SWE Highlight - Women's Military Unit

This photograph depicts a women's military unit marching in the Torch Day Parade in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Torch Day Parade, which took place on May 29, 1941, was part of the drive for the First Victory Loan.

The photograph of the Women's Military Unit marching in the Torch Day Parade was submitted to the Saskatchewan War Experience by the City of Regina Archives.

SWE Highlight - Conditions of competition for the selection of an architect for the proposed War Memorial Museum at Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

In 1919 the Government of Saskatchewan promoted a competition for the design of a building to serve as a memorial to the soldiers of Saskatchewan who fell in the Great War, or World War I. The building would have also contained war trophies and records of the province. In the end, however, the War Memorial Museum was never developed.

If developed, the War Memorial Museum would have been situated to the south-west of the existing Parliament Buildings. The style of the building, while left to the discretion of the competitors, should have harmonized with the Parliament Building. The plans for the competition provides a deeper look into how the Saskatchewan Government treated veterans and planned future memorial projects.

The Conditions of Competition for the Selection of an Architect for the Proposed War Memorial Museum at Regina, Saskatchewan, was submitted to the Saskatchewan War Experience by the Saskatchewan Legislative Library.

SWE Highlight - Operation Eskimo

In January and February 1945 Operation or 'Exercise' "Eskimo" was held in northern Saskatchewan in order to test the effect of a continental, sub-Arctic winter on the mobility and combat efficiency of all-arms striking forces.

This short video clip shows troops involved in Exercise Eskimo coming off the Prince Albert railway bridge, likely south on 1st Ave West, then parading North on Central, past the inspecting group off camera on the steps of the old City Hall, now the Arts Centre.

For more information on Exercise Eskimo, visit Recapturing the North: Exercises "Eskimo," Polar Bear" and "Lemming," 1945.

Operation Eskimo was submitted to the Saskatchewan War Experience by the Prince Albert Historical Society.

SWE Highlight - The Saskatchewan Gazette 1914

This issue of The Saskatchewan Gazette contains important communications regarding the outbreak of World War I. It includes the Declaration of War between the British Empire and Germany. At the time, Canada was still heavily influenced by Britain's decisions; therefore, the citizens of Canada and Saskatchewan found themselves at war as well.

The issue is Volume X, No. 15, and was issued on August 15, 1914, only 11 days after Britain formally declared war on Germany.

The Saskatchewan Gazette, 1914, was submitted to the Saskatchewan War Experience by the Saskatchewan Queen's Printer, Ministry of Justice and Attorney General.

SWE Highlight - War Diary of the 67th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery in WWII

The War Diary of the 67th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery follows the path of the recruits of the Battery from recruitment in Rosetown, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1941, through training in Patawawa, Ontario, Canada, and numerous other locations, with the diary ending while the recruits are undergoing training in Portslade, Sussex, England, through 1943.

An excerpt reads:

"July 1st, 1941, Rosetown, Saskatchewan: Recruiting for the Battery continued with the 30CWT. army truck and loud-speaker equipment, making tours of the area on an itinery designed to include as many of the community sports' days as possible."

However, while the recruitment efforts may have been initially successful, some recruits decided to leave the military. Consider this excerpt from November 11, 1941, while the recruits were on board a train heading to the east coast, from where they would travel to England:

"One man was lost from the train, it is beleived at CAMBLETON, he was struck off strenght at HALIFAX. Another man from the 57th Battery tried to escape at SACKVILLE, but was unsuccessful."

The War Diary of the 67th Anti-Aircraft Battery was submitted to the Saskatchewan War Experience by the Rosetown Centennial Library Archive.

SWE Highlight - Campion College Library Yearbook, WWII

The war-related excerpts from this yearbook provide a glimpse into the lives of young men during World War II. It includes a list of Campion College casualties from World War II, a list of Campion College students enlisted in the Armed Forces, photos of some of the students involved in the war efforts, the annual report of Campion College Air Cadets with a roster and photos of the Cadets and various activities. A photo of the Campion College C.O.T.C. is also included.

Campion College is a university college federated with the University of Regina, and is located on the University of Regina's main campus.

The Campion College Yearbook, 1945, was submitted to the Saskatchewan War Experience by the Campion College Library.

SWE Highlight - Memorial Tree certificate for William Douglas Aird

City of Saskatoon certificate No. 130 "to certify that a memorial tree was planted by Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Aird (parents) in honour of Lieut. William Douglas Aird, 10th Can. Machine Gun Batt. who enlisted at Saskatoon, Sask. Sept. 22, 1915. Killed Oct. 26, 1917, age 20 years, at Passchendaele." Signed by Mayor Howard McConnell and City Clerk Mourdant Tomlinson.
The caption reads: "Let Those Who Come After See to It That this Name Be Not Forgotten."

This memorial tree certificate was issued ca. 1922. The tree was most likely located along Saskatoon's Memorial Avenue in Woodlawn Cemetary, a path lined by trees leading to a memorial for dead of World War I.

The Memorial Tree certificate for William Douglas Aird is part of the Document Collection at the Saskatoon Public Library, Local History Room. See more artifacts online at the Saskatchewan War Experience.

SWE Highlight - Letter from son to mother, WWI

On November 21, 1916, Dave Ross was in the Canadian Convalescent Hospital at Bearwood, Dokingham Berkshire in England, suffering from a knee injury. He wrote this letter to his mother in Chesley, Ontario.

In the letter, Dave recounts his memories of his

mother's old stove. His remembrances, however, quickly develop into reflectons about family life and what is worth while in life. As the letter progresses, he reveals his deep love of and gratitude to his parents.

An excerpt:

"I learned more of you when you said, "Dave, I've been expecting this for some time" than I knew before. I'm an awful coward and hate danger and lice and mud but I'm your soldier and if I could do the work of twenty I would not be half worthy of you."

Dave ends the letter with an amusing description of his hospital clothes, and noting that, while he will not make it

to France this year, his knee is nearly all right and he'll probably leave the hospital by the weekend.

The Letter from Dave Ross to his mother is part of the Connell Collection at the Regina Plains Museum. The entire document is located online at the Saskatchewan War Experience.

SWE Highlight - Memorial to the Footballers Who Fell in the Great World War

One of the intriguing items in the Saskatchewan War Experience is a program describing the unveiling of a Memorial dedicated to the football players who fell in World War I. The unveiling and dedication of the Memorial took place on 8th June, 1921, and included various songs and hymns, an address by the Mayor, and a Roll of the Fallen. The memorial consists of a 6 foot marble statue carved in Naples, Italy, set upon a 12 foot polished granite base, with the names of the 75 soccer players who lost their lives the Great War engraved around the bottom.

The Memorial was later named for Saskatoon footballer Hugh Cairns, a member of the 46th Battalion, Saskatchewan Regiment, who won the Victoria Cross and died just a few days before the end of the War.

Today, the Hugh Cairns Memorial is believed to be the only war memorial in the world dedicated to the players of football. It is located in Kiwanis Park in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

The Memorial to the Footballers Who Fell in the Great World War, 1914-1918, was submitted to the project by the University of Saskatchewan Special Collections.