The 103rd Regiment (Calgary Rifles) was an

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

of the Canadian

Non-Permanent Active Militia The Non-Permanent Active Militia (NPAM) was the military reserve force of Canada from 1855 to 1940. It was composed of several dozen infantry battalions (redesignated as regiments in 1900) and cavalry regiments. After the withdrawal of British ...

, authorized at

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, Alberta, Canada, by General Order on 1 April 1910.

History

The 103rd Regiment was raised in Calgary as a militia unit. The first commanding officer was Lieutenant-Colonel W.C.G. Armstrong. The regiment was approved to train six

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specifi ...

of 50 men each, and later expanded to eight companies. The unit initially paraded at the former

Calgary General Hospital Calgary General Hospital was the name given to a series of medical facilities in the city of Calgary. Early hospitals *Calgary General Hospital #1: 7th Street and 9th Avenue S.W. opened in October 1890 in the form of a 2-storey wood-frame house a ...

building (today known as the Rundle Ruins) before being ordered to vacate in September 1910. The unit then moved into the former drill hall of the Canadian Mounted Rifles on Centre Street and 12th Avenue SE. In 1911 a new armoury was found, in a former German-Canadian club a block south of their former home at the General Hospital. After

Mewata Armouries Mewata Armoury is a Canadian Forces reserve Armory (military), armoury in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. ''Mewata'' ( is derived from the Cree language, Cree word (), meaning "Oh, be joyful". The building was built between 1915 and 1918 for an ori ...

was completed during the First World War, the regiment moved its offices to that location.

War Service

At the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the regiment was not mobilized but served as a recruiting depot to raise battalions for the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF; French: ''Corps expéditionnaire canadien'') was the expeditionary warfare, expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed on August 15, 1914, following United Kingdom declarat ...

(CEF), the first being the 10th Battalion, CEF. The regiment also provided soldiers to man the internment camp at Castle Mountain. These soldiers were also employed full time as part of the Active Militia. A number of reinforcement battalions were commanded by former 103rd Regiment officers, including Lieutenant-Colonel William Charles Gordon Armstrong ( 56th Battalion (Calgary), CEF) and Lieutenant-Colonel George Morfitt (

137th (Calgary) Battalion, CEF The 137th Battalion, CEF, was a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. Based in Calgary, Alberta, the unit began recruiting in late 1915 in that city. After sailing to England in August 1916, the battalion was abs ...

). The regiment also supplied soldiers to man internment camps near

Castle Mountain Castle Mountain () is a mountain located within Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies, approximately halfway between Banff and Lake Louise. It is the easternmost mountain of the Main Ranges in the Bow Valley and sits astride the Castl ...

and Cave & Basin in

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada, Canada's first National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous ter ...

. Three soldiers of the 103rd Regiment (Calgary Rifles) died while assigned to the camp and are buried in Banff.

Reorganization

The 103rd Regiment was reorganized into two regiments in 1920 (the Calgary Regiment and The Alberta Regiment), each of which was reorganized into two regiments a few years later. None of the new units adopted the rifle regiment traditions of the 103rd.

Perpetuations

One of the resulting four regiments (the North Alberta Regiment) was disbanded in the 1936 reorganization of the Militia, but three present-day regiments claim descent from the 103rd: the

South Alberta Light Horse The South Alberta Light Horse (SALH) is a Canadian Army armoured reconnaissance regiment of the Canadian Army Reserve. It traces its complicated lineage to the Rocky Mountain Rangers, and claims its direct ancestry to the 15th Light Horse, along ...

, the King's Own Calgary Regiment (RCAC) and the Calgary Highlanders. These regiments perpetuate the 10th, 31st, 50th, 56th, 82nd, 89th and 137th Battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force all of whom were either raised in, or contained soldiers from, Calgary. Descendants of the 103rd Regiment "Calgary Rifles"

References

* Knight, Darrell. ''The Canadian Regimental Badge Book''. (Calgary: private publication, 2008)

Regimental Histories

*''Calgary's Infantry Regiment: A Pictorial History of The Calgary Highlanders'' by Michael A. Dorosh (Calgary Highlanders Regimental Funds Foundation, 2024) 440 pages {{ISBN, 978-0-969461-64-7 Rifle regiments of Canada Infantry regiments of Canada until 1920 Military units and formations established in 1910 Military units and formations disestablished in 1920 Military units and formations of Alberta