News

Regimental Commanding Officers - #16

Brigadier Rowan Coleman D.S.O., M.C.

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.  

Rowan Corry Coleman was the eleventh soldier to command The Loyal Edmonton Regiment after its formation in 1920 and the 16th in line since the formation of its predecessor the 101st Regiment (Edmonton Fusiliers) in 1908. He was the sixth commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, The Loyal Edmonton Regiment, Canadian Active Service Force (C.A.S.F.) during the Second World War.

Rowan Coleman came to The Loyal Edmonton Regiment from the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. He had been second-in-command of the PPCLI and had earned an M.C. at Leonforte in Sicily. He assumed command of The Loyal Edmonton Regiment on 6 May 1944, replacing Lt. Col. Day. For more on his story read the article in our latest newsletter at the link below.

Remember 23-2

This is the thirty-sixth 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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