Lieutenant-Colonel R.P. Locke

&
Lieutenant-Colonel H.M. Sharp
Governor General’s Horse Guards

We have lost a man of wide experience and sympathy, a good soldier and a man and have gained a worthy successor. There is one human touch to be noted: just as soon as the C.O., his 2 i/c and adjutant had passed the saluting base, Col. Locke half turned to Maj. Sharp and said “It’s all yours now, Buff” and from then on we were Buff Sharp’s command.

(GGHG war diary, 28 Sept 1941)

Born on September 2 November 1888 in Sarnia, Ontario, Russell Pierce Locke was a Toronto barrister commissioned with the Canadian Army Service Corps during the First World War. He served with the Fort Garry Horse in France just before the armistice. In April 1939, he took command of the Governor General’s Horse Guards, which mobilized as the 2nd Motorcycle Regiment in July 1940. By February 1941 it had been converted to the 3rd Armoured Regiment.

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