Калгари қаласының әскери тарихы

Beginning with establishment of Fort Calgary (a North West Mounted Police fort) in 1875, the city of Calgary, Alberta, has had some degree of permanent military presence throughout its history.

Between the time Fort Calgary was established in 1875 and the incorporation of the town of Calgary in 1884, the only formal military presence was the NWMP garrison of Fort Calgary. The Northwest Rebellion prompted the creation of a Citizen's Home Guard consisting of volunteers dressed in cowboy garb who paraded as a show of force for the benefit of local indigenous tribes. No conflicts arose between the European town dwellers and the First Nations and the guard quietly disbanded. Calgary's incorporation as a city in 1894 encouraged the development of a more formal military presence. A squadron of the Canadian Mounted Rifles was stationed in Calgary and later a cavalry regiment of the Non Permanent Active Militia was authorized on 3 July 1905, designated the 15th Light Horse. The regiment used the upper loft of a feed store as a headquarters. The quartermaster of the 15th Light Horse, who also served on city council, Captain William Charles Gordon Armstrong, made a number of applications to create an infantry regiment. In 1910 his applications were finally accepted and the 103rd Regiment "Calgary Rifles" was formally authorized on 1 April 1910. Units of the artillery, engineers and supporting corps also had units in Calgary. Strathcona's Horse, a Permanent Force cavalry unit, had one squadron quartered in the city for many years.

In 1914, several battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force were raised in Calgary, notably the 10th and 50th. Training took place at nearby Sarcee Camp, which grew enormously during the First World War. The camp later became known as Sarcee Training Area. Nearby Battalion Park overlooks this area.

In 1920–21, the Canadian military was reorganized, and the 103rd Regiment was split into two separate regiments, and by 1939 these were known as The Calgary Highlanders and the Calgary Regiment (Tank). Other supporting units remained in the city as well. By 1939, these included the 15th Alberta Light Horse; 19th Field Brigade, Royal Canadian Artillery (including component subunits 23rd (Howitzer) Battery, 91st Battery, and 95th Battery); 13th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers; No. 13 District Signals; and No. 9 Construction Section.

Beginning on 1 September 1939, many Calgary units mobilized for the Canadian Active Service Force. The Calgary Highlanders mobilized on 1 September 1939 and joined the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, moving to Shilo, Manitoba, in the summer of 1940 on the way to overseas employment. A 2nd Battalion was raised and served as a part time Militia unit throughout the war. The Highlanders returned to Calgary on 24 November 1945 to a warm welcome, along with the 23rd Anti Tank Battery (a component of the 2nd Anti Tank Regiment) and the 91st Field Battery, Royal Canadian Artillery. The Calgary Regiment (Tank) mobilized in 1941 and eventually served in 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade (later 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade), most famously serving at Dieppe but later being reconstituted and fighting in Sicily, Italy, and Northwest Europe. A reserve unit remained in Calgary. As well, a contingent of the Alberta University Canadian Officers Training Corps was located in the city.

By the end of the Second World War, a greatly enlarged Regular Force saw a sizable military garrison in Calgary, and regular battalions of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, as well as Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians), were quartered in the city. In 1995, the Regular Force garrison – including Strathcona's, 1 PPCLI, 1 Service Battalion, 1 Military Police Platoon, and the headquarters of Land Force Western Area as well as 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group – all moved to Edmonton, leaving a skeleton staff of regular personnel in Calgary to administer the local Militia units. Permanent military facilities were completed in 1917 with the construction of Mewata Armouries, which then housed reserve units and a squadron of regular cavalry. Currie Barracks became an important training base during the Second World War, and many British Commonwealth Air Training Plan facilities were in and around the city, including what is today the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Currie Barracks, and nearby Harvey Barracks, were both developed after the war to form Canadian Forces Base Calgary (CFB Calgary). A second armoury was built in a Northeast Calgary industrial park in the 1980s. Harvey Barracks (and the adjacent Sarcee Training Area) were returned to the Tsuu Tʼina Nation after the lease expired, and CFB Calgary was closed. Only the headquarters for a reserve brigade and a small area support unit remain.

Ian Bazalgette: awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross in 1944 for actions as a Bomber Command pilot of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Robert Hampton Gray, Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve at HMCS Tecumseh, the only person in the Canadian Navy and the last Canadian to be awarded the Victoria Cross. John George Pattison: awarded the Victoria Cross for actions with the 50th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force at Vimy Ridge in 1917. R. B. Bennett: Prime Minister of Canada and also long time honorary colonel of The Calgary Highlanders. Douglas Harkness: commander of an anti tank battery of the Royal Canadian Artillery in the Second World War, and later Minister of National Defence. Mark Tennant: rose from the rank of private in 1939 to major with the Calgary Highlanders during the Second World War and later served several terms as an Alderman of the City of Calgary.