Andrew Oakden
Stag Special
With the support of the City of Lahr in Germany, two retired Gunners recovered and shipped to our museum a hand-painted RCHA badge on a metal plate from the former CFB Lahr.
From the 1950s to the 1990s, Canada sent Canadian troops to West Germany to support NATO operations in Europe and other parts of the world. The CF permanently stationed 1RCHA at CFB Lahr from 1967 to 1992.
In late 2022, LCdr (Ret’d) Kowalski and MBdr Jim Daynard started a GoFundMe campaign to cover the cost to crate and ship the RCHA badge to Canada.
The campaign proved successful, raising 1360 Euros for the project. With the support of the CAF and DND, a private shipping company, and many letters for customs clearance, the RCA Museum can happily confirm the RCHA badge arrived on Base June 13.
In 1985, Sgt Roger Eppert hand-painted an RCHA badge or Garter badge on the wall of building B67 at CFB Lahr in West Germany. He continued the long tradition of marking their location, in this case, Z Battery and Survey Troop, 1RCHA.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, this was not an artifact, but a hand-drawn rendering of the RCHA badge used for operational purposes.
The badge includes the Royal Cypher at the top with a scroll listing the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery. The Regiment used a variety of insignia such as helmet plates, cap badges, regimental badges, and Royal Cyphers with updated designs and monarchs over the past 150 years.
At the RCA Museum, we have RCHA badges on unit flags, plaques, stationery, silverware and now a metal plate from CFB Lahr.
Editor’s note: not to confuse two different ranks and two different careers in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), from 1986 to 1992, Bdr Kowalski was posted to Lahr. He commissioned into the Canadian Navy in 1997 and ultimately retired in 2011 as a Lieutenant Commander (LCdr) in the Royal Canadian Navy. He started the repatriation project only in the past two years, so he was a LCdr (Ret’d) Kowalski at the time.
1RCHA badge on metal plate from the CFB Lahr is now on display at the RCA Museum. The RCHA badge is in poor condition after 38 years and will require some restoration. It’s showing its age. The RCA Museum displayed it during the four-day RCA Reunion which started June 29, then will place it in the permanent Cold War gallery in the museum. It was placed at L25, and drew curious onlookers interested in what they were seeing among the artillery vehicles also on display. Corky read the information provided by the museum on what was displayed. Photo Jules Xavier/Shilo Stag
