1946-1964

by Col (Retd) Harry Quarton

(with additional information appended from the 19th Newsletters, The Annual Historical Reports (attached at bottom), and the webmaster

On the 1st April 1946, the 19th Armoured Car Regiment (Edmonton Fusiliers) were born. On the return of so many 19th Alberta Dragoons and South Alberta Regiment Veterans to Edmonton, and many anxious to serve in the Militia, Ottawa was convinced that an Armoured Regiment be formed to perpetuate the 19th Alberta Dragoons and 101st Edmonton Fusiliers.

The first Commanding Officer was Lt. Cot. John Proctor, the former AAQMG of 4th Armoured Division. MajGen F. Worthington was G.O.C. Western Command and he was anxious to see these men back under his command. The Regiment was equipped with Staghound Armoured Cars and Lynx Scout Cars. The Regiment was tasked with a Reece of the Alaska Highway as far north as Watson Lake. The information gathered as to bridges, obstacles was invaluable in the planning the defence of the Highway.

After 4 1/2 years as CO, Lt. Cot. Proctor turned over command to LCol Newton Hughes, a former South Alberta Regiment Major. It was under his command that he sent nine Warrant Officers and Sergeants with wartime service to Officer Corps training to eventually be the backbone of the Regiment. Sargeant G. I. MacDonald and TQMS J. H Quarton, were former SAR's. Two officers obtained the rank of LCol and four became Squadron Commanders. These post war years were good for the Dragoons as the Regiment had taken over "Railhead" at 142nd Street, which was formerly a U.S. Army base for the Alaska Highway. The unit had good lecture rooms, auditorium, garages and grease pits with ample space for stores. Indeed, the Dragoons had the luxury of a Wireless Wing, a Gunnery Wing and the HQ was back at the Connaught Armouries, the original home for the Dragoons that was built in 1912 at a cost of $35,000.

Col. Hughes was followed by Lt. Col. Arnold Lavoie, ED, another former Squadron Commander from the SAR's. Under Col. Lavoie's command, The Dragoons retrieved our Colours from Holy Trinity Church and the colours were "Trooped" in Armoured Cars on Jasper Avenue. The Regiment also performed at football games and visited many High Schools on recruiting drives. Summer camps were also exciting as the soldiers would be attached to the Lord Strathcona’s Horse for training and that meant they got back to using tanks again.

November 1954 saw the Regiment turned over to Lt. Col. E.S. (Ed) Bryant, CD, who had been with the Dragoons since 1946 as a Captain. We now suffered through one of the perpetual political cutbacks, but we maintained our out Squadrons and Troops in the neighboring towns. On a positive note, in 1955, the Regiment was awarded the Murphy Trophy for highest attendance at summer camp in Western Command. Along with the home station in Edmonton ("A" Squadron in Edmonton and "B" Sqaudron in South Edmonton), the 19th now had soldiers in Westlock (Intercom Troop of Headquarters Squadron - approx 10 strong), Whitehorse ( "C" Squadron) and Wetaskiwin ("D" Squadron - approx 75 strong), the latter with a small troop in Devon and Camrose. "C" Squadron was nicknamed the "Northern Lights" while the boys from Devon were coined "The Devon Oilriggers."

For 1956, training in Wetaskiwin included gunnery training on the thirty-seven and seventy-five millimeter guns and a brass band was also formed. Summer camp at Wainright was to be held from 30 June to 6 July and training was carried out using the Ferret scout car and Staghounds. Following a successful summer training period, the Dragoons were honoured (along with the 8th NB Hussars) with the awarding of the Worthington Trophy! It was also in 1956, that Col Jamieson presented a sword to LCol Bryant to be passed on from CO to CO.

In 1957, summer camp was held in Wainright from June 29th to July 6th and 86 members from the Regiment attended training. Attendance breakdown was as follows:

Edmonton - 34 pers

Whitehorse - 23 pers

Wetaskiwin (incl Devon and Camrose) - 22 pers

Westlock - 7 pers

Capt Flower, Sgt Beaudry, and Sgt Westcott conducting comms training

Snakes and Ladders in Wetaskiwin - Circa 1963 - Compliments of Brian Fairley

In November, LCol D.F. Cameron, MBE assumed command of the Regiment from LCol Bryant. Cameron had served in the Calgary Tanks during WW2 and had gone ashore at Dieppe. He had also served with the 1st and 2nd Armoured Brigades in Sicily and Northwest Europe. Following the war, LCol. Cameron had completed his medical training and was a well-known Edmonton physician.

For 1958, training at Wainwright continued but the writing was on the wall, down-sizing had begun. The Regiment fielded a total of 80 soldiers to Wainright. The Dragoons were very fortunate to have Lt. Col. A. Bohomolec replace Col. Milner as Honorary Colonel of the Regiment. Col. Milner had served continuously since 1946 and was a very generous and influential businessman in Edmonton. Col. Bohomolec on the other hand was a former Polish Cavalry officer at the outbreak of war and soon found himself serving in British intelligence. He and his wife had a large ranch in the foothills near Cardston and many horses where the officers were invited to come and enjoy.

It was under Col. Cameron's term that the Regiment went into 'Show Biz’ by Producing the Army Show. It was a musical and we performed at the Jubilee Auditorium with some success. Maj. Gen. Vokes thought we should take it on the road, but lack of funds soon took care of that. For many years now the Regiment also had an active "Mounted Troop" and were on demand for events for the Lt. Governor, sporting events, etc. The horses were kept at Capt. RA Hicks property in the river valley, but somewhere along the way, the Dragoons got in the bad books of the GOC and were ordered to disband the troop. Col Quarton offerd that the Regiment really had taken the spotlight from the Regular Force and that is the only reason they could come up with for this decision.

Command of the Regiment was changed in the fall of 1959 with LCol Cawsey assuming command from LCol Cameron. This year saw the Dragoons, one of the largest Armoured Regiments in Canada, win the Worthington Trophy and the Stockwell Cup beating all other Armoured Regiments in Canada. The Army Show continued its successful run at the Jubilee Auditorium. Despite all this, dark clouds were beginning to gather for the Dragoons!

Western Command was soon replaced with Alberta Area and the Regiment started to lose its out Squadrons and Troops. First to go was Westlock, followed by Whitehorse. Many of the officers had been transferred to other units. Major Emile Michon and Ernie Hall were Promoted LCol's and took over other units. LCol Bob Bradburn, a Pre-war Dragoon and an SAR during the war, now commanded the Loyal Edmonton Regiment. He was then Promoted Brigadier and took over Militia Group.

The next Commanding Officer to command the Regiment was LtCol RH (Bob) Summersgill, who took command from LCol Cawsey in December 1961. Unfortunately for LCol Summersgill, he had the job of standing down the rest of the out Squadrons and Troops, at Devon and Camrose, leaving only Edmonton and Wetaskiwin.

Throughout the late 50's and 60's, the Dragoons continued to go to Wainwright for troop training and gunnery.

Sgt Fairley offered the following observations from his time with the Regiment:

When I came to the regiment in late 1959, the only reconnaissance vehicle still used was the Scout car, as the Staghounds were gone. Lt Col. Cawsey was the CO.

The regimental training on the Shermans was about once or twice a year at Wainwright where the Tanks were kept. In the between time we had driver training on the soft skinned vehicles such as the Jeep, panel,3 ton stake and the 2 1/2 ton Army truck. The last tank shoot I can remember was in Wainwright in 1964.

Many of the young soldiers like myself paraded on Saturdays which included recruit, trained Militia ( Civil defense ), and wireless courses. Many Sundays we attended 23 Milita Group courses such as storesman / clerk, some driving courses as well as Jr and Sr NCO courses. Every summer we went to Army camp for July and August. Training with the rest of the regiment was limited, due to money available. Lt. Col. Summersgill came to us from 154 RCSC in 1962 or 1963 and was with us till the disbanding.

The only other time I remember about the Sherman trainning, was when we had a tank over at RCEME work shop ( 38 tech ) on 109 street. Sgt Kennedy of 1 staff (Strathconas) conducted a short course on the firing mechanism, which was stripping and assembling the 75 mm gun. Before disbanding in 1964, we took to driving Centurions in Wainwright.

For the war games, we were a part of the enemy forces against the Canadian Army in 1963 in Wainwright Alberta, I was part of a tank crew made up of Dragoon Sr and Jr NCO' s, that knocked out a troop of Canadian Hussars. It was Shermans against Centurions, they out numbered us by 4-1. Suffice to say they won the battle but we received recognition for that accomplishment. The other incident I recall, was corps training with a troop of shermans in Wainwright in 1963, one of the tanks barreled into a swamp and came to an abrupt stop. The rest of us avoided the water and watched as this tank slowly sank down. The RCEME recovery team came out but they could not recover this tank. As far as I know it is still there. I still thank God it was not my vehicle.

Sgt (Retd) Brian Fairley also submitted the following nominol roll for B Squadron in 1964-1965

Ultimately, another Commission was announced and this was the final blow. The Dragoons with many other units were ordered to Nil Strength and to be completed by 31st March 1965.

First, the Regiment laid up the Colours of the 19th Alberta Dragoons and the Edmonton Fusiliers on 29th November 1964 in Holy Trinity Church.

Most of the equipment went back to Ordnance Depot. The Dragoons artifacts which had survived since before World War I were catalogued and turned over to the Provincial Museum in Edmonton. This included all the silver trophies and Col. Jamieson's gun collection. Many of the Officers and NCO's later added their own uniforms, saddles and lances.

All officers, NCO's and men who wished to serve on were found vacancies in other Units, L.E.R, Artillery, Intelligence, RCOC, RCASC and RCEME.

At the close-out smoker that was held before the Dragoons dispersed to other Units, someone asked RSM Bob Rasmussen Why the Regiment was being broken up. Rasmussen was heard to reply, "To make other Units better".

A great epitaph for the Dragoons.

Attached at the bottom of this page are the annual historical reports that were submitted annually to the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps Association. They contain excellent information for the 1959/1960 and 1961/1962 training years!