Canada's Highland Regiments

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Caption:
Lord Willingdon, Governor General of Canada, inspects the Calgary Highlanders in 1928.
Officer at left wears the same pattern sporran as the enlisted men - two black points on white, with a Tenth Battalion badge on the cantle.

At this point in time, the Regiment still boasted many veterans of the First World War, as evidenced by the decorations on the soldiers photographed here. A red sash is just visible on the sergeant second from right, and he also wears an older Canadian Pattern Service Dress Jacket with 7 button front and stand up collar. Compare to the man at right, with the 5 button pattern adopted from the British during the First World War.

All soldiers carry the standard weapon for this period, the Number 1 Mark III SMLE (Short Magazine, Lee Enfield). Officer at left doesn't appear to have a standard pattern Highland officers' sword; likely it is a sword he purchased or had handed down to him before joining the Highlanders.

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His Majesty, King George VI, and Lieutenant Colonel Riley (Commanding Officer, Calgary Highlanders) inspect a Guard of Honour at the train station in Calgary in 1939. The Royal Visit was a very fondly remembered occasion not just for the Regiment but for the citizens of Calgary as a whole. Not long after the visit, Canada would once again be sending soldiers to fight for His Majesty in Europe.


Before departing the city in the spring of 1940, the First Battalion, Calgary Highlanders, laid up their stand of Colours in the Church of the Redeemer in downtown Calgary.

The two Colours consisted of a King's Colour, shown here at left, and a Regimental Colour, at right. The Regimental Colour was emblazoned with Battle Honours earned by the unit's predecessor, the Tenth Battalion, during the Great War.

Lieutenant Colonel J. Fred Scott is shown at left, wearing tartan riding pants and a balmoral. The Major holding the Regimental Colour, D.G. MacLauchlan, would later command the battalion in combat, earning the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership at Clair Tizon in the summer of 1944.