Lieutenant-Colonel G.C. Oswell
9th Armoured Regiment (British Columbia Dragoons)

Determined to show him that the cavalrymen of today are as bold and thorough as the cavalrymen of old, and that the cavalry is still an essential part of the forces being trained here in this Vernon camp for the defence of British Columbia … I met the C.O.—tall (six foot six) Lt.-Col. G.C. Oswell of the whipcord muscles and hawk-nose–beau ideal of the cavalryman.

(Vancouver Sun, 28 June 1940, 4)

Born on 10 August 1894 in Barton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England Gordon Cecil Oswell had been one of the earliest volunteers with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in August 1914. He transferred from the British Columbia Horse to the Lord Strathcona’s Horse in September and went to France in May 1915. In early 1916, the six-foot-four, former rancher was selected for officer training.

By October 1916, he had taken a commission with the British Army and served with Staffordshire Regiment on Western Front and later in the Middle East campaign. He took a commission with the Indian Army at the end of the First World War and joined the campaign in Waziristan on the North-West frontier of India in 1921.

In November 1933, Oswell assumed command of the British Columbia Dragoons. Observing training and maneuvers at Camp Vernon in summer 1939, one correspondent remarked, “if anyone tells you the day of cavalry—good old horsed cavalry—has been ended by modern warfare, he is mistaken.” However, in 1940, the regiment mobilized as a motorcycle unit, prompting a newspaper to state that the troopers “mounted on faster ‘steeds’ but retaining all the dash and initiative so dear to the hearts of the cavalryman.”

By April 1941, the Dragoons had been redesignated the 9th Armoured Regiment. Six months later, the veteran cavalryman Oswell relinquished command to young tank expert Lieutenant-Colonel J.H. Larocque. The Dragoons embarked for England in September 1941.

Oswell died on 5 January 1983 in Victoria, British Columbia.