Early history The regiment was created in 1924 as
infantry after
The Alberta Regiment was split into two separate regiments:
The North Alberta Regiment (disbanded in 1936) and
The South Alberta Regiment.
Second World War The South Alberta Regiment mobilized in 1940 as part of the
4th Canadian Infantry Division. When the division was reorganized as an
armoured formation to satisfy demand for a second Canadian
armoured division, the South Alberta Regiment was named
29th Armoured Regiment (The South Alberta Regiment) and received
Ram tanks in February 1942. The unit was again renamed as
29th Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment (The South Alberta Regiment) in January 1943. The SAR was deployed to northern France in mid-June 1944 (
Normandy landings, D-Day was 6 June 1944), replacing their Ram tanks to be equipped with
Stuart and
Sherman tanks. They participated in the later battles of the
Invasion of Normandy, taking part in
Operation Totalize and finally closing the
Falaise pocket in
Operation Tractable. The South Albertas went on to participate in the liberation of the
Netherlands and the
Battle of the Scheldt. , France, 19 August 1944. In January 1945, they took part in the
Battle for the Kapelsche Veer. They spent the last weeks of the war fighting in northern
Germany. Major
David Vivian Currie of the SAR received the
Victoria Cross for his actions near
Saint-Lambert-sur-Dives, as the allies attempted to seal off the Falaise pocket. Currie was one of only 16 Canadians to receive the Victoria Cross during World War II. It was the only Victoria Cross awarded to a Canadian soldier during the Normandy campaign, and the only Victoria Cross ever awarded to a member of the
Royal Canadian Armoured Corps. Lieutenant
Donald I. Grant took a photograph of the event that would become one of the most famous images of the War (see at left). Historian
C. P. Stacey called it "as close as we are ever likely to come to a photograph of a man winning the Victoria Cross." The Freedom of the City was exercised by the South Alberta Regiment in
Nanaimo, British Columbia, in April, 1941. The SAR is now incorporated by amalgamation in the reserve reconnaissance regiment the
South Alberta Light Horse. == Perpetuations ==