Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Cairn Hill
Sarcee Camp
Signal Hill
Battalion Numbers
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
In the summer of 1914, the Canadian militia leased a part of the Sarcee Indian Reserve as a prospective training site for military personnel. Sarcee Camp, as the site came to be known, was the only area in Alberta set aside to train soldiers for battle during World War One. More than 45,000 men from 30 units across the province trained at the camp over the course of the war. It was one of the largest military training areas in Canada at the time. Stones were used by soldiers to outline various sections of Sarcee Camp and also to depict their unit badges in front of their assigned areas of the "tent city". A number of military units also created more monumental rock constructions, assembling thousands of stones to form the serif-type numerals of their battalion numbers. Among those who did so were the 137th Infantry Battalion of Calgary, the 151st Central Alberta Battalion, and the 51st Canadian Infantry Battalion, all of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (C.E.F.). These battalion numbers remain on the site, though they have been moved from their original locations. The stone monument created by the 113th Lethbridge Highlands Infantry Battalion of the C.E.F. remains in situ. The site remains a stirring reminder of the training of Alberta's soldiers during World War One and the heroic sacrifices they made during the Great War.
Places
Signal Hill