South Alberta Light Horse The South Alberta Light Horse , or SALH , is an armoured reconnaissance unit of the Canadian Forces Army Reserve based in Medicine Hat and Edmonton , Alberta . The SALH is part of 3rd Canadian Division ' s 41 Canadian Brigade Group . Battle honours . North West Rebellion : The Rocky Mountain Rangers North West Canada , 1885 First World War : A Squadron , Canadian Light Horse , and 31st Battalion , CEF . Ypres , 1915 , ' 17 , Gravenstafel , St . Julien , Festubert , 1915 , Mount Sorrel , Somme , 1916 , ' 18 , Flers - Courcelette , Thiepval , Ancre Heights , Arras , 1917 , ' 18 , Vimy , 1917 , Arleux , Scarpe , 1917 , ' 18 , Hill 70 , Passchendaele , Amiens , Drocourt - Quéant , Hindenburg Line , Canal du Nord , Cambrai , 1918 , Pursuit to Mons , France and Flanders , 1915 – 18 Second World War : South Alberta Regiment 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 History . Early history . The South Alberta Light Horse traces its beginnings to the period of the Riel Rebellion of 1885 . During this conflict The Rocky Mountain Rangers of Fort Macleod with 150 officers and men were tasked with the protection of the area ranging from the U . S . border to High River and from the Rockies to Medicine Hat . The RMR saw no action during their three months of existence during the rebellion , and the SALH carries the battle honour " North West Canada , 1885 " on their colours . This irregular cavalry unit is seen as the true genesis of the regiment . The 15th Light Horse , the official direct ancestor of the SALH , was raised in Calgary on July 3 , 1905 . From this point until the mid - 1950s the regiment ' s history can be described as a series of complicated amalgamations and redesignations of Alberta army reserve units of all arms until the regiment as it is now was formed in Calgary in 1954 . At the beginning of the First World War , the Alberta militia units destined to become part of SALH were four cavalry regiments – 15th Light Horse in Calgary , 19th Alberta Dragoons in Edmonton , 21st Alberta Hussars in Medicine Hat and 23rd Alberta Rangers in Fort Macleod – and two infantry regiments – 101st Regiment " Edmonton Fusiliers " and 103rd Regiment " Calgary Rifles " . History 1914 – 1938 . In the First World War , the Canadian militia units were not mobilized , but instead new units were formed from volunteers from the militia and new recruits . The militia units generally became organizations for recruiting , induction and preliminary training . The 19th Alberta Dragoons recruited the 1st Divisional Cavalry Squadron , CEF , which landed in France in February 1915 . After other divisions joined the 1st Canadian Division in France and the Canadian Corps was formed , the squadron was attached to the corps and became A Squadron , Canadian Light Horse , CEF . The troopers of this squadron wore 19th Alberta Dragoon badges throughout the war . Also recruited by SALH ' s predecessors were three regiments of Canadian Mounted Rifles ( CMR ) : the 3rd , 12th and 13th . The 3rd Regiment , Canadian Mounted Rifles , CEF , was mobilized at Medicine Hat and landed in France in September 1915 as part of the 1st CMR Brigade . At the end of 1915 , the CMR units in France were converted from two cavalry brigades ( six regiments ) into one infantry brigade ( four battalions ) . The troopers of the 3rd Regiment were split up , half going to the 1st CMR Battalion and half to the 2nd CMR Battalion ; both these battalions fought in the 3rd Canadian Division . The 12th and 13th Regiments CMR were broken up for reinforcements in England . The SALH also counts a First World War artillery unit as an ancestor : 22nd ( Howitzer ) Battery , CFA , CEF . The battery landed in France in January 1916 , where it served as part of the 2nd Canadian Division until the end of the war . Of the eight infantry battalions recruited by the SALH ' s predecessors , only one entered combat as a unit . The 31st Battalion , CEF , landed in France in September 1915 with the 2nd Canadian Division . It was awarded 22 battle honour s , including such notable actions as Vimy and Passchendaele . The other seven battalions – 9th , 66th ( Edmonton Guards ) , 113th ( Lethbridge Highlanders ) , 138th ( Edmonton ) , 175th ( Medicine Hat ) , 187th ( Central Alberta ) and 202nd ( Sportsman ' s ) – were broken up for reinforcements in England . The 31st Battalion ( part of the 6th Infantry Brigade ) participated in the first tank attack in history at the Battle of Flers - Courcelette on 15 September 1916 , while A Squadron , Canadian Light Horse , made the last cavalry charge in Canadian history at the battle of Iwuy on 10 October 1918 . This means that among the predecessor units of the SALH , one participated in the first military operation involving the tank and another mounted the last cavalry charge in Canadian history . The period between the world wars saw two major reorganizations of the Canadian Militia , the first from 1920 to 1924 and the second from 1935 to 1936 . By the outbreak of the Second World War , the ancestors of the SALH were two cavalry regiments ( 15th Alberta Light Horse in Calgary and 19th Alberta Dragoons in Edmonton ) an independent artillery battery ( 22nd Field Battery , RCA , in Gleichen ) and two infantry battalions ( the Edmonton Fusiliers and the South Alberta Regiment in Medicine Hat ) . History 1939 – 1945 . The 15th Alberta Light Horse contributed to several active service units , including the 31st ( Alberta ) Reconnaissance Regiment , remaining in the Calgary area until almost the end of the war . The South Alberta Regiment , recruited an active service battalion in the Medicine Hat area in the summer of 1940 . This infantry unit trained in Canada until 1942 when it was reorganized as the 29th Armoured Regiment ( The South Alberta Regiment ) and moved to England in August . The SAR was granted 15 battle honours for its service overseas , redesignated the 29th Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment ( The South Alberta Regiment ) in 1944 . The unit was selected by Major - General F . F . Worthington to be the reconnaissance regiment of the 4th Canadian ( Armoured ) Division because he wanted " keen - eyed prairie men " as his scouts . The 29th was again converted , with all armoured reconnaissance regiments , to the war establishment of a regular armoured regiment in 1944 and sent to France in July of that year . It fought through Normandy , Belgium , the Scheldt , the Rhineland , the Netherlands and Germany until the end of the war in Europe in May 1945 . Of particular note is that Major David Currie was awarded the Commonwealth ' s highest military award for bravery , the Victoria Cross , for his valour at St . Lambert sur Dives , France , during the battle of the Falaise Gap . The 22nd Field Battery became part of the 13th Field Regiment , which landed with the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division on D - Day at Juno Beach . The Edmonton Fusiliers raised two active battalions , one for the 6th Canadian Infantry Division and one for the 8th Canadian Infantry Division . Both these divisions were home defence formations that did not go overseas . Meanwhile the 31st ( Alberta ) Reconnaissance Regiment had served in the Calgary area until January 1945 when it was shipped to England . It was disbanded a month later and broken up for reinforcements . History 1945 – 2006 . The end of the war saw the re - emergence of The South Alberta Regiment ( infantry ) in Medicine Hat and the 15th Alberta Light Horse ( armoured ) in Calgary . The 15th however , was not to keep its name , and it was united with the 22nd Field Battery and renamed 68th Light Anti - Aircraft Regiment , RCA . This remained until 1954 when it united with The South Alberta Regiment of Medicine Hat and the 41st Anti - Tank Regiment out of Calgary to become The South Alberta Light Horse ( 29th Armoured Regiment ) out of Calgary . In 1958 " 29th Armoured Regiment " was dropped from the name , and two years later , in 1960 , the regiment was moved back to its old headquarters in Medicine Hat . The regiment remained an army reserve armoured unit until 1968 when it lost its tanks and was retasked as an armoured reconnaissance unit . The two Edmonton units ( 19th Alberta Dragoons and The Edmonton Fusiliers ) merged in 1946 as the 19th ( Alberta ) Armoured Car Regiment , RCAC . This regiment was renamed back to 19th Alberta Dragoons in 1958 , but in the 1965 reorganization of the Reserves it was transferred to the Supplementary Order of Battle : it still legally existed , but had no personnel assigned to it . In 1978 the SALH established an independent B Squadron in Edmonton to train out of Griesbach Barracks . Originally roled as reconnaissance , B Squadron transitioned to AVGP and was reroled as armoured in the early 1980s . The rest of the regiment followed suit and by 1985 the entire regiment was out of reconnaissance and back to being armoured . In 2006 the South Alberta Light Horse and the nil - strength 19th Alberta Dragoons amalgamated , and the regiment now maintains the battle honours and traditions of its Edmonton predecessors . Recent activities . The regiment today . The regiment has soldiers both in Edmonton and Medicine Hat . With the advent of the Land Force Reserve Restructuring project , The South Alberta Light Horse was returned to its roots as an armoured reconnaissance regiment effective September 1 , 2004 . The current Commanding Officer of the SALH is Lieutenant - Colonel Colin Michaud . The current Regimental Sergeant - Major is Master Warrant Officer Brian Talty . Cadet units . There are several Royal Canadian Army Cadets units spread across Alberta that are affiliated to the South Alberta Light Horse . Cadet units affiliated to the South Alberta Light Horse receive support and also are entitled to wear traditional regimental accoutrements on their uniforms .