South Alberta Regiment
Active	1924–1954
Country	Canada
Branch	Canadian Militia (1924-1940) Canadian Army (1940-1954)
Type	Line infantry
Role	Infantry (1924-1942, 1945-1954) Armoured (1942-1945)
Size	Regiment
Part of	Non-Permanent Active Militia (1924-1940) 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division (1940-1945) Royal Canadian Infantry Corps (1945-1954)
Garrison/HQ	Medicine Hat, Alberta
March	"A Southerly Wind and a Cloudy Sky"
Engagements	First World War Second World War
Battle honours	See#Battle Honours

TheSouth Alberta Regiment (SAR) was aregiment of theCanadian Army that existed from 1924 to 1954. Originally infantry, in February 1942 it became an armoured unit. DuringWorld War II the Regiment fought from July 1944 to May 1945 in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.

The regiment was created in 1924 asinfantry afterThe Alberta Regiment was split into two separate regiments:The North Alberta Regiment (disbanded in 1936) andThe South Alberta Regiment.^[1][2][3][4]

The South Alberta Regiment mobilized in 1940 as part of the4th Canadian Infantry Division.^[5] When the division was reorganized as anarmoured formation to satisfy demand for a second Canadianarmoured division, the South Alberta Regiment was named29th Armoured Regiment (The South Alberta Regiment) and receivedRam tanks in February 1942.^[6] The unit was again renamed as29th Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment (The South Alberta Regiment) in January 1943.^[7]

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 withStuart andSherman tanks. They participated in the later battles of theInvasion of Normandy, taking part inOperation Totalize and finally closing theFalaise pocket inOperation Tractable.^[8] The South Albertas went on to participate in the liberation of theNetherlands and theBattle of the Scheldt.

^[9]

In January 1945, they took part in theBattle for the Kapelsche Veer. They spent the last weeks of the war fighting in northernGermany.

MajorDavid Vivian Currie of the SAR received theVictoria Cross for his actions nearSaint-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 theRoyal Canadian Armoured Corps. LieutenantDonald I. Grant took a photograph of the event that would become one of the most famous images of the War (see at right). HistorianC. 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 inNanaimo, British Columbia, in April, 1941.^[10]

The SAR is now incorporated by amalgamation in the reserve reconnaissance regiment theSouth Alberta Light Horse.^[7]

• 31st Battalion (Alberta), CEF
• 113th Battalion (Lethbridge Highlanders), CEF
• 175th (Medicine Hat) Battalion, CEF
• 187th (Central Alberta) Battalion, CEF^[7]

The South Alberta Regiment descended from theCalgary Rifles, which had been raised in 1910. In 1920 the Rifles split into two new regiments, theCalgary Regiment and the Alberta Regiment. In 1924 the Alberta Regiment again divided, forming the South Alberta Regiment and theNorth Alberta Regiment. The North Albertas disbanded in 1936 while the South Albertas continued through World War II.^[7]

• Mount Sorrel^[a]
• Somme, 1916,'18^[a]
• Flers–Courcelette
• Thiepval
• Ancre Heights
• Ancre, 1916
• Arras, 1917,'18
• Vimy, 1917^[a]
• Arleux
• Scarpe, 1917,'18
• Hill 70^[a]
• Ypres, 1917^[a]
• Passchendaele^[a]
• Amiens^[a]
• Drocourt–Quéant
• Hindenburg Line
• Canal du Nord
• Cambrai, 1918^[a]
• Pursuit to Mons^[a]
• France and Flanders, 1915–18^[a]

• Falaise
• Falaise Road
• The Laison
• St Lambert-sur-Dives
• Moerbrugge
• The Scheldt
• Woensdrecht
• The Lower Maas
• Kapelsche Veer
• The Rhineland
• The Hochwald
• Veen
• Twente Canal
• Bad Zwischenahn
• North-West Europe, 1944–1945

• South Alberta Regiment Veterans Association

• Infantry regiments of Canada
• Armoured regiments of Canada
• Regiments of Canada in World War II
• Military units and formations of Canada in World War II
• Military units and formations of Alberta
• South Alberta Light Horse
• South Alberta Regiment

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