful than truthful.  The print depicting an officer of The Calgary Highlanders, however, does give an interpretation of what the most advanced state of Ceremonial Dress for the Regiment would be if it decided to make such uniforms a priority. The scarlet jacket (or "redcoat") was the standard field dress of the British Army from the late 1600s to the early days of the 20th Century, and continues to be the idealized ceremonial dress uniform of Commonwealth infantry regiments (excepting Rifle Regiments). Many items depicted in the Hiram Walker prints are actually worn today by officers, including the sword ("claymore"), kilt, badger head sporran, red/white hose, sword belt, officers' shoulder sash, tartan plaid, and brooch. Scarlet jackets and feather bonnets, however, are only worn by drummers of The Calgary Highlanders, and the fullest expression of ceremonial dress has never been achieved. The reintroduction of distinctive Service Dress uniforms (the Distinctive Environment Uniform, or DEU) in the late 1980s has provided the Canadian Forces with a distinctive "Army" uniform that is both practical and economical, while still allowing the major components of "Highland Dress" to be worn with pride.

Drum Major Pat Gibson, photographed on the balcony at Mewata Armouries in November 1985 by John Skrypnyk of the Calgary Herald. The giant Highlander has been a fixture at the armouries for over two decades. When a McLeod Bros. men's clothing store was being demolished to make way for the Centre for Performing Arts in downtown Calgary, the building's owner gave the sign to the Regiment. Drummer Chris Linford repainted the sign in regimental uniform.

10th Battalion Calgary Highlanders Association Heritage Section Archives Photo.

Kayla Miko (recruit-soon-to-be-in-the-year-2021) with "Grandpa" Mark, known to the recruits of the current BMQ course as Master Corporal Nussbaumer. Mark Nussbaumer is a long serving Junior NCO and presently is the Transport NCO of the Regiment.

The Calgary Highlanders are currently preparing to participate in the largest deployment of reserve troops overseas since the PANDA battalions of the 1950s. Some 500 reservists from across Canada are preparing to go to Afghanistan; several dozen Calgary Highlanders will go with them. 

Photo courtesy of Jana & Jesse Miko.

General A.J.G. de Chastelain, former Chief of the Defence Staff, who served an unprecedented two terms in that office. General de Chastelain, now retired from the military, was honoured at the 2006 Calgary Leadership Dinner by the award of the Leonard J. Birchall Award. General de Chastelain started his military career as a piper in the Calgary Highlanders Regiment Pipes and Drums. Also present at the event, pictured below, was current CDS General Rick Hillier. Former Honorary Colonel Fred Mannix was also honored at the event with the General Sir Arthur Currie Award.

Photos courtesy Brigadier General Ross, via Captain Fiona McLean