Year: 2018

The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Museum and the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Regimental Advisory Council remember the outstanding service of Richard Alexander to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment.

 

Honorary Lieutenant – Colonel  Richard Alexander

  2nd Battalion The Royal Newfoundland Regiment

 

                Lieutenant Colonel Alexander was born on 25 August 1925. He enlisted in the Newfoundland Militia in the fall of 1941 as a Private at the age of 16.  On 12 December 1942, while posted to St John’s he was involved in rescuing several people from a major fire at the Knights of Columbus Hostel which killed 99 people.  This fire was widely believed to be an act of sabotage.

                In January 1943 he shipped overseas to England as a replacement for the 166 Artillery Regiment (Newfoundland). While there he volunteered for service with the British Commandos, passed commando training and was posted to 3^rd Commando. Due to his French language skills he was later recruited by the Royal Navy Commandos and subsequently conducted 13 covert missions into occupied France. On his last mission he was seriously wounded, successfully evaded capture with the help of the French Resistance, and was the sole survivor of that operation.

                In the spring of 1944 after a long convalescence, he joined the 166 Artillery Regiment in Italy where he served as the COs driver and dispatch rider until the end of the war. He was married in England in September 1945 and returned home to Newfoundland upon release in March 1946.

                Upon the outbreak of the Korean War, he re-enrolled in the Canadian Forces and joined 2^nd Battalion PPCLI as a Sergeant serving a tour in Korea in 1952.  In 1953 he transferred to the Black Watch and served a second tour in Korea as part of a UN Peacekeeping operation. Upon return home he served as a recruiter in Newfoundland for three years and took his release from the Regular Force in 1956.

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                In 1960 he re-enrolled in the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in Corner Brook. In 1972 he took his commission and he was the catalyst in the establishment of C Company 2RNfldR in Stephenville.  He was appointed the first OC of this company and in May of 1975 he recruited 99 personnel in just two days, a small indication of his credibility and skill as a leader.  He also made a major contribution to the establishment of cadet corps in the communities of Port au Port, Cape St George, and Lourdes.  In 1978 he retired from 2RNfldR.

                In 2003 he was appointed Honorary Colonel of 2^nd Battalion RNfldR; an appointment which he will relinquish on 14 May 2011. In this capacity he gives freely of his time and financial resources to promote the Regiment and the CF all across Newfoundland and inspire the next generation of warriors.

                Lieutenant Colonel Alexander is married to Dolly (deceased) and they raised a family of eleven children.   Throughout his military career he was an accomplished athlete, boxer, and holds a fourth degree black belt in karate.  He was also a respected businessman owning a successful construction company in the Stephenville area for several years. 

Visitation:  Wednesday 19 Sept from 2-4 and 7-9 pm

Service: Thursday 20 Sept at 1100 am at Our Lady of Mercy Church, Port au Port west.

 

The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Museum wishes to extend its condolences to the family of the late Commander Kenneth H. Forbes-Robertson, Royal Navy (retired), who recently passed away at his home in the UK.

Ken is the son of Colonel James Forbes-Robertson VC, DSO & Bar, MC, DL who served with the 1st Battalion of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment from June 1916 to August 1917 first as 2 i/c and later as CO.

As 2 i/c of 1st Battalion James earned the Military Cross for his service on the Somme in 1916 and as CO was awarded the DSO for his leadership in April 1917 of the famous “Ten Men Who Saved Monchy”, of which he was one, an action that brought lasting fame to the Regiment for its prowess as a fighting unit.

It was as CO of 1/The Border Regiment that in April 1918 James won the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious British honour for gallantry, an award celebrated at the time by the Newfoundlanders as earned by one of their own.   Colonel James Forbes-Robertson VC, DSO & Bar, MC, DL Biography (External Link)

Unveiling a Memorial Stone to Col. James Forbes-Robertson (External Link)

Having had a distinguished 30 year career as a professional soldier of wide experience, James told his son Ken the Newfoundlanders were the best troops he ever commanded, not faint praise from a most gallant officer who knew well the measure of fighting men. 

The Regiment, RAC and Museum were fortunate to have Ken come to Newfoundland to re-establish the connection between his family and the Regiment during the visit to the province by HRH Princess Anne, Colonel-in-Chief, in 2010, when he impressed everyone he met as a true gentleman.  

The 1st Battalion, Royal Newfoundland Regiment held its annual parade to commemorate the British and French armies landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula on April 25, 1915. The annual parade took place on Saturday April 28 and coincided with the 223rd birthday celebrations of the Regiment whose birthday also falls on April 25.

The Parade formed up outside CFS St. John’s and proceeded down the Boulevard to the Blue Puttee Cairn erected in the 1950’s on the original training grounds of the 1^st Newfoundland Regiment in 1914. Led by the Regimental Band the 1^st Battalion, along with a colour party from Branch 56 of the Royal Canadian Legion, formed up alongside the Cairn for a wreath laying ceremony in remembrance of the Australians and New Zealand soldiers who lost their lives during the Gallipoli Campaign.

In attendance to lay wreaths was Hon. Seamus O’Regan, Minister of Veteran Affairs; Hon. Mark Browne MHA; LCol Kurt Brown, Australian Defence Adviser, Australian High Commission in Ottawa; and Mr. Taylan Aydin, Counsellor from the Turkish Embassy in Ottawa.

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