‘Alberta’s regiment’: Edmonton Light Horse Park panels highlight military history


The new treated aluminum plaques are stationed around the park’s obelisk and across from the statue of Anne Frank that was installed last year.

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Five interpretive panels were unveiled Wednesday at Edmonton’s Light Horse Park, reflecting the military history behind the park’s name.

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The new treated aluminum plaques are stationed around the park’s obelisk and across from the statue of Anne Frank that was installed last year.

The panels use images and words to trace the history of the South Alberta Light Horse Regiment, known as “Alberta’s Regiment,” from its early origins through the two world wars and up to the present day.

“We hope that Light Horse Park continues to be a place that people can think and be grateful for the freedoms that we have,” said John Stobbe with the Dutch Canadian Club Edmonton.

Stobbe said his group worked with the Light Horse Regiment Association to complete the project using funds left over after the installation of the Frank statue last year.

He noted the park is not far from where soldiers used to say their goodbyes before boarding a train and heading off to war.

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“We are able to be here because of their sacrifices.”

Roots go back to 1905

The regiment can trace its roots back over a century, to 1905 and the establishment of four cavalry squadrons near Calgary.

Light Horse soldiers served in France during the First World War, participating in the world’s first tank attack at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette as well as the Battle of the Somme and March on Mons just before the conflict’s end in 1918.

During the Second World War, the regiment’s soldiers fought in Normandy and into Europe, helping liberate towns and cities in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

“They remember the liberation so vividly,” said Jerry Bouma, Honorary Consul of the Netherlands.

“That memory of the kindness of the Canadian soldiers stood in the hearts of my parents and other Dutch people.”

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Fresh flowers are visible at the Anne Frank statue in Edmonton's Light Horse Park, 10324 85 Ave., Wednesday April 20, 2022.
Fresh flowers are visible at the Anne Frank statue in Edmonton’s Light Horse Park, 10324 85 Ave., Wednesday April 20, 2022. Photo by David Bloom /postmedia

On May 5, the Netherlands will mark 77 years since the country was liberated from Nazi occupation.

Albert Sen. Paula Simons says the ideals and freedoms that Canadians fought for generations ago in the Netherlands remain important.

“The message of Anne Frank and the courage of those who sheltered her should guide us now more than ever,” she said.

“My metric to judge someone’s character is whether they are the sort of person who would hide me should the need ever arise.”

In more recent years, Light Horse soldiers have served as United Nations peacekeepers in Cyprus, Egypt and the former Yugoslavia.

Today, the South Alberta Light Horse Regiment remains one of the few remaining “Light Horse” regiments within the Commonwealth.


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