11 February, 2021
By Maj R.S. (Dick) Westbury CD
In the years following the 1918 Armistice, the many Calgarian former Officers, mostly army, while settling into civilian careers, missed the Comradeship of the service. The solution? At the suggestion of the then Commander of Military District, (HQ at Mewata), BGen A. H. Bell CMG, DSO and also Lt Col G. R. Pearles VC, DSO, MC, the Alberta Military Institute (the AMI) was formed. Per the Annual Journals, virtually all the members in pre-1939 days were 'Brown Jobs': the majority of the officers of the RAF and CAF had been initially commissioned in the British or Canadian armies, i.e. in the Royal Flying Corps, which dated only from May 1912 (it was merged with the RNAS on 1st April 1918 as the Royal Air Force). The Canadian Air Force was formed but disappeared in 1919, to be re-founded in the mid '20s.
Eighty officers attended the first AMI meeting on March 8th 1920. They arranged to hold bi-monthly LUNCH time meetings, usually in what is now the WOs' and Sergeants' Mess in Mewata, then the Men's Canteen for 'B' Sq LdSH(RC), with meetings at the Palliser Hotel, (known to some as the PARALYSER), when there was a YIP speaker, of which there were many, Including, in 1927, future Kings Edward VIII and George VI, Governors General, other political figures and 1914-18 senior commanders! By the late 1930s arrangements evolved which lead to the continuing and happy ties between the AMI, it's' successors and the Garrison Officers' Mess (GOM).
In 1922 the AMI founded the AMI Cadet Corps, which operated throughout the 'Dirty Thirties' when all other local army cadets were closed down. Only in 1946 did it become the LdSH (RC) No 1292 Cadet Corps with as CO Major Harry Chapman ED, a South African War veteran. It wore, for some years the insignia of the Fort Gary Horse, until their Regular Component was rebadged as LdSH (RC). It is thus the longest continuously operating Army Cadet Unit in Alberta.
The AMI Journals, held in bound volumes, in the RAUSDI Office published many items based on speakers' addresses. These addresses covered a myriad of topics, for example, a rundown on the training organization and equipment of the Roman Army by BGen Griesbach, political problems in Yugoslavia and Afghanistan, the French Army, the use of air-photos for mapping Canada (in 1923 !), and the use of tanks and radio in war! These articles are still available to members to review.
Following victory both in Europe and over Japan in 1945 a major influx of newly demobilized former officers joined the Institute, including many Naval and Air officers, and by 1947 it was decided to recreate the Institute, as the Alberta United Services Institute or AUSI, which in Early post war days had well over 1,000 members! In 1979 the AUSI Was honoured by the grant of the title 'Royal' largely thanks to a former RCMP senior officer member, the late Major John Stevenson OBE, for many years Journal Editor. The new Grant of Arms followed, in 1987.
The inter-war pattern of meetings with VIP speakers was continued, with a vist by General, later President, D. W. Eisenhower as a special case in point. Symposia on military and defence topics have been run and, in Canada's Centennial year, 1967, a Cadet Tattoo was sponsored, with substantial success, both as promotion for the Institute and to raise funds for sea, army and air cadets. The R.A.U.S.I. Tattoo was repeated annually until 1987, when it became impossible to collect sufficient donor and spectator support to warrant continuing.
As a gesture to mark the Centennial of the City of Calgary, the R.A.U.S.I. funded a GOM project to plant trees along 11th St and 9th Ave SW. Due to road and other work few survive, but these are now good sized! The R.A.U.S.I. also supported the Southern Alberta Militia District when salutes of 100 rounds were fired from Mewata Park to mark the Centennial. In another artillery exercise, the '1812' overture was played by the King's Own Calgary Regiment, with RCA Gun support by the Lethbridge gunners!
As the years passed the ranks of the veterans of both major wars and the Korean War thinned and it was decided to bring in 'Privileged', later renamed' Associate' Members, persons interested in defence matters and supportive of the objectives of the Institute. As society changed it was resolved to open the doors to female officers and to Lady Associates.
Many of these ladies have given outstanding service to the Institute. The first Female Honorary Member was Lt Col Mary Dover CM, OBE DUC, a key figure in the Canadian Women's Army Corps (CWAC) during the 1939-45 War.
Recently it has been decided, reflecting current society norms, to have a single class of membership, open to not only ex-officers, but to all who support our aims and objectives!
In the early 1990s the R.A.U.S.I. set up the R.A.U.S.I. Foundation, to be a charitable wing of the Institute, into which funds could be accumulated to further our objectives in step with the Board of the R.A.U.S.I., scrupulously adhering to the many rules relating to such matters. This, combined with volunteer staffing of Casinos has enabled the R.A.U.S.I. to 'punch above our weight' in several projects. The inevitable attrition as the years passed by and the financial Problems experienced by the GOM lead, in 1993, to an arrangement whereby the R.A.U.S.J. backstopped the Mess financially and assumed a voice in its management. This continued until 2003, when DND called for major refurbishment of the GOM kitchen.
The R.A.U.S.I. found the funding which allowed the kitchen to be reopened on the present basis, Weds/Thurs/Fri lunches plus Special Events. During the years when the Mess was closed R.A.U.S.I. membership slipped to just over 100; since the mess re-opened we have climbed back to over 250 members.
The R.A.U.S.I. is one of many similar bodies around the Commonwealth: e.g. in Australia, India (Delhi), the UK and New Zealand. There existed a group, EMUSIC (Federation of Military and United Services Institutes of Canada) from the early 1970s until a few years ago, which linked the 28+ Canadian Institutes and ran biennial conferences. This worked, in parallel with the Conference of Defence Associations, to connect DND and the Government with the public.
Recently the R.A.U.S.I.'s practice of seeking prominent speakers has resumed, as well as various special lunches and dinners; "onwards and upwards"!
THE INSTITUTE WILL PROSPER AND WILL SUPPORT THOSE WHO SERVE THE CROWN AND CANADA UNTIL OUR CENTENNIAL, TEN YEARS HENCE, AND WE HOPE FOR LONG YEARS THEREAFTER!
"A Nimukwallah"*
* one who has eaten of the King's Salt, a favourite term used by both The first Duke of Wellington and the late Major John Stevenson OBE.