Download this magazine at https://calgaryhighlanders.com/regimental The Glen The Regimental Magazine of the Calgary Highlanders - organizations/the - glen/glen - all - issues/ Honouring the Battalion of Heroes: 75th Anniversary: Juno to The Rhine Volume 8, Issue 1 August 2019 Volume 8 Issue 1 August 2019 Old enough to give their lives for their country but not old enough to drink... Volume 8 Issue 1 August 2019 2 The Glen The Regimental Magazine of the Calgary Highlanders Editors’ Page LCol (ret’d) Lee Villiger & Major Kent Griffiths This edition of the Onward from Walcheren to across the Rhine Glen Magazine is was no easy task, and I challenge all of you dedicated to the to read about our Battalion of Heroes as they 75th Anniversary of pushed across the Rhine and into the Home- our brave and suc- land of Nazis and witness to their terrible vio- cessful Battalion of lence! (check out the back cover for more) Heroes in 1944. This edition of ‘The Glen’ also highlights the Not until they hit return of the 10th Battalion colours to our the shores of Nor- Museum and the Memorial Services of two mandy on 5 July very successful Commanding Officers. 1944 did the 1st Battalion of The Calgary High- landers get into action. Taking over Command from the famous ‘battle drills’ CO, LCol Scott in Table of Contents 1942, LCol Donald George MacLauchlan was the Commanding Officer as they crossed the channel shortly after D–Day and headed inland Editorial 1 through the Normandy farm country towards Command Team 3 Caen. When LCol Ross Ellis relieved MacLau- chlan of command on 30 October 1944, the Padre’s Corner 5 Battalion had fought exhaustedly through Regimental Association 8 France, Belgium and Holland. Over the next three days the Battalion launched into the Bat- Clan of the Gallant Canadians 17 tle of the Scheldt and on Halloween, 31 Octo- Heroes 20 ber 1944, the incredible sacrifices of their Mental Health 23 blood, sweat, and tears was to prey success- fully on the Germans defending the strategic Save the Colours! 27 Walcheren Causeway! Annual Awards 31 The Artwork of Reid Fisher 33 Not since St. Julien had the Regiment had such grave causalities, but still sustained a great Museum Update 39 foothold on the Walcheren objective. This The Battle of Walcheren Causeway 40 brave victory allowed the rest of the 5th Bri- Faces of the Regiment 43 gade and the British Forces to clear this strate- gic foothold giving the Allies the renewed We Shall Remember Them 45 strength of the much needed logistics punch Highland Dancers 50 inland. Cadets 54 Unless referenced, all articles and photos are generated by The Glen volunteers: LCol (retired) F. Lee Villiger and Maj Kent Griffiths. Volume 8 Issue 1 August 2019 Editorial Comment The Battalion of Heroes! So what? Highlanders, through affiliation with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders also shaped our Only handful of the veterans from the World modern psyche from Scotland’s history such as War II Calgary Highlanders, “Battalion of He- the 93rd’s Thin Red Line and the Battle at Ba- roes” are still in our presence. Old soldiers laklava. All of these soldiers, had to be resilient never die, they just fade away. Sad that this is to be successful and sacrificed to maintain the a fact of life, but nevertheless we certainly miss strength of the Regiment. their presence. Yeah, but to today’s soldiers… So what? These tough Canadian soldiers of the First World War and World War II helped to shape In 1984, at my first annual 10th Battalion and the modern Calgary Highlander of today. So, Calgary Highlanders’ Association Dinner, held at no need to go to Ancestry DNA, simply look the famed Palliser Hotel, it seemed that 1/2 the around, know your history, find out about the room of about 200 or more people were from stories of veterans and then look into the mir- the Battalion of Heroes! The famous 10th Ca- ror. Time to live up to who you are as a High- nadians’ Wally Bennett from the First World lander! Can you be forged into steel? War was also in the room! Stories were flying and veterans never stopped enjoying them- So What? Do the personal self-reflection and selves in each others’ company. historical analysis… Act like a professional sol- dier and show up to all your training, Unit pa- So, why the “So What” Comment? rades, the Association events, and do your best In my last several years with the military, I had on courses and any operations when you are been a member of the Canadian Army Com- called upon to serve. mand and Staff College. I worked as a Directing Staff, Chief Instructor Western Area, and finally Start to shape who you are as a modern day the Chief Standards Officer for the Reserves. soldier… wear your uniform proudly, keep up Big deal…. So what? To be honest, that experi- your fitness, and make a contribution to the ence ingrained in me a sense of problem solv- Regiment in any manner and form you can. It ing, finding answers to difficult tactical and op- really is not an option, even as a Reservist. If erational decisions and even helped with family you see your service as an option, then kindly and civilian decisions…Asking so what was cre- move on out of the history of greatness that ating the best possible course of action that lived before you. Be the Calgary Highlander would save the most lives and resources while from which steel is forged; the forged steel of meeting the mission of the higher commander your history and the resilient veterans that or fulfilling tasks from my organization. The went before you. process of asking yourself, “so what” led to get- Lee ting deep into a problem, looking at advantages and disadvantages and then making proper de- Memories of a young Ryan Palmer, ductions to help shape decisions. destined to become Commanding Officer. The meeting of the veterans at Association One day he is serving snuff and the meetings and dinners, in the Mess, or on the next he is a resilient veteran - street, has an element of “so what?” leading the Regiment. ANSWER: These veterans drive the psyche of the modern Canadian soldier. I believe that it is who we are as Calgary Highlanders! As the Padre alluded to at Knox Church during the St. Julien Service, soldiers’ resiliency helped to forge the steel of the sword; essentially, the unbreakable toughness expected from a Calga- ry Highlander. “Pushups do not get easier, you get harder!” The Fighting Tenth of the Frist World War helped shape the World War II Battalion of He- roes! Looking into our deep history, the Calgary Volume 8 Issue 1 August 2019 2 Command Team LCol Ryan Palmer and CWO Glenn Fedoruk The 2018-19 Training Year has been an excit- long major force-on-force validation exercise ing and challenging one for The Calgary High- delivered by the Canadian Manoeuvre training landers, but we continue to adapt, persevere Center located at Canadian Forces Base Wain- and grow. wright. The Strengthening the Army Reserve (StAR) The most obvious impacts of the StAR initia- initiative initiated by LGen Wynnyk while he tive are the specialty mission tasks such as As- was Commander of the Canadian Army and sault Pioneer, and Direct Fire Support assigned reaffirmed in the 2017 Defence Review Strong, to Primary Reserve Infantry units across the Secure, Engaged, continues to drive events on country. The Calgary Highlanders have been the armory floor. As of the time of writing, assigned the Medium Mortar task, working on the regiment sits concert with the at a strength of Loyal Edmonton 253 against 272 Regiment. To cre- establishment po- ate the necessary sitions; our highest technical skill sets, strength since the we have sent a peak of the Af- large number of sol- ghanistan opera- diers on their Infan- tions. To manage try Basic Mortarman this growth, we Course, and key are placing a high leaders on the rele- priority on leader vant Intermediate development, par- and Advanced ticularly the Prima- courses. Mean- ry Leadership while, we have tak- Qualification / In- en delivery of our fantry Junior Lead- first 4 mortar tubes, ers’ Course to qualify new Master Corporals, and some equipment such as additional radi- and the Development Period 1.1 Dismounted os, but await the full suite of specialty stores Infantry Platoon Commander’s Course for our and vehicles necessary to establish the capa- junior officers, ensuring that our soldiers have bility. the qualified leaders they deserve. Working in concert with Loyal Edmonton Regi- In maintaining our core individual and collec- ment and the Artillery units of 41 Brigade, we tive skill sets, A Company takes the lead. This will deploy our Mortar Platoon as part of the took the form of a series of Wednesday night NATO Enhanced Forward Presence Battle training sessions and weekend exercises this Group to LATVIA as part of Operation past fall where we confirmed our skills in REASURANCE early in 2020. This will repre- physical fitness, rifle marksmanship, Chemical sent the first operational deployment involving Radiological Biological and Nuclear (CRBN) de- Reserve soldiers in their new specialty roles, fence, first aid, and the operation of our sup- and reflects the confidence that the Army has port weapons such as our machine guns and in us in this early test of the StAR initiative. anti-armour weapons. After Christmas, we Though the deployment of the Mortal Platoon transitioned to offensive operations collective to Latvia will represent the largest deployment training with a focus on live fire at the section of highlanders next year, we also anticipate level.