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The King's
Own Calgary Regiment was a regiment of the
Canadian Army during the 20th Century that continued its
service into the 21st; originally raised as an infantry unit
in 1910 it was one of six units designated as an Infantry
(Tank) battalion between the wars, then converted to armour
during the Second World War.
Lineage
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103rd
Regiment "Calgary Rifles" formed
on 1 April 1910
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Redesignated The Calgary Regiment on
15 March 1920
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2nd Battalion of The Calgary Regiment redesignated
2nd Battalion, The Calgary
Regiment on 15 September 1921 (the 1st Battalion had
been redesignated 1st Battalion, Calgary Highlanders,
The Calgary Regiment)
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Regiment reorganized as two separate regiments; split
into The Calgary Highlanders and The Calgary
Regiment on 15
May 1924
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Amalgamated with Battalion Headquarters and "B" Company
of the 13th Machine Gun Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun
Corps on 1 April 1936 with no immediate change in
designation.
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Redesignated The Calgary Regiment (Tank) 15
December 1936
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Redesignated 14th (Reserve) Army Tank Battalion (The
Calgary Regiment) (Tank) on 1 April 1941
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Redesignated 14th (Reserve) Army Tank Regiment (The
Calgary Regiment (Tank)) on 15 August 1942
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Redesignated 14th Armoured Regiment (Calgary
Regiment) 1 April 1946
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Redesignated 14th Armoured Regiment (King's Own
Calgary Regiment) 22 July 1946
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Redesignated The King's Own Calgary Regiment (14th
Armoured Regiment) 4 February 1949
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Redesignated The King's Own Calgary Regiment (RCAC)
19 May 1958
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The
King's Own Calgary Regiment |
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Headquarters:
Calgary, AB
Predecessors: 103rd Regiment, Calgary Rifles
Perpetuates: 50th, 89th and 137th Battalions, CEF
and 13th MG Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corps
1919-1936
Raised: 1 April 1910
Status on 31 December 1999: Active Reserve
Force Armoured Reconnaissance
Regiment |
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First World War
The 103rd Regiment placed details on active service for local
protective duty on 6 August 1914, and soldiers of the 103rd Regiment
helped staff prisoner of war and internment camps in Alberta. The
Regiment provided drafts to the 10th Battalion, CEF on its formation
in September, 1914 and later recruited for the 50th, 56th, 82nd,
89th and 137th Battalions of the CEF. The Calgary Highlanders were
later permitted to perpetuate the 10th Battalion (in a dual
perpetuation with The Winnipeg Light Infantry, as the 106th Regiment
had also contributed materially to the unit on formation), the 56th
and 82nd Battalions, with The Calgary Regiment perpetuating the 50th
Battalion, which served in the 4th Division, and the 89th and 137th,
which served as reinforcement units. Private John G. Pattison of the
50th Battalion was awarded the Victoria Cross for actions at Vimy
Ridge on 10 April 1917.1
Reorganization - The Calgary Regiment
Upon redesignation of the 103rd Calgary
Rifles as The Calgary Regiment on 15 March 1920, the unit was
organized as a four battalion regiment with the 1st Battalion (50th
Battalion, CEF) and 2nd Battalion (56th Battalion, CEF) on the Non
Permanent Active Militia order of battle and the 3rd Battalion (82nd
Battalion, CEF) and 4th Battalion (137th Battalion, CEF) on the
Reserve order of battle (i.e. paper units). The reserve battalions
were disbanded on 14 December 1936 (GO 3/37).2
In 1936 during modernization of the
Militia, the Canadian Machine Gun Corps was dismantled, with
individual infantry battalions being repurposed as machine gun
battalions. The '13th Machine Gun Battalion, CMGC' originated in
Edmonton, Alberta on 1 June 1919, when the '13th Machine Gun
Brigade, CMGC' was authorized to be formed. It was redesignated the
'13th Machine Gun Battalion, CMGC' on 15 September 1924 and on 1
April 1936 it was amalgamated with 'The Calgary Regiment'.
Six infantry battalions were also
designated as "Tank" battalions; The Calgary Regiment became one of
them in December 1936. The Canadian Armoured Corps was not created
until the Second World War.
Second World War
The Calgary Regiment (Tank) placed details on active service on 1
September 1939 for local protective duty. The 14th Army Tank
Battalion (The Calgary Regiment (Tank)) was mobilized on 11 February
1941 and embarked for the United Kingdom on 20 June 1941. The unit
was redesignated the 14th Army Tank Regiment (The Calgary Regiment
(Tank)) on 15 May 1942, and was assigned to Operation RUTTER, which
was cancelled and remounted as Operation JUBILEE, the raid on
Dieppe. The unit landed Churchill tanks during the raid on 19 August
1942, the first Canadian armoured unit to see action in the Second
World War. The unit was re-equipped with the Sherman tank and went
to Sicily in July 1943. In August 1943, the unit was redesignated
14th Canadian Armoured Regiment (The Calgary Regiment). As part of
the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade, the unit moved to Italy on 3
September 1943 and fought through several battles of the Italian
Campaign, moving to North-West Europe on 9 March 1945. The active
unit disbanded on 15 December 1945. A 14th (Reserve) Army Tank
Regiment (The Calgary Regiment (Tank)) served in the Reserve Army in
Canada during the war.3
The regiment was granted the King's Own
prefix following the Second World War and continued to operate
Sherman tanks into the 1970s. Later equipment included Cougar AVGPs.
Battle Honours
The Regiment was awarded Battle Honours
for both World Wars (bold type indicates honours selected for
emblazonment):
Ypres 1915, '17
Mount Sorrel
Ancre Heights
Arras, 1917, '18
Hill 70
Amiens
Drocourt-Quéant
Canal du Nord
France and Flanders, 1915-18
Sicily, 1943
San Leonardo
Cassino II
Pignataro
Aquino
Arezzo
Cerrone |
Festubert, 1915
Somme, 1916
Ancre, 1916
Vimy, 1917
Passchendaele
Scarpe, 1918
Hindenburg Line
Valenciennes
Dieppe
Motta Montecorvino
The Gully
Gustav Line
Liri Valley
Trasimene Line
Advance to Florence
Italy, 1943-1945 |
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North-West Europe,
1942, 1945 |
Insignia
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The badge
initially approved for The Calgary Regiment was approved,
according to Mazeas, in 1925. Surviving examples are in
bi-metal. The badge was patterned after the coat of arms of
the City of Calgary. There was apparently a conflict in that
the Sovereign's Crown was not superior to other devices on
the badge - the sunburst instead taking priority. For that
reason, it is said, the sunburst does not appear on the
badge of the King's Own Calgary Regiment which appeared in
1949. |
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The cap badge of The
King's Own Calgary Regiment is
described as follows:
On a shield Argent a cross Gules
surmounted by a maple leaf in autumnal tints charged with a
bison statant on a mound, on a chief the local landscape at
sunset all proper, the shield ensigned by the Royal Crown,
supported dexter by a horse, sinister by a steer, adorned
beneath with a rose between shamrocks and thistles all proper,
the whole set upon three scrolls Or, the upper one inscribed
with the motto ONWARD and the two below inscribed KING'S OWN
CALGARY REGIMENT in letters Azure.4
The symbolism is described officially
as:
The Crown represents service to
the Sovereign. The badge, incorporates the shield, the horse,
the steer and the roses, thistles and shamrocks, as adopted by
the City of Calgary in 1902. "KING'S OWN CALGARY REGIMENT" is a
form of the regimental title and "ONWARD" is the motto of the
regiment.5
Notes
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The Regiments and Corps of the Canadian
Army, Queen's Printer, Ottawa,
1964, pp.101-102
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A-AD-267-000/AF-003
Official Lineages, Volume 3, Part 1: Armour,
Artillery and Field Engineer Regiments – Armour Regiments.
Directorate of History and Heritage. June 11, 2010 accessed
online at
http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/ol-lo/vol-tom-3/par1/arm-bli/KOCR-eng.asp
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Regiments and Corps,
ibid
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Official Lineages,
Ibid
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Ibid
