Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

"ROYAL CANADIAN ARTILLERY"

Date Range From

1911

Date Range To

1919

Materials

BRASS, COPPER

No. Pieces

1

Length

5

Width

6.4

Description

CANADIAN ARTILLERY CAP BADGE; BADGE DEPICTS A CROWN OVER “CANADA” BANNER, OVER AN ARTILLERY FIELD GUN ABOVE BANNER WITH TEXT “QUO FAS ET GLORIA DUCUNT”. BADGE HAS MINOR TARNISHING ON FRONT AND BACK, WITH GREEN RESIDUE LEFT FROM OXIDATION; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

MILITARY

History

ON SEPTEMBER 16, 2016, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED CHRIS AINSCOUGH REGARDING HIS DONATION OF A COLLECTION OF MILITARY OBJECTS. THE OBJECTS BELONGED TO AISNCOUGH’S GRANDFATHER AND FATHER, WILLIAM GEORGE AINSCOUGH (FIRST WORLD WAR) AND REED WILSON AINSCOUGH (SECOND WORLD WAR AND POST-WAR). ON HIS GRANDFATHER’S, WILLIAM GEORGE AINSCOUGH’S, MILITARY SERVICE, CHRIS AINSCOUGH NOTED, “MY UNDERSTANDING [IS MY GRANDFATHER SERVED IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR] ALTHOUGH IT’S INTERESTING…I REMEMBER MY DAD SAID, WHEN THE DEPRESSION HIT, THEY WERE GOING TO LAY OFF MY GRANDFATHER, WHO WAS THE, I THINK IT WAS THE CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT OF ROADS FOR SOUTHERN ALBERTA, AND THEY WERE HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE MONEY, AND THE CARS AND ALL THAT STUFF, SO THEY THREATENED TO LAY HIM OFF. HE TOOK THE MILITARY SERVICE SORT OF APPROACH TO 'THEY CAN’T DO THIS TO ME,' AND SAVED HIS OWN JOB AND HIS OWN SKIN. SO, ALL THROUGH THE DEPRESSION, THEY HAD A CAR, WHICH WAS RARE. THE CAR THAT WAS PAID FOR BY SOMEBODY ELSE, SO THERE MUST HAVE BEEN SOMETHING. IT SEEMS ALMOST LIKE THE OLD BRITISH EMPIRE STYLE OF INFLUENCE THAT YOU WOULD HAVE, IF YOU WERE AN OFFICER IN THE ARMED FORCES, SO THAT PART I DO KNOW. MY GRANDFATHER DIDN’T TALK ABOUT ANYTHING EITHER. I DO KNOW ONE THING THOUGH. IT WAS INTERESTING THAT THEY WERE MORMONS, AND AFTER MY GRANDFATHER CAME BACK FROM WORLD WAR ONE, HE SORT OF ‘SPLIT THE SHEETS’.” AINSCOUGH ELABORATED ON HIS MOTIVES FOR DONATING THE COLLECTION, STATING, “I THINK [THE OBJECTS ARE] A BIG PART OF SOUTH ALBERTA’S HISTORY. DAD WAS VERY ACTIVE IN THE MILITARY AND THE MILITIA FOR MANY YEARS. I THINK THAT’S THE BIGGEST PART [OF WANTING TO DONATE THE OBJECTS]…IT’S DIVESTING, BECAUSE AFTER MY DAD DIED [IN 1992], MY MOTHER STAYED IN THE HOUSE FOR ABOUT 5 YEARS, AND THEN SHE MOVED OUT TO THE COAST. IT WAS AT THAT TIME, WHEN WE WERE GOING THROUGH THE STUFF IN THE HOUSE, THAT WE THOUGHT THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO GET IT DOWN TO SOMEPLACE LIKE THE GALT THAT WOULD LOOK AFTER IT.” THE DONOR’S GREAT GRANDFATHER, WILLIAM THOMAS AINSCOUGH, MARRIED MARGARET A. AINSCOUGH IN 1878 AND EMIGRATED FROM SMITHFIELD, UTAH TO CANADA IN 1898, BRINGING SIX CHILDREN, AGED 1 TO 18, WITH THEM. WILLIAM GEORGE AINSCOUGH, THE DONOR’S GRANDFATHER, WAS AMONG THE CHILDREN (BORN 1885). THE AINSCOUGHS INITIALLY SETTLED IN WHISKEY GAP, ALBERTA, BEFORE RELOCATING TO WOOLFORD, ALBERTA. WILLIAM GEORGE AINSCOUGH’S OBITUARY REPORTED THAT HE AND HUGH B. BROWN FOUNDED CARDSTON’S CAVALRY MILITIA UNIT, UNDER AN APPEAL FROM THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT TO THE CARDSTON DISTRICT IN 1909. IN 1911, A LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLE CONFIRMED WILLIAM GEORGE AINSCOUGH’S MEMBERSHIP WITH THE CARDSTON MILITIA, STATING THAT HE WAS A CAPTAIN IN CARDSTON’S “RED COATS”—THE “C” SQUADRON OF THE 23RD ALBERTA RANGERS. IN A 1916 LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLE, AND ON WILLIAM GEORGE AINSCOUGH’S FIRST WORLD WAR ATTESTATION PAPERS, WILLIAM GEORGE IS LISTED AS SERVING WITH THE RANGERS FOR 5 YEARS PRIOR TO ENLISTING WITH THE 13TH CANADIAN MOUNTED RIFLES FOR OVERSEAS SERVICE. WILLIAM GEORGE SERVED OVERSEAS WITH THE LORD STRATHCONA’S HORSES. THE CAP BADGE IS SUSPECTED TO BE FROM WILLIAM GEORGE AINSCOUGH’S TIME WITH THE 13TH CANADIAN MOUNTED RIFLES. ACCORDING TO HIS LETHBRIDGE HERALD OBITUARY, WILLIAM GEORGE AINSCOUGH RETURNED FROM WAR TO WORK AS A ROAD FOREMAN FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS UNTIL 1929, THEN AS SUPERVISOR OF MAINTENANCE FOR MAJOR HIGHWAYS FROM FORT MACLEOD. IN 1950, AISNCOUGH RETIRED FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS AND RESIDED IN LETHBRIDGE WITH HIS WIFE, ZINA, UNTIL HIS PASSING IN MARCH 1966. FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING FAMILY MILITARY SERVICE FILES, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS ON WILLIAM GEORGE AND REED AINSCOUGH, A RESUME FOR REED AINSCOUGH, AND THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20160017001-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20160017011

Acquisition Date

2016-06

Collection

Museum

Less detail