Lieutenant-Colonel Swatty Wotherspoon
29th Armoured Regiment (South Alberta Regiment)

There are many of us here tonight who wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Swatty (Gen. Wotherspoon). He was respected because he didn’t make mistakes that cost people’s lives.

(Col. Coffin, Edmonton Journal, 5 Aug 1980, 22)

Born in Port Hope, Ontario on 12 January 1909, Gordon Dorward de Salaberry Wotherspoon was a graduate of RMC and Osgoode Hall. A lawyer in civilian life, he also belonged to the Governor General’s Horse Guards, which went overseas as the 3rd Armoured Regiment in late 1941. While the Horse Guards prepared to deploy to Italy, Wotherspoon was promoted to command the 29th Armoured Regiment (South Alberta Regiment) in May 1943.

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