Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

BATTLE DRESS BLOUSE

Date

1951

Materials

WOOL

No. Pieces

1

Length

124.6

Width

44.5

Description

DRAB GREEN WOOL SHORT-LENGTH JACKET, GATHERED AT THE WAIST AND SECURED BY A FLY FRONT AND A SMALL SEWN IN BELT WHICH BUCKLED AT WAIST ON RIGHT HIP. HAS TWO POCKETS WITH SCALLOPED POCKET FLAPS PLACED ON THE BREAST AND WERE SECURED WITH HIDDEN STEEL DRAB BUTTON. A PANTEEN COLLAR WAS SECURED BY BUTTON, AND EACH SHOULDER FLAP HAS 3 CLOTH OFFICERS' PIPS (CAPTAIN), A NAVY BLUE BADGE MARKED "18 FD" IN RED LETTERS. BELOW THE FLAP IS A NAVY BLUE BADGE WITH "ROYAL CANADIAN ARTILLERY" IN RED LETTERS. FABRIC ON INSIDE RIGHT OF COAT IS STAMPED IN BLACK "BATTLE DRESS BLOUSES SERGE SIZE 15 HEIGHT 5'11 TO 6'0" BREAST 42 TO 43 TIP TOP TAILORS LTD 1951". CONDITION LIKE NEW.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

MILITARY

History

RESEARCH BELOW GATHERED AS A RESULT OF AN 18TH AIR DEFENSE REGIMENT EXHIBIT IN 2008. PLEASE SEE OTHER ARTIFACTS PERTANINING TO EDWARD NORMAN "NORM" HEINITZ' SERVICE, DONATED BY HIS WIFE MARY KATHLEEN HEINITZ TO THE GALT IN THE 1990S. BLOUSE WORN BY LETHBRIDGE RESIDENT NORM HEINITZ WHO WAS COMMISSIONED IN 1940 AS A 2ND LIEUTENANT WITH THE 112TH BATTERY, 18TH FIELD BRIGADE RCA. THE 112TH WAS FORMED IN LETHBRIDGE IN 1937 AS A RESULT OF A NATION-WIDE MILITIA RE-ORGANIZATION WHICH TOOK PLACE IN 1936. HEINITZ WAS APPOINTED TO ACTIVE SERVICE IN EARLY 1941 AND PROMOTED TO LIEUTENANT AS AN ARTILLERY REPLACEMENT OFFICER THAT SAME YEAR. AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME AS HIS PROMOTION, THE 112TH WAS EVOLVED INTO A LIGHT ANTI-AIRCRAFT BATTERY UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE 6TH LAA (LIGHT ANTI-AIRCRAFT ARTILLERY), RCA. HEINITZ WAS PERSONALLY SENT TO BRITAIN IN JUNE 1942 WHERE, IT WAS SPECULATED IN THE LOCAL DAILY, THAT HE WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE ORDINANCE CORP. THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD ADDITIONALLY REPORTED IN JANUARY 1943 THAT HE WAS PROMOTED TO CAPTAIN. THERE IS NO MENTION OF HEINTZ AS A MEMBER OF THE 112TH AFTER NOVEMBER 1941. AFTER THE WAR, HEINITZ CONTINUED ON WITH HIS MILITARY SERVICE, JOINING THE LOCAL MILITA’S 39TH BATTERY, 18TH FIELD REGIMENT, RCA. THE 39TH WAS ONE OF FOUR BATTERIES, INCLUDING LETHBRIDGE’S 20TH BATTERY, WHICH COMPRISED THE REORGANIZED, RESERVE REGIMENT. MANY MEMBERS, LIKE HEINTZ, WERE ACTIVELY RECRUITED FROM THE RANKS OF LOCAL EX-SERVICE PERSONNEL. IN 1950, HEINTZ WAS RE-PROMOTED TO CAPTAIN AND IN THE LATER PART OF THE DECADE SERVED AS THE 39TH BATTERY’S OFFICER COMMANDING. THE 39TH BATTERY WAS ULTIMATELY DISSOLVED IN 1970. NORM HEINITZ PASSED AWAY IN LETHBRIDGE ON 27 SEPTEMBER 1996. IN OCTOBER 2009, GALT TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN CONTACTED DONOR MARY HEINITZ THROUGH A MUTUAL CONTACT (ELIZABETH MATISZ OF MEDICINE HAT). AS A RESULT OF THE CONTACT, MACLEAN SOLICITTED PHOTOS OF HEINITZ (GALT’S ARCHIVES) AND HIS SERVICE RECORDS VIA LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA. NORMAN HEINITZ'S FATHER WAS CO-OWNER OF COMMERCIAL PRINTERS IN LETHBRIDGE, AND WHEN IT CLOSED IN 1964 HE FOUNDED THE NEW FIRM HEINITZ PRINTERS. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON NORM HEINITZ, INCLUDING MRS. MARY HEINITZ’S LETTER DATED 22 OCT 2009 AND HIS SERVICE RECORDS, PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE AND ARCHIVAL DONATION 20091074. FINALLY, PLEASE NOTE THAT NORM HEINTIZ’S WIFE MARY DONATED THREE CASED WORLD WAR TWO MEDALS TO THE GALT’ COLLECTIONS DEPT. IN APRIL 2010, BUT THE OFFER WAS NOT ACCEPTED. THE OFFER WAS, HOWEVER, ACCEPTED BY THE GALT’S EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AND THE MEDALS WERE DEPOSITED THERE IN NOVEMBER 2010. FOR MORE PHYSICAL DETAILS ON THE MEDALS, PLEASE REFERENCE P19960097004. DONOR MARY HEINITZ PASSED AWAY ON 4 JULY 2013 IN CALGARY, AB..

Catalogue Number

P19960097004

Acquisition Date

1996-10

Collection

Museum

Less detail