Onward: The King's Own Calgary Regiment in Peace and War, 1910-1960
Patrick H. Brennan
$99.99 HC / $59.99 PB (S)
512 pages, photographs
6 x 9 inches
Hardback: 978-1-77385-600-1
Paperback: 978-1-77385-601-8
Epub: 978-1-77385-604-9
Library PDF: 978-1-77385-603-2
February 2025
The history of the King’s Own Calgary Regiment in war and peace, never losing sight of the ordinary soldier’s journey from civilian to warrior and back again.
This is the story of the King’s Own Calgary Regiment. Beginning in the last years of collective innocence before the Great War, it follows the regiment to Vimy Ridge, through the short years of peace to Dieppe and the Italian Campaign, through the establishment and maintenance of reserve and militia force, and into the Cold War.
Onward is a soldier’s story; mundane, heroic and tragic. This book explores not only the actions of the regiment but also the efforts of civilians to become warriors, to maintain their ties to home during the rigours of war, and the often-rocky return to civilian life. It explores peacetime, when the regiment struggled to maintain active reserves with aging equipment and minimal support. It places the King’s Own Calgary Regiment within the context of Canada’s army, tracing its relationships with brigade mates, supporting artillery and engineers to provide a complete and fascinating history.
Regimental history does not begin with the first shot of a battle, nor does the story end when the fighting stops. Onward is a thoroughly researched and captivating chronicle of the Kings Own Calgary Regiment and its soldiers in peace and war.
Patrick H. Brennan is associate professor emeritus and fellow of the Centre for Military, Strategic, and Security Studies at the University of Calgary. He has authored numerous chapters and articles on Canadian military history and is the author of Reporting the Nation’s Business: Press-Government Relations During the Liberal Years, 1935-57.
Introduction: Fifty Years of Peace and War
Chapter 1. From Calgary to Vimy Ridge
Chapter 2. From Vimy Ridge to Amiens
Chapter 3. The Hundred Days and Home
Chapter 4. A Short Peace and a Second War
Chapter 5. From Mobilization to Dieppe
Chapter 6. From Dieppe to Ortona
Chapter 7. From the Gari to the Arno
Chapter 8. From the Arno to Holland and Home
Chapter 9. Neither Peace nor War
Conclusion: In the Service of Their Country
List of Abbreviations
Bibliography
Notes