126 Years of History for the Little Black Devils

Lieutenant-Colonel Brian Reids latest book - Named by the Enemy, A History of
The Royal Winnipeg Rifles

WINNIPEG, Mb - "This book is dedicated to the memory of an individual who was intimately involved with the Regiment for over half a century," said Major-General Dennis Tabbernor, Senior Rifleman of The Royal Winnipeg Rifles and Chief of Reserves and Cadets.

The Royal Winnipeg Rifles, also known as the Little Black Devils, is western Canada's oldest infantry regiment. The Regiment held a book signing event to celebrate the release of its new regimental history book at Minto Armoury, 13 January.

Named by the Enemy: A History of The Royal Winnipeg Rifles details the 126 years of the Regiment's proud service to Canada and was written by Lieutenant- Colonel (Retired) Brian Reid.

Major-General Dennis Tabbernor presents a copy of "Named by the Enemy: A History of The Royal Winnipeg Rifles," to Ms. Anne Molgat daughter of the late Honourary Colonel Gildas Molgat. MGen Tabbernor is Chief of Reserves and Cadets.

"When I started, I wasn't sure what I would find about the origin of the name," said LCol (retd) Reid. "Then, it just came pouring out, including contemporary documents that had members of the Regiment saying, 'Gee whiz, do you know what they are calling us?'"

The book was dedicated to the late Honouary Colonel Gildas Mogat who had spent almost six decades serving with The R Wpg Rif.

MGen Tabbernor presented the first copy of the book to Ms. Anne Molgat, daughter of the late Honourary Colonel Mogat. Ms. Molgat accepted the book on her mother's behalf as her mother was unable to attend the event.

"Like many of you, my father had a day job outside the military," said Ms. Molgat. "In nearly 50 years of public life, his contributions were recognized a number of times, but I think, I can safely say that none of those awards would have meant as much as this one."

1500 copies of the book were printed. Of those, 325 are being given to the libraries of all the senior high schools in Manitoba.

"We are trying to educate the youth," said Honouary Lieutenant-Colonel Bill Spence who was on the organizing committee responsible for getting the Regiment's history book published.

"The Royal Winnipeg Rifles is the senior Infantry Regiment in Western Canada and the highest decorated in Western Canada. We were instrumental in writing a lot of the history in Western Canada. This is something they [youth] should know about."

Article and photos by: Cpl Bill Gomm, photojournalist with 38 CBG