Regina Rifle Regiment

Lt-Col. D.C. Howat

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Lieutenant-Colonel Doug Howat
Regina Rifle Regiment

I could not determine exactly where our two forward platoons had gone. There was a lot of noise up on the ridge so my runner and I, along with Captain Howat of “B” Company, tried to go forward. We were met by grenades and bullets, escaping death only by crawling on our stomachs. It was pointless.

(Brown, “Battle of Moyland Wood,” 106)

Born on 7 February 1912 in Norwood Grove, Manitoba, Douglas Carrick Howat was commissioned with the 2nd Armoured Car Battalion in February 1941 and promoted to captain the next year. He joined the Regina Rifle Regiment overseas before being assigned officer commanding an army camp in Surrey. He rejoined the Rifles in Normandy in July 1944 and would take command of the battalion a year later until demobilization.

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Maj. D.G. Brown

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Major Gordon Brown
Regina Rifle Regiment

However, battle conditions place intolerable pressures on people, with unpredictable results. A hero today can fail tomorrow. A great leader last week can suffer from battle exhaustion this week.

(Brown, “Battle of Moyland Wood,” 101)

Born on 27 July 1918 in Manor, Saskatchewan, Douglas Gordon Brown went overseas as a reinforcement officer in June 1942 and joined the Regina Rifle Regiment. He was promoted to captain in January 1944 and received a promotion to “D” company commander shortly after landing on D-Day. Although twice wounded, he remained with the battalion for virtually the entire campaign in Northwest Europe and took temporary command of the Rifles in the final battle of the war at the end of April 1945.

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Maj. R.J. Orr

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Major Bob Orr
Regina Rifle Regiment

Throughout his entire service, Major Orr has shown exceptional initiative, resourcefulness and devotion to duty. His cheerfulness and magnificent sense of humour did much in maintaining the high spirit and morale of the troops under his command. His obvious concern for them was in great contrast to his utter disregard for his own safety.

(D.S.O. citation, 22 Jan 1946)

Born on 1 May 1917 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Robert James Orr was a student at the University of Saskatchewan when he volunteered with the Regina Rifle Regiment in 1940. Overseas, he transferred to the Carleton and York Regiment, serving in the Italian theatre as a company commander from the Battle of Ortona to the Gothic Line. He rejoined the Regina Rifles in Holland in November 1944 as second-in-command.

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Lt-Col. F.M. Matheson

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Lieutenant-Colonel F.M. Matheson
Regina Rifle Regiment

In particular on the night of 8/9 June 1944, when the Battalion Headquarters was attacked by PZ KW Mk V tanks and infantry, the colonel himself led the defence resulting in knocking out five tanks.

(D.S.O. citation, 31 Aug 1944)

Born on 5 January 1904 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Foster Martin Matheson was an accountant and joined the Prince Albert Volunteers in 1923, raising to the rank of major. He transferred to the Regina Rifle Regiment on mobilization for active service in 1940. In England, he succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Sharp in March 1943. “Reports from Canada,” he wrote home, “sometimes lead us to believe that you are gaining the impression that boys over here are getting very ‘browned off’ due to the long wait. The surprising thing is that the men are standing up remarkably well.”

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Brig. H. Sharp

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Brigadier Harry Sharp
Regina Rifle Regiment
11th Infantry Brigade

… just because they have guts enough to step out and fight … Young lads who come of age and enlist here in December will be fighting in France by April. It makes no difference how many older men are taken. All the young fellows as they come of age will go into the firing line while men of 30, the ideal age for fighting, with years of training, hang back.

(Quoted in Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 13 Nov 1944, 3)

Born on 30 April 1895 in Parry Sound, Ontario, Harry Sharp was principal of North Battleford Collegiate and a University of Saskatchewan graduate. As a student he had enlisted with the 152nd Battalion in November 1915 and reverted from the rank of sergeant to join a reinforcement draft to the 52nd Battalion in France a year later. He quick re-earned his stripes but was put out of action with a gunshot wound in May 1917. He received the Distinguished Conduct Medal and took a commission just before the end of the war.

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Lt-Col. T.H. Hewitt

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Lieutenant-Colonel T.H. Hewitt
Regina Rifle Regiment

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in leading a party to the capture of an advanced post and holding it for two days under heavy enemy bombardment. His services in leading his platoon and in consolidating the new line have been invaluable throughout.

(M.C. citation, 6 Jul 1917)

Born on 1 February 1889 in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, Thomas Henry Hewitt was a civil servant and former commander officer of the Regina Rifles from 1932 to 1936. He had settled in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan as a teenager and joined the provincial civil service. In September 1915, he enlisted with the 46th Battalion, which deployed to France in August 1916. He received a field commission before Vimy Ridge and subsequently earned the Military Cross at Lens.

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Lt-Col. H.J. Quinn

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Lieutenant-Colonel Herb Quinn
Regina Rifle Regiment

The Reserve Army is not being equipped for fun, but as insurance against the same thing happening here as has happened in other countries which believed themselves safe from attack. We must be prepared to combat internal subversive elements as well as to repel invaders from our shores, if such an emergency should ever arise.

(Quoted in Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 14 Nov 1942 3)

Born on 8 December 1884 in London, Ontario, Herbert Joseph Quinn was a reporter for the London Free Press before moving west and settling in Manitoba in 1905. He enlisted with the 181st Battalion in May 1916 and joined the Canadian Machine Gun Corps in France in November 1917. He was wounded in August 1918 and earned the Military Medal. After the First World War, he moved to Saskatchewan, worked for the Moose Jaw Times-Herald and the Regina Leader-Post, and then established an insurance and real estate firm in 1928.

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Lt-Col. J.G. Robertson

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Lieutenant-Colonel J.G. Robertson
Regina Rifle Regiment

Canada can be assured that the English people and also the American forces have a high realization of the support by Canada to the war cause. Best of all, I may add, is the thorough respect for the Canadian fighters wherever they are found.

(Quoted in Regina Leader-Post, 9 Aug 1944, 3)

Born on 1 September 1890 in Churchville, Nova Scotia, John Gordon Robertson moved to Saskatchewan after graduating from McGill University with an agricultural degree and specialty in animal husbandry in 1912. He enlisted with the 195th Battalion in December 1915 and joined the 44th Battalion as a reinforcement officer in France a year later. He suffered a serious shell wound in March 1917 at Vimy Ridge, which left him hospitalized for a year. On return home, in 1919, he was appointed provincial livestock commissioner for Saskatchewan.

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