Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

W W II

Date Range From

1939

Date Range To

1945

Materials

WOOL, LEATHER, COTTON

No. Pieces

1

Height

8.3

Length

27.4

Width

27.6

Description

ONE-PIECE KHAKI WOOL BERET WITH LEATHER HEAD BAND. LINED WITH BLACK COTTON, STAMPED IN GREEN "DOROTHEA HATS LTD. TORONTO 7 1/8 1944". GREEN DRAWSTRING THROUGH LEATHER BAND; UNTIED AT OPENING. TWO EYELETS ON ONE SIDE; ONE MISSING METAL RING. CAP BADGE INCLUDED: BRASS MALTESE CROSS ON SQUARE-SHAPED BACKING; CROWN AT TOP. CIRCULAR CREST AT CENTRE WITH "SOUTH SASKATCHEWAN REGT." AND DEER AT CENTRE. SEVERAL HOLES IN TOP OF BERET FROM INSECTS.

Subjects

CLOTHING-HEADWEAR

Historical Association

MILITARY

History

DONATED TO LEGION BY ROSS BERTRAND IN THE LATE 1980S WHEN HE MOVED TO A SMALLER RESIDENCE, THEN TO MUSEUM BY LEGION. ROSS HAD RECEIVED BERET BY THE TIME HIS UNIT REACHED EUROPE. SEE P19970073040/41/43-GA FOR RELATED ITEMS. PHOTOS ON FILE WITH HARDCOPY RECORDS. ROSS BERTRAND WAS BORN IN CALGARY ON OCTOBER 10, 1920. WHILE ATTENDING THE HENDERSON BUSINESS COLLEGE IN CALGARY IN 1940, ROSS HEARD THAT TWO TYPIST CLERKS WERE NEEDED AT THE MEWATA ARMORIES, SO HE ENLISTED IN THE CALGARY HIGHLANDERS ON JUNE 18TH, 1940, REGIMENTAL NUMBER M-11890. AS HIS MEDICAL EXAM INDICATED "A" CATEGORY, HE WAS TRANSFERRED TO A UNIT THAT WAS JUST BEING MOBILIZED, THE 10TH FIELD COMPANY, ROYAL CANADIAN ENGINEERS, WHERE HE BECAME AN ORDERLY ROOM CLERK. THE UNIT WAS MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE IN AUGUST OF 1940, AND WERE BILLETTED IN THE FORMER ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE BARRACKS. IN SEPTEMBER THEY WERE MOVED TO PETAWAWA, ONTARIO, WHERE ROSS WAS PROMOTED TO CORPORAL AND THEN TO LANCE SERGEANT IN CHARGE OF THE ORDERLY ROOM. IN NOVEMBER, 1941 THE UNIT ARRIVED IN LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND. IN 1942, DONOR TOOK OVER THE POSITION OF CHIEF CLERK AT THE CHIEF ENGINEER'S OFFICE AT THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE 5TH ARMORED DIVISION WITH THE RANK OF SERGEANT; IN 1943 BECAME CHIEF CLERK AT THE CHIEF ENGINEER'S OFFICE, 2ND CORPS HEADQUARTERS, AND WAS PROMOTED TO SERGEANT MAJOR. IN LATE 1943 DONOR APPLIED TO OBTAIN AN INFANTRY COMMISSION, AND RECEIVED HIS APPOINTMENT AS LIEUTENANT IN SEPTEMBER 1944. DONOR THEN JOINED THE SOUTH SASKATCHEWAN REGIMENT AS A REINFORCMENT OFFICER, UPON THE SUGGESTION OF TWO FRIENDS IN THE REGIMENT. THERE HE WAS APPOINTED TRANSPORT OFFICER, A POSITION HE HELD FOR THE REST OF THE WAR. HE WAS WITH THE REGIMENT IN GERMANY WHEN THE WAR ENDED IN MAY 1945, AND THEY RETURNED TO CALGARY IN JULY 1945. IN 1946 DONOR RECEIVED A CERTIFICATE AS A TOKEN OF HIS APPRECIATION FROM FIELD MARSHALL B.L. MONTGOMERY, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, 21ST ARMY GROUP. HE ALSO RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING MEDALS: 1939-45 STAR, FRANCE-GERMANY STAR, DEFENSE MEDAL, VOLUNTEER SERVICE MEDAL AND CLASP, AND THE 1939-45 MEDAL. IN SPRING 1948, DONOR JOINED A RESERVE ARMY UNIT, H.Q. 5TH DIVISION ORDINANCE, BECAME THE ADJUTANT AND WAS PROMOTED TO THE RANK OF CAPTAIN. HE REMAINED WITH THAT UNIT UNTIL APRIL 1951, WHEN HE AND HIS FAMILY LEFT CALGARY. DONOR FARMED NEAR MILO FROM 1951 TO 1964; WAS AN AGRICULTURAL FIELD MAN AT CLARESHOLM FROM APRIL 1964 TO AUGUST 1973; HELD AN ALBERTA AGRICULTURE POSITION IN LETHBRIDGE FROM 1973 TO 1981; RETIRED IN 1981. SEE P19970073001-GA FOR HISTORY OF LEGION.

Catalogue Number

P19970073044

Acquisition Date

1997-08

Collection

Museum

Less detail