Extra-Regimentally Employed

Major Jeffrey Williams

Jeffrey Williams joined the Calgary Highlanders as a private in 1937; shortly after the outbreak of war he was commissioned as a Lieutenant and went overseas with the unit in 1940. He held several appointments, including platoon commander and Intelligence Officer, and was selected in June 1943 for training as a staff officer. He was made Liaison Officer with 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade, then trained at the headquarters of First Canadian Army. In March 1944 he returned to Canada to attend the 9th Canadian War Staff Course at Kingston, Ontario. He went to Normandy in the late summer of 1944 as one of two staff captains in the Army Equipment Section of the Quartermaster General’s Branch. Two days before the end of the war, he was promoted to Major and a spot on the Liaison Staff. He served briefly as Brigade Major of 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade before the disbandment of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division.

Major Williams remained in the Army, commanded a company of PPCLI in Korea, and retired from the service in 1971. He authored many books on military subjects, receiving the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non Fiction and the University of British Columbia’s Canadian Biography Award. He published an autobiography of his service in 2003 entitled Far From Home.

Major Huband Thornton Raymond Gregg

H.T.R. “Funny” Gregg enlisted in the 15th Alberta Light Horse as a lieutenant in 1937 while attending the University of Alberta. He received his Bachelor of Arts and his Law Degree in 1940. He joined the Calgary Highlanders the same year and went overseas as a reinforcement officer.

Like Williams, he acted as Intelligence Officer, then Liaison Officer to 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade, and in 1943 returned to Canada to attend the Staff Course. He returned overseas and served on staff in several units, returning to Canada as a major.

After the war, he served as 2 i/c of the Calgary Highlanders, taking command in 1950 and serving in that capacity until 1953. He went on to serve as Colonel and later Brigadier General, retiring in 1963 and passing away in August 1990.

Captain Theodore Marie (“Ted”) Insinger

Captain Ted Insinger was also a prewar Calgary Highlander, who was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in May 1939. He had previously served as a captain in the Dutch Army where he was a sabre-fencing champion. His father had been Commander-In-Chief of the Dutch Army. Despite his age (he had served in the First World War with the Dutch Army) he joined the mobilized 1st Battalion Calgary Highlanders and served as Transport Officer while the unit was in Shilo. Because of his fluency in German, he moved to 2nd Canadian Division headquarters as Intelligence Officer.

Captain Insinger was aboard the H.M.S. Calpe on 19 August 1942 when it was acting as command ship for Operation JUBILEE, the raid on Dieppe. He was killed when a shell struck his ship. He was 47 years of age and left behind a widowed wife with the elegant name Caroline Wolfine Jeannette Adolphine Cornelie Baroness Van Hemert Tot Dingshof Insinger.

Captain Bob Porter

Captain Porter is mentioned in the Calgary Highlanders War Diary as being a Liaison Officer with the 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade. He was with Brigade Headquarters for “approximately five months” at the time mention was made in the war diary in mid-August 1944.

Major Harry Critchley

Son of a very famous 10th Battalion, C.E.F. veteran, Harry Critchley served as a Calgary Highlander and eventually on staff with the headquarters of First Canadian Army. For his work on staff duties with Canadian Reinforcement Units and First Canadian Army H.Q., he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire.