Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

"43RD BATTALION"

Date Range From

1915

Date Range To

1920

Materials

FELT, COTTON

No. Pieces

1

Length

94.7

Width

27

Description

BURGUNDY PENNANT WITH TWO PAIRS OF WHITE AND BURGUNDY TIE STRAPS AT END; PENNANT HAS WHITE BAND SEWN ONTO HOIST END. PENNANT HAS WHITE TEXT SEWN ONTO FRONT, “43RD BATTALION”. BACK OF PENNANT SHOWS WHITE STITCHING FOR LETTERS AND BAND SEWN AT HOIST. PENNANT IS FADED ON FRONT AND HAS SEVERE LIGHT DAMAGE AT END TIP; LETTERS ON FRONT ARE DISCOLOURED FROM LIGHT DAMAGE; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

CEREMONIAL ARTIFACT

Historical Association

MILITARY

COMMEMORATIVE

History

IN EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN MACLEAN AND BRETT CLIFTON, CLIFTON ELABORATED THAT “THE PENNANTS [WERE] A LOT TOGETHER SEPARATE FROM THE HATE BELT AND SPORRAN…[A] DEATH PENNY, [THE] MEDALS, AND [A] SCROLL BELONGED WITH THE PENNANTS BUT THE AUCTION WAS PULLED.” THE SALE REFERENCED WAS FOR A LOT CONNECTED WITH PTE. JOHN DONALDSON YOUNG OF THE 43RD BATTALION. ACCORDING TO HIS CANADIAN MILITARY SERVICE FILE, JOHN DONALDSON YOUNG WAS A PAINTER AND WIDOWER UPON ENLISTMENT. YOUNG ENLISTED WITH THE 113TH OVERSEAS BATTALION (LETHBRIDGE HIGHLANDERS) ON JUNE 17, 1916 IN CALGARY, ALBERTA. YOUNG’S UNIT SAILED FOR EUROPE IN SEPTEMBER 1916, AND IN OCTOBER 1916 YOUNG WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE 17TH OVERSEAS BATTALION. YOUNG SERVED IN FRANCE WITH THE 43RD BATTALION WHERE HE WAS GASSED; YOUNG RETURNED TO CANADA IN JUNE 1918 DUE TO THE GASSING AND WAS HOSPITALIZED IN CALGARY. ACCORDING TO HIS SERVICE FILE, JOHN DONALDSON YOUNG PASSED AWAY ON APRIL 13, 1929. ON MARCH 28, 2019, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED CAROL AND BRETT CLIFTON REGARDING THEIR DONATION OF VARIOUS LETHBRIDGE AND MILITARY MEMORABILIA. THE OBJECTS WERE COLLECTED BY CAROL’S LATE HUSBAND, CHRIS CLIFTON, AND DONATED IN HIS MEMORY. ON THE PENNANT, BRETT CLIFTON NOTED, “THE PENNANTS AND THE TRAY IN PARTICULAR AND THE SPORRAN, ARE JUST THINGS LIKE, THEY’RE REALLY COOL...” “THE PENNANTS [WERE FRUSTRATING] BECAUSE THERE WERE MORE TO THE SET AND WE’D JUST GOT ROBBED BY SOMEONE WHO HAD CONVINCED THE GUY TO END THE AUCTION EARLY, SO WE COULDN’T COMPLETE IT. THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT MY DAD AND I WERE BOTH EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED OVER.” “[IT] WAS SORT OF A RIDICULOUS THING BECAUSE MY DAD HAD TO STAY UP PROBABLY UNTIL LIKE 2 IN THE MORNING BIDDING ON EACH BATCH THAT WENT IN THE LOT.” CAROL CLIFTON ADDED, “AND WE WERE ALL POOLING OUR MONEY. CHRIS WOULD SAY, 'WELL, I CAN PUT THIS MUCH IN.' BRETT WOULD SAY, 'I’LL PUT THIS MUCH IN.' I’M LIKE, 'WELL I HAVE THIS, SO I’LL SELL THIS ARTIFACT AND THAT WAY YOU CAN HAVE THE MONEY.' BECAUSE WE EXPECTED…YOU’D HAVE TO PROBABLY PAY WAY TOO MUCH, BUT YOU NEEDED TO BRING IT ALL HOME TOGETHER AND THEN SUDDENLY THE GUY JUST ENDED IT. “THE GUY TOOK [THE LOT] APART AND WE PAID WAY TOO MUCH FOR EACH PIECE, BECAUSE WE WANTED THEM BECAUSE THEY BELONGED TO THEM, AND IT WOULD BE DISHONEST TO USE A DIFFERENT PIECE THAT WASN’T HIS. SO, FOR AN ARTIFACT THAT YOU MAYBE COULD BUY FOR ABOUT $10.00, WE PAID $40.00 BECAUSE WE KNEW IT BELONGED TO THAT INDIVIDUAL FROM HERE AND, WE NEVER WOULD HAVE THOUGHT, 'WELL, WE COULD JUST SNEAK IN ONE AND NO ONE WILL KNOW.' WE NEVER WOULD HAVE FAKED AN ARTIFACT. WE SAT AND BID FOR HOURS AND OF COURSE OVERPAID FOR EVERY SINGLE PIECE. THEN WHEN YOU BUY ONE, YOU FEEL YOU HAVE TO BUY THEM ALL.” ON CHRIS CLIFTON’S ACQUISITIONS OF THE OBJECTS, CAROL CLIFTON NOTED, “[CHRIS SEARCHED ON] AUCTION WEB…HE WAS A VERY EARLY USER. THESE THINGS COST MONEY. CHRIS AND I WERE ALWAYS LIKE, ‘OH WELL, ONE DAY WE’LL DONATE THEM AND IT’LL BE OUR GIFT TO CHARITY...’” “MUCH OF THE REST [OF THE COLLECTION] WAS FOUND BY CHRIS ON EBAY…IT COULD BE THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT [AND CHRIS WOULD SAY], ‘HEY, BRETT, GUESS WHAT’S ON EBAY?’” “HE DIDN’T THINK TWICE. IF [AN ITEM] WAS THERE AND HE COULD AFFORD IT, HE GOT IT...IT WAS LIKE HE FELT LIKE HE WAS SAVING IT. I SUPPOSE, AS A MUSEUM, YOU CAN’T NECESSARILY JUST BUY WITH THAT ABANDON BECAUSE YOU HAVE PEOPLE YOU HAVE TO ANSWER TO. WELL, HE DIDN’T HAVE TO ANSWER TO ANYONE...IF HE FELT IT BELONGED IN LETHBRIDGE HE BOUGHT IT...[HE WAS] BRINGING IT HOME.” ON THEIR MOTIVES FOR DONATING THE COLLECTIONS, CAROL CLIFTON NOTED, “THE FIRST REASON THAT WE DECIDED TO DONATE AT THIS TIME…IS THAT WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A NICE WAY TO HONOUR [CHRIS] TO MAKE SURE THAT THE COLLECTION ALWAYS STAYED IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA AND THAT IT’S AVAILABLE TO PEOPLE WITH SIMILAR INTERESTS. [THE DONATION] WOULD BE SOMETHING IN HIS MEMORY THAT WOULD KEEP HIS MEMORY ALIVE." ON HER HUSBAND’S INTEREST IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA HISTORY, CAROL CLIFTON ELABORATED, “CHRIS PASSED AWAY…[HE] REALLY MADE US INTERESTED IN HISTORY. FOR HIM IT WAS ALL ABOUT LOCAL HISTORY, SO ANYTHING THAT HE COLLECTED HAD A LETHBRIDGE OR SOUTHERN ALBERTA CONNECTION OR HE DIDN’T COLLECT IT. HE LIKED TO RESEARCH THEM.” “[CHRIS] WAS VERY PROUD TO HAVE BEEN RAISED MORMON FROM A MORMON FAMILY THAT HAD DEEP PIONEER ROOTS INTO UTAH, AND WERE ORIGINALS TO UTAH AND ORIGINALS TO SOUTHERN ALBERTA. ALONG WITH THAT MORMONS…REALLY ENCOURAGE HISTORY IN TERMS OF COLLECTING THEIR ARTIFACTS OR RELIGIOUS ARTIFACTS, AND GENEALOGY. [CHRIS DID] ALL OF HIS OWN GENEALOGY AND HE WOULD DO GENEALOGY FOR ANYONE HE KNEW. WE JUST LITERALLY HAVE REAMS OF PERSONAL HISTORY AND GENEALOGY IN THAT FORM. IT GREW FROM THERE. [CHRIS] WAS A COLLECTOR AT HEART, HE BEGAN COIN COLLECTING AND DID A LOT OF WORK FOUNDING A NUMISMATICS SOCIETY IN TOWN AND BELONGED TO SEVERAL, AND DISPLAYED ON A NATIONAL LEVEL.” “IN TERMS OF THE MILITARY ITEMS, I WOULD SAY [HIS INTEREST BEGAN] WITH HIS DAD BEING FROM THE CALGARY TANK REGIMENT IN DIEPPE AND A PRISONER OF WAR. HIS DAD’S MOTHER HAD SAVED A BUNCH OF ITEMS AND BEFORE CHRIS’ DAD PASSED AWAY, HE GAVE EVERYTHING TO CHRIS…THAT KIND OF FOSTERED [HIS INTEREST IN MILITARY COLLECTIONS] AND THEN IT JUST GREW INTO INTERESTING LOCAL THINGS.” “CHRIS LOVED SOUTHERN ALBERTA, AND NO MATTER WHAT, HE NEVER WOULD HAVE LEFT SOUTHERN ALBERTA. HE LOVED TO TRAVEL BUT HE NEVER WOULD HAVE MOVED. HE LIVED IN MAGRATH AND LETHBRIDGE HIS WHOLE LIFE AND HAD NO INTEREST IN ANY OTHER PLACE BUT HERE.” ON CHRIS’ RESEARCH EFFORTS, CAROL CLIFTON RECALLED, “CHRIS WAS METICULOUS. ANYTHING CHRIS DID, HE DID IT TEN TIMES MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE WOULD. HE WOULD NOT GIVE UP…WHEN [HIS SON] BRETT DID THE CENOTAPH WORK, CHRIS WOULD HELP HIM IDENTIFY [THE NAMES] AND IT WOULD BE A DEAD END AFTER ANOTHER DEAD END, AND THE NEXT THING YOU KNEW WAS CHRIS HAD FOUND A RELATIVE IN ENGLAND WHO WAS A GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER’S NEIGHBOR. HE WOULD LITERALLY SPEND YEARS RESEARCHING ONE THING. IT WAS JUST HIS PERSONALITY AND HIS LEVEL OF INTEREST AND HE DIDN’T STOP THERE, HE WOULD DO IT FOR ANYONE…HE WAS A VERY GIVING PERSON AND HE WAS SO FANTASTICALLY GOOD AT THAT TYPE OF RESEARCH.” “[CHRIS] AND BRETT TOGETHER WOULD DO [THE RESEARCH] AND I WOULD DO IT OUT OF INTEREST…I DON’T KNOW OF ANYONE WHO DID IT TO THE LEVEL HE DID. HE WOULD BE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT FOLLOWING A LEAD IN EUROPE ON SOMEONE HE DIDN’T KNOW FOR SOMEONE HE BARELY KNEW…[CHRIS WAS] TOTALLY SELF-TAUGHT…OF COURSE WITH THE INTERNET IT BECAME MUCH EASIER FOR EVERYONE TO [SEARCH]. THE GENEALOGY HE DID BEFORE WAS PRE-INTERNET SO THAT INVOLVED A LOT OF ARCHIVAL THINGS…HE BEGAN RESEARCH WORK VERY EARLY IN THE INTERNET AND WE GOT OUR FIRST COMPUTER IN 1995, AND HE PRETTY MUCH DID RESEARCH FROM THEN ON. HE WAS INTERESTING IN THAT NO MATTER WHAT RESEARCH HE DID HE DIDN’T WANT CREDIT FOR IT. HE DIDN’T WANT TO BELONG TO THINGS…IN ADDITION, HE DIDN’T LIKE TO DO THE WRITING, ALTHOUGH HE COULD WRITE, BUT HE WAS THE BEST PROOF READER BECAUSE HE WAS SO METICULOUS, AND HE WOULD PROOF READ FOR ANYONE. [IF] SOMEBODY WROTE AN ARTICLE HE WOULD BE A PROOF READER OR A FACT CHECKER. IT WAS JUST HIS NATURE…[HE WAS] STUBBORN, AND COMPETITIVE, AND INTERESTED, AND METICULOUS, AND IF HE DID IT IT’S CORRECT. IF THERE’S A MISTAKE IN IT HE SURE DIDN’T KNOW IT. HE WOULD HAVE NEVER PUT ANYTHING DOWN HE WASN’T PRETTY DARN SURE OF.” IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVERY OF MILITARY OBJECTS. THE FOLLOWING BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LETHBRIDGE HIGHLANDERS IS EXCERPTED FROM CHRISTOPHER R. KILFORD'S BOOK 'LETHBRIDGE AT WAR: THE MILITARY HISTORY OF LETHBRIDGE FROM 1990 TO 1996' (BATTERY BOOKS & PUBLISHING, 1996) AND COMPILED BY EDMUNDSON. "THE 113TH CANADIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE, THE LETHBRIDGE HIGHLANDERS, WERE ORGANIZED DECEMBER 22, 1915 [AS] PART OF A CANADIAN RECRUITING DRIVE WHERE MEN FROM THE SAME REGION COULD ENLIST AND SERVE TOGETHER. THIS TYPE OF COMMUNITY SPIRIT RECRUITING WAS VERY POPULAR AS IT DREW IN FRIENDS, NEIGHBOURS, CO-WORKERS, ETC. WITH THE PROMISE OF SERVING TOGETHER THROUGHOUT THE WAR. THE 113TH CONSISTED OF 883 MEN AND OFFICERS AND HAD ITS BARRACKS AT THE EXHIBITION GROUNDS IN LETHBRIDGE... BASIC TRAINING IN THE CEF INVOLVED RIFLE TRAINING, BOMBING OR HAND GRENADE PRACTICE, ROUTE MARCHES, RIFLE DRILL AND MANY INSPECTIONS... IN LATE MAY 1916 THE BATTALION MOVED TO SARCEE CAMP OUTSIDE CALGARY FOR FURTHER TRAINING THAT LASTED UNTIL SEPTEMBER... ON SEPTEMBER 26TH 1916 THE 113TH EMBARKED ALONG WITH THE 111TH AND 145TH BATTALIONS ON THE SS TUSCANIA... UPON ARRIVING IN ENGLAND THE BATTALION WAS TAKEN TO A HOLDING CAMP AT SANDLING NEAR SHORNCLIFFE... THE COMMANDING OFFICER LEARNED THAT THE 113TH WOULD BE BROKEN UP FOR REPLACEMENTS AND WOULD NOT SEE ACTION AS A UNIT AFTER ALL... THE 113TH WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE 17TH RESERVE BATTALION CEF, THE NOVA SCOTIA HIGHLANDERS, AFFILIATED WITH THE SCOTTISH SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS... ON OCTOBER 12, 1916 MOST OF THE OLD 113TH PROCEEDED TO FRANCE... ALMOST IMMEDIATELY 300 MEN OF THE OLD 113TH WERE ASSIGNED AS REPLACEMENTS TO ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS BATTALIONS IN THE CEF, THE 16TH BATTALION CANADIAN SCOTTISH." FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20190007001-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20190007007

Acquisition Date

2019-03

Collection

Museum

Less detail