Cover Photo

Social events are very much part of the regimental schedule, and several appear on the calendar every year. The main photo shows two Second World War veterans of The Calgary Highlanders photographed at the annual St. Julien's dinner in 2002. The inset is Warrant Officer James MacDonald with the newborn son of Master Corporal Mik Morton-Popiel, a former Calgary Highlander, photographed at the 2010 Warrant Officers' and Sergeants' Mess Burns Dinner, held annually in commemoration of Robbie Burns Night.

Photo by Corporal Michael Dorosh, CD; inset by Master Corporal Mik Morton-Popiel, A Company (Para), 3 PPCLI

Calgary Highlanders on the heavy weapons range in Wainwright during Exercise HEAVY METAL, November 20-22, 2009. A C6 machine gun is firing during the night shoot; HEAVY METAL is an annual familiarization with all the platoon heavy weapons - including 84mm Carl Gustav Medium Anti-Armour Weapon, 60mm Mortar, and .50 calibre Heavy Machine Gun. The exercise also incorporates a live fire defensive exercise which allows an infantry platoon to employ the support weapons for mutual support.

Photo by Lieutenant Colonel Mike Vernon, CD

Athletics have been a part of military life since time immemorial; Highland Regiments have an especially rich tradition of unique sporting and track events. Highland Games are popular events for Highland soldiers around the world. The caber toss is just one of many events in which soldiers test their physical strength and abilities against each other; the "regimental caber" was photographed at a training year-end competition at Mewata Armouries in May 2009. On a related note, Calgary Highlanders will be included among Canadian Forces personnel engaged in security and general duty missions at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010.

Photo by Corporal Michael Dorosh, CD

Private William Cary Brown was one of only a handful of Calgary Highlanders to be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal - second only to the Victoria Cross - during the Second World War. It was also an extremely rare award for a private soldier. On 23 October 1944, while acting as a company runner, he found a platoon's commander and all NCOs out of action, and directed the fire of the platoon's LMGs onto the enemy. Later, with the company commander and a second platoon commander wounded, he carried ammunition forward and personally directed friendly tank support under heavy fire. The photo at left, found in his company commander's personal post-war photo album, has a notation written on the back in the company commander's hand: "Brownie, DCM: A Man's Man...used to be my runner and went through everything they could throw at him. A Real Pal." Private Brown was accidentally killed in December 1944 at the age of 29 and is buried in grave V.C.13 of the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery in the Netherlands.

Photo Collection of Bruce McKenzie, via Calgary Highlanders Archives

The Battle Honours of the Regiment are proudly emblazoned on the unit's drums. By custom, only a select few of the 42 Battle Honours granted to the unit have been selected for emblazonment. The Regiment's motto, "Onward", was translated into the Gaelic Airaghardt at the time of the Regiment's 80th Anniversary - the English motto comes from the City of Calgary and is shared with the sister unit, the King's Own Calgary Regiment. The Oak Leaf, granted as an Honorary Distinction in lieu of a Battle Honour, is worn as a brass shoulder title on the service dress jacket but also appears on the regiment's drums as a device below the motto scroll. Rope tension drums, once the standard for military musicians, have long ago been abandoned, at least on the competition circuit, and rod tension drums have been the current state of the art for decades.

Photo by Corporal Michael Dorosh, CD

The first Pipe Major of the Calgary Highlanders was Hugh MacBeth, who led the Regimental Pipes and Drums from 1921 to 1923. Born in Scotland, MacBeth had immigrated to Canada, and served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the First World War, most notably in the 16th Battalion (Canadian Scottish), a famous unit of the 1st Canadian Division that was also the parent formation of the 10th Battalion, the forerunners of The Calgary Highlanders. MacBeth also played in The Calgary Highlanders after stepping down as Pipe Major, and is identified in the photo at left as the band's Pipe Sergeant at the time of the Canadian Pacific Railway Scottish Music Festival in Banff, probably in 1927. The CPR held a series of music and folk arts festivals from 1927 to 1931, organized by publicity agent John Murray Gibbon.

Photo courtesy Matthew Chapman

Library and Archives Canada photograph, originally by Ken Bell, Canadian Army Film & Photo Unit

Traditions old and new on Remembrance Day, 2008. The poppy as a symbol of Remembrance is well known and evident on the cenotaph detail at Central Memorial Park in downtown Calgary on 11 November 2008. While The Calgary Highlanders have traditionally sent small details to various events throughout southern Alberta on Remembrance Day, this year marked the first in recent memory the Regiment as a whole deviated from the usual practice of attending the civic ceremonies usually held at the Jubilee Auditorium. RSM Emmett Kelly coordinated the attendance of the entire unit, under commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Mike Vernon, to attend the service at the cenotaph which was extremely well-attended by the public this year. The Regiment has committed to making the Central Memorial Park cenotaph service its future Remembrance Day priority.

Calgary Highlanders photograph by Corporal Michael Dorosh

Master Corporal Ben Forrest leads a section of infantry through a simulated Afghanistan village during Exercise RUSTY CLAYMORE in October 2008. The Calgary Highlanders were very happy to welcome home over fifty soldiers safe and sound from war service in the month of October, but continue to train for future deployments. RUSTY CLAYMORE saw the development of fundamental infantry skills, including small unit leadership, infantry tactics, and individual weapons drills including close quarters combat.

Calgary Highlanders photograph by Corporal Michael Dorosh

This famous photograph of an unfortunately anonymous soldier of the 10th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, captioned only as "Jolly Canadian" in the national archives, has been said by one historian to describe the "post-Passchendaele spirit of the Fighting Tenth." The 10th Battalion is perpetuated today by The Calgary Highlanders, and will be depicted on film in the upcoming motion picture Passchendaele scheduled for Canadian release on 17 October 2008. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Shot on location largely in Alberta in the autumn of 2007, the story revolves around Actor-Director-Producer Paul Gross' grandfather, Sergeant Michael Dunne, who served in the 10th during the 2nd Battle of Ypres in 1915 and later during the fighting at Passchendaele.

Library and Archives Canada Photo; "Passchendaele" is the copyrighted property of Alliance Films

Pipe Major Neil Sutherland of The Calgary Highlanders during the parade of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division in Dieppe on 3 September 1944. The Division had provided the bulk of the combat force (with several hundred British Commandos and 50 U.S. Army Rangers) during the famous Raid of August 1942, leaving behind 2,000 prisoners at the end of the day. The Calgary Highlanders' mortar platoon was sent to Dieppe but did not disembark; Sergeants Bill Lyster and Bert Pittaway were Mentioned in Despatches for shooting down a German aircraft while on anti-aircraft duties offshore. Captain Ted Insinger, assigned to a brigade headquarters, was killed while ashore. The Division returned to the European continent in July 1944; by 1 September the Battle of Normandy had been concluded and Allied forces were across the Seine River in force. The German garrison at Dieppe showed no stomach for a rematch and evacuated the city as the division approached; on 3 September 8,000 men marched 10 abreast through the city to mark the liberation and commemorate the 800 dead buried in the nearby cemetery after the 1942 battle.

Halifax Citadel Collection

Sergeant Barry Agnew of the Regimental Pipes and Drums on parade, presumably in the early 1980s. Barry Agnew served as a piper in the regimental band and in civilian life is well-known for his work with the Glenbow Museum. He was later commissioned into the regiment, and is currently retired from the Forces and employed as the Curator of the Regimental Museum and Archives. The "CF Green" uniform was adopted throughout the unified Canadian Forces; it replaced Battle Dress in the Calgary Highlanders in the early 1970s. Lacking shoulder straps, a special cloth badge bearing the regimental Oak Leaf had to be devised for wear on the new uniform. As a piper, he wears a black glengarry distinctive from the red-and-white diced pattern worn by rank and file in the regiment, and his rank is distinguished by the three-bar chevron and maple leaf insignia on his sleeve as well as the traditional red sash unique to infantry regiments.

Calgary Highlanders Museum and Archives Photo

Major Donald MacLauchlan leads a group of Calgary Highlanders across the Louise Bridge in Calgary in December 1939 in the top photograph; below, a comparison shot of the same location in June 2008. Calgary has seen a period of unprecedented growth in recent years, topping one million residents and is among the largest cities in terms of surface area ("urban sprawl") in North America. The 1939 photo shows the future Southern Alberta Institute of Technology building sitting alone atop the North Hill; today it is surrounded by modern construction, including high-rise residences. Louise Bridge itself has undergone modernization in recent years, with concrete guards on the sidewalks. The electric street cars have been removed long ago, and the bridge for their modern equivalent, the Light Rail Transit, can be seen in background of the 2008 photo. After the outbreak of war in 1939, the Highlanders had little in the way of modern equipment or uniforms, and route marches were one of the few forms of training available to them.

Top photo by W.J. Oliver via Glenbow Archives

While emphasis of media coverage regarding the Canadian Army naturally revolves around our combat mission in Afghanistan, officers and soldiers of all ranks must also remain in Canada to keep the rest of the Army running. The struggle for individual Militia soldiers to balance two careers is an ongoing battle. In recent years some employers such as the City of Calgary have enacted legislation to provide paid time off for military reservists to attend training and respond to calls for deployment. While Calgary Highlanders gain new respect for the Regiment on foreign battlefields, soldiers like 2nd Lieutenant Gavin S. Mills continue to "keep the lights on" at home performing equally vital tasks. Lieutenant Mills joined the Regiment as a non-commissioned soldier in May 1990, participating in the Presentation of Queen's Colour ceremonies that year. Having left the CF, he re-enlisted as a Direct Entry Officer in the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in June of 2000 and has performed a variety of roles in the Regiment, including infantry platoon commander, assistant adjutant, both junior and senior Colour Ensign, and was on the Colour Party in 2005 for the Royal Visit by the Colonel-in-Chief, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Most recently, Lieutenant Mills has been employed as the Unit Support Representative for Task Force 1-08. In civilian life, he until recently taught military history, social studies and English at Juno Beach Academy, and is currently employed by the Calgary public school board teaching Honours Social Studies and Honours European History for college credit to Grades 11-12.

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