On June 12, 1972 the first British troops arrived at British Army Training Unit Suffield.--NEWS ARCHIVES
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The first of 530 members of the 4th Royal Tank Regiment stepped off the bus at Camp Crowfoot on June 12, 1972 after a 29-hour flight from Germany to the new British Army Training Unit Suffield.
The BATUS Commander remarked on the size and suitability of the base 30 miles northwest of Medicine Hat. Police chief Sam Drader discussed measures to tamp down trouble during three-day leaves as rotations came and went over the coming summer.
The News is looking back at historic happenings in Medicine Hat over the years as we celebrate our 140th publishing year.
BATUS itself celebrates the 55th anniversary of its creation.
One year earlier a News headline announce that “the British are coming, the British are coming!”
That followed the announced on the day after the 1971 Medicine Hat Stampede by Agriculture Minister and local MP Bud Olson.
The potential for 6,000 troops each year would be a long-lasting boom for the city and region, he said.
“Every community in Canada that has a base wants this kind of thing,” Olson told a press conference. “Whether or not you agree with defence spending, you might as well be where it’s spent.”
An initial 10-year agreement to host British Army training would include $2 million in improvements to house the troops and an annual payroll of $2 million, while space was hived off for Defence Research Station Suffield.
