Cover Photo

Specialist Jeremiah C. Schmunck of Richland, Washington was serving with 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, Washington Army National Guard on 8 July 2004 when his vehicle came under fire in Baghdad. He was 21 years of age when he was killed.  The Calgary Highlanders have had a long association with this battalion, and felt a great sense of anxiety to learn they were activated for war service in Iraq from April 2004 to April 2005.

The photo of Schmunck at left was taken at "Yellowcake", an Iraqi Nuclear research facility, by Specialist Matt O'Boyle. The battalion operated for a time out of Forward Operating Base "Highlander", named in honour of the association between the two units, until all bases in the country were ordered renamed with Iraqi titles. Specialist O'Boyle writes:"Confused? So were WE. Three name changes in less than a year...we'd have a briefing before a patrol and spend 10 or 20 minutes just debating the name of a camp or FOB." Four soldiers of the 161st gave their lives on operations in Iraq.

Photo courtesy Specialist Matt O'Boyle, Company Armorer, Headquarters Platoon, B Company, 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, (Moses Lake, WA)

Every year the Battle of Walcheren Causeway is commemorated with a parade and mess dinner.   This year's rememberance is sadder in the knowledge that we have lost one more soldier who was actually there; Bill Powell passed away shortly before the 61st Anniversary of the battle.  Powell - photographed at left in early 1944 as a sergeant - remustered into the Highlanders just days after the fighting in Normandy ended, serving as platoon runner in "B" Company under Lieutenant Alec Kellar, MC, MM, and later made acting Corporal and given command of a section.  He saw intense action at Hoogerheide and South Beveland in October 1944.  On Hallowe'en night, "B" Company made the first attemped crossing of the Walcheren Causeway after "C" Company of the Black Watch were rebuffed, and managed a toehold on a crater halfway across.  Two more days of bitter fighting ensued.  Powell was not among the 107 Highlanders killed or 327 wounded in the Scheldt fighting; his turn would come on 21 December 1944 when a serious wound would end his war.  The Regiment is saddened by the loss of Bill Powell, who wrote in 1998 in a self-published memoir "I have been proud to have been a member (and shall always consider myself one) of the Calgary Highlanders."

Photo courtesy the late Bill Powell

Honeymoon portrait of Company Sergeant Major William L. ("Bill") Lyster and his wife Eswyn, taken after their wedding on 21 August 1943 in the United Kingdom.  Bill Lyster served at Dieppe as a sergeant with the Mortar Platoon of the Calgary Highlanders, being awarded a Mention in Despatches for his part in downing a German aircraft over the invasion beaches.  Lyster returned from the Raid and later became the first Canadian awarded the Belt and Sword of Honour for finishing first in his class at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.  Lyster went into action with the Calgary Highlanders in October 1944.  He was wounded in February 1945, but returned to the Highlanders to be wounded again in April, by this time commanding one of the rifle companies in the rank of Major.

Eswyn Lyster has remained active since Bill Lyster's passing in 1996, assembling a national registry of Canadian war brides.

Vancouver Island Military Museum Society Photo

Advancing with Purpose: The Calgary Highlanders begin a new training year with a new Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Tom Manley, CD - shown here leading the Regiment in the Advance in Review Order after the Claymore was passed to him at the Change of Command parade on 2 April 2005.  The new training year will place the emphasis on individual training, with the promise of greatly increased opportunities for operational duties in the coming months.  Lieutenant Colonel Manley succeeded Lieutenant Colonel Lee Villiger, CD. 

The Calgary Highlanders are always looking for keen new soldiers; prospective recruits can visit the website illustrated in the photo, or view the recruiting information on this website by clicking Career Information in the left hand frame.

Photograph courtesy Nancy Desilets

Commander in Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson.  As Governor General Clarkson's tenure as the Queen's Representative in Canada comes to a close, soldiers across the country are taking time to pause and reflect on the outstanding support she and her husband, His Excellency John Ralston Saul, have provided to the CF on an ongoing basis.  The photo is from the offical website of the Governor General, and she wears the insignia of the Order of Canada.  As a journalist, she was admitted to the Order in the rank of Officer in 1992, and was made Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Canada upon appointment as Governor General in 1999.  Governor General Clarkson also holds several decorations as a mark of her appointment, including the Canadian Forces Decoration, normally given for twelve years of service and good conduct in the CF.  The inset of the photo shows the Canadian Forces rank slip-on she would wear should she choose to dress in Army uniform.  

Photograph from the Official Website of the Governor General http://www.gg.ca
Rank slip on photo courtesy of John Cameron, http://www.mpmuseum.org

Sergeant Fabio Lacentra of the Calgary Detachment of 15 Medical Company instructs Highlanders in the art of rappelling, using Mewata Armouries as a convenient training aide.  Sergeant Lacentra is an experienced mountaineer and - until the mandatory transfer of all medical personnel out of Militia infantry regiments - a long time Calgary Highlander.  Sergeant Lacentra provides instruction and expertise in a wide variety of training including Basic Mountain Operations courses, climbing, rapelling and other skills one would expect to find in a light infantry unit located so close to the Rocky Mountains.

Photograph courtesy Corporal Steve Welsh

Ready to stop the Red Hordes - Berlin, 1969.  Private Archie Mac Laine of the 1st Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's), at the controls of an FV -432 in the divided city of Berlin during the Cold War.  This vehicle was the most common tracked vehicle in the British Army in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and was similar to the Canadian M113.

Private Mac Laine served in the Argylls - the British Army affiliate Regiment of the Calgary Highlanders - for 27 years and at one point served alongside the late Warrant Officer Bruce Waterhouse, who served a tour of duty with the Argylls including service in Northern Ireland.   Private Mac Laine's greetings can be found on the Transitions 2005 page. 

The Warrant Officer Bruce Waterhouse Memorial Award is presented each year to the person deemed most worthy by the Warrant Officers of the Regiment, more information can be found on the Regimental Trophies page.

Photograph courtesy Archie Mac Laine

Lieutenant Jason Heller bears the Regimental Colour on the Freedom of the City of Calgary parade to mark the anniversary of the Battle of St.Julien, and the counter-attack of the regiment's predecessor, the Tenth Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, at Kitchener's Wood on the night of 21-22 April 1915.

The Regiment exercises its traditional right to march through the city's streets with drums beating, colours flying and pipes playing each year on the anniversary of this historic action.  At the annual dinner of the 10th Battalion Calgary Highlanders Association, held immediately after the church parade and wreath laying at City Hall, Lieutenant Heller was recognized as the most outstanding junior officer of the 2004 calendar year.

Life size representation of Captain Enoch Sales, in the uniform of the 103rd Regiment (Calgary Rifles).  On 1 April 1910, this regiment of the Canadian Militia was raised by Lieutenant Colonel William C.G. Armstrong, after several unsuccessful attempts to raise a local regiment.  In the early 1920s, the 103rd Regiment was reorganized into The Calgary Highlanders and The Calgary Regiment (today the King's Own Calgary Regiment).

On 2 April 2005, the Calgary Highlanders celebrated their 95th birthday, as well as welcomed Lieutenant Colonel Tom Manley, CD, as their new Commanding Officer.  Lieutenant Colonel Lee Villiger, CD, leaves behind a legacy of pride in the unit; evidenced in small part by two of his personal initiatives - the regimental colours painted on the Armouries wall, as well as the historic photos seen behind the figure of Captain Sales. 

The Calgary Highlanders look forward to another historic birthday, when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Colonel-in-Chief of the Regiment, visits in May 2005 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Alberta's admission to Confederation.

Hollywood's depiction of the Calgary Highlanders: actors Jack Watson and Richard Dawson in the 1968 feature film The Devil's Brigade.  The film was based on the actual exploits of the Canadian-American First Special Service Force (1SSF).  Corporal Peacock and Private MacDonald both wear the insignia of the Calgary Highlanders.  In actual fact, Major J.G. McQueen of the Calgary Highlanders was the first senior Canadian officer of the real-life First Special Service Force.  Other members of the 1SSF also had direct connections to the Calgary Highlanders (more information on wartime Calgary Highlanders serving with the 1SSF can be found at this link).   Postwar Calgary Highlanders RSM David Boyer  was at one time also a member of the 1SSF.  The Force won fame in Italy, being nicknamed "die Teufel's Brigade" by the Germans - "The Devil's Brigade."   

Students of regimental dress will note some major inaccuracies with the uniforms in the movie, but the cap badges and shoulder flashes pictured are correct for the Regiment during this period.

Lieutenant James Taylor, in a portrait taken during the Second World War.  Over 600 Canadian officers served directly in the British Army as part of the CANLOAN program; four Calgary Highlanders were among them.  James Taylor is the last surviving member of that group.  He enlisted in the Calgary Highlanders 13 days after war was declared on Germany in September 1939.  After commissioning in Canada in 1943, he volunteered to serve with the British, and returned to England in May 1944.  In September, he rode a glider into the Arnhem area during Operation MARKET GARDEN.  After seven days of savage close quarter fighting against SS armoured troops, Taylor was wounded, and eventually captured with the majority of the 1st British Airborne Division.  One other Calgary Highlander CANLOAN, Earl Harcourt, was captured with him, serving in the same battalion.  The other two CANLOANs had been killed in action in Normandy with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the Royal Scots.

Taylor returned to Canada and served in the regular Army, with postings to Vietnam, India and West Germany.  In 1970, after retirement from the regulars, he commanded a squadron of the British Columbia Dragoons, and in 1972 assumed command of the regiment as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Photograph courtesy LCol (retd) James Taylor, CD

Corporal Greg Harder, on Exercise Black Bear in Calgary, November 2004.  Urban operations training encompasses many unique skills, such as house-to-house fighting and room clearing.  Corporal Harder is shown here on a street patrol (the Calgary Science Centre is visible in the background).  He is equipped with the latest in military radios and carries the C8 carbine.  Body armour is worn over his uniform, and the camouflage shoulder yoke contains an array of laser detecting sensors.  His carbine is fitted with both a blank firing attachment (BFA) and also a laser emitter, allowing for realistic casualty assessment during combat training. Corporal Harder is one of many long-serving junior NCOs who make up the heart and soul of the rifle sections.

Photograph by Corporal Shawn McDonald, 41 Canadian Brigade Group