Tanks and Tartans: Soldiers for 100 Years

Tanks and Tartan: 31 March 2010 - August 2010

Tanks and Tartan: Soldiers for 100 Years is a joint exhibit commemorating the Centennial (1910-2010) of the founding of The King’s Own Calgary Regiment and The Calgary Highlanders.  The exhibit will occupy The Founders’ Art and Heritage Gallery at The Military Museums. The exhibit officially opens on 31 March 2010 and runs until August 2010.

The two regiments trace their lineage to the same parent unit, the 103rd Regiment (Calgary Rifles) that was officially authorized on 1 April 1910 as a militia infantry regiment in the City of Calgary. The joint heritage and development of the two regiments will be explored, beginning with the founding and history of the 103rd Regiment, their activities, training and accomplishments.

Most of the artifacts and photos will be selected from the permanent collections of the two regimental museums supplemented by several key pieces borrowed from the Glenbow Museum in Calgary.

As Calgary’s First World War battalions – the 10th and 50th Battalions were raised largely from western soldiers from Calgary, southern Alberta and Winnipeg.  This section will feature artifacts, documents, letters and photographs relating to Capt Allen Gordon Graham, DSO of the 10th Battalion.  Other artifacts displayed will represent Calgary’s 50th Battalion and First World War “trench art”, equipment and uniforms, each telling a piece of the story of that bloody, cataclysmic struggle.

The exhibit also features a section on the Mewata Armoury, home to both regiments since the 1920's.  It was from here that soldiers went for training at Sarcee Camp on the city’s outskirts, and began their long journey overseas to fight in the Second World War.

The Second World War period will be explored through a combination of photos and artifacts, to the post-war period of National Survival Training at Sarcee Camp to the beginning of the deployments of Reserve soldiers to United Nations missions in areas such as Kashmir, Egypt and the Balkans (former Yugoslavia).  This exhibit will also include artifacts and photos of recent NATO deployments to Afghanistan in 2006 and 2008.

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