Acknowledgements

Unquestionably one of the most pleasant tasks authors face is acknowledging the organizations and individuals who made vital contributions behind the scenes. First and foremost among these is the Regimental Foundation which, by financing publication costs and much of the research, made the book possible. Two individuals, both former senior regimental officers, did yeoman work liaising with the author. Joe Howard’s appreciation of the requirements of scholarly work was especially helpful, as was the commitment of his successor in the role, Jay Milne. The fact that the Foundation held to its commitment to honour the author’s editorial independence was the right course, but nevertheless much appreciated. I also wish to thank those present and former members of the regiment who agreed to interviews. The KOCR archives was a valuable research source, particularly of personal memorabilia and memoirs. Al Judson deserves much credit for expertly organizing the bulk of this material during his tenure as regimental archivist, while Roy Boehli proved a master of the photographic collection.

Three of my former graduate students—Chelsea Clark, Michael Swanberg and Dr. Geoff Jackson—served as research assistants. The latter, an accomplished Great War scholar, also accompanied me on research trips to the Western Front and Italy which were invaluable in providing an appreciation of “the lay of the land” where the regiment fought. It goes without saying that the many archivists who shared their time and knowledge of their document collections—too many to name—advanced my research immeasurably. My gratitude also goes to Jennifer Arthur-Lackenbauer, the accomplished cartographer who created the maps based on those in G. W. L. Nicholson's Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914–1919 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1964) and The Canadians in Italy: 1943–1945 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1967). And I would be remiss not to express my gratitude for the encouragement, patience and good humour lavished on the author by various staff members at the University of Calgary Press including Brian Scrivener, Helen Hajnoczky, Alison Cobra, Melina Cusano and my accomplished copy editor, Peter Midgley. The book was so much better for their involvement. Finally, I want to acknowledge the thoughtful improvements suggested by my two anonymous peer reviewers.

Those offering ongoing personal support seldom realize what a salvation it is. Dr. Jackson shared his considerable knowledge of the Great War operations by the armies of the British Empire during “strategy” sessions at pubs in Calgary and overseas. Tamara Sherwin generously shared her extensive knowledge of the Canadian reserves post–1945 and regularly inquired into the progress being made on das Buch. Dr. Meig McCrae dispatched endless encouragement from her outpost “Down Under” at the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University. Thank you all so very much. Finally, I thank my wife Clare for her faith in the author and his book, and for never failing to keep the former grounded. Of course any errors or omissions here are the sole responsibility of the author.