News

Regimental Commanding Officers - #14

Brigadier James Curry Jefferson, C.B.E., D.S.O. and Bar, C.D.G., E.D.

Today’s Loyal Edmonton Regiment traces its lineage back to the formation of the 101st Regiment in 1908.  Over time there have been many changes in name, organization and taskings.  One interesting thread in all this change is who commanded the regiment.  With this article we continue a series looking at those Commanding Officers.  

James Jefferson was the ninth soldier to command The Edmonton Regiment after its formation in 1920 and the 14th in line since the formation of its predecessor the 101st Regiment (Edmonton Fusiliers) in 1908. He was the fourth commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, The Edmonton Regiment, Canadian Active Service Force (C.A.S.F.) during the Second World War.

Jefferson started with The Edmonton Regiment in 1923, serving in the ranks of the 1st Battalion. He was a major in December of 1939 when he went overseas with the active service battalion and in December 1942 he took command of the battalion. He led the battalion through Sicily and Italy, including the battle of Ortona and ended the war commanding the 10th Infantry Brigade, 4th Canadian Armoured Division. For more on his story read the article in our latest newsletter at the link below.

Remember 22-4

This is the thirty-fourth in a series of quarterly newsletters originally recognizing 100th anniversary events of the First World War, with emphasis on Edmonton’s 49th Battalion, and 75th anniversary events of the Second World War, with emphasis on The Edmonton Regiment/The Loyal Edmonton Regiment.  These stories came to an end with our 2019-1 and 2020-3 editions respectively. However, there are still many stories to be told about our regiment, past and present, including our newest series of articles on our regimental commanding officers.  We will also be expanding our focus on the museum itself with articles related to more current events and with stories about some of the interesting artefacts and archival materials in our collection.

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