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In 1902 and 1904 Lt.Col. Armstrong raised a Regiment of over 800 men, however the government would not grant official recognition until 1910. As a Militia unit, the Calgary Rifles trained part time on weeknights and weekends. Members of the unit came from all walks of life and performed their military duties in addition to their civilian occupations. During World War I, the 103rd Calgary Rifles remained in Canada, training and providing soldiers to the 50th, 56th, 82nd, 89th and 137th Battalions, Canadian Expeditionary Force (C.E.F.) Over 800 members of the 103rd Regiment (Calgary Rifles) served in the 10th Canadian Infantry Battalion during World War I.

The 10th Royals came into existence in 1861 under the Canadian Militia Act of 1855. It was a regiment of volunteer militia of working men from Toronto, and was led by Lieutenant-Colonel F.W. Cumberland. It served in the Fenian Raid of 1866, and after a number of variations in name was reorganized as the Royal Grenadiers in 1880. In 1881 it was renamed the 10th Battalion, Royal Grenadiers. It fought in the Riel Rebellion of 1885.

Units raised for the Canadian Expeditionary Force (C.E.F.) from 1914 to 1919 were mainly composite units derived from contributions of men from the various units of the Canadian Active Militia. The 10th Provisional Battalion, C.E.F., was organized at Valcartier Camp in September, 1914, from 846 of all ranks of the 103rd Regiment (Calgary Rifles), and from 665 of all ranks of the 106th Regiment (Winnipeg Light Infantry). The glory of the "Fighting Tenth" as it came to be known, is written in its casualty lists--4,586 casualties out of the 5,103 of all ranks who served with the unit through the First World War. The 10th Battalion has a long list of honors and awards--two Victoria Crosses, 19 Distinguished Service Orders(DSO), two of which had two bars and one of which carried one bar, 64 Military Crosses(MC) of which 15 had bars, 60 Distinguished Conduct Medals(DCM), 278 Military Medals(MM), one of which had two bars and 21 of which had one, six Military Service Medals(MSM), 18 Foreign Decorations and 819 Mentions in Dispatches(MID). The following were officially awarded as battle honors: "Ypres 1915, 1917", "Gravenstafel", "St.Julien", "Festubert, 1915", "Mount Sorrel", "Somme, 1916", "Thiepval", "Ancre Heights", "Arras, 1917, 1918", "Vimy, 1917", "Arleux", "Hill 70", "Passchendaele", "Amiens", "Scarpe, 1918", "Drocourt-Queant", "Hindenburg Line", "Canal du Nord", "Pursuit to Mons", "France and Flanders, 1915-18". The 10th Battalion was disbanded on 15 December 1919.

The 137th Battalion Association was established in Calgary, Alberta in 1920 to hold annual reunion dinners of former 137th Battalion members. These dinners continued regularly until 1956, then from 1958 to1960. In 1965 a group gathered to clean up and repair the field-stone Battalion numbers and later another reunion was held. In 1967 the group promoted the naming of a Calgary bridge after 137th Battalion Victoria Cross winner John G. Pattison and began the construction of a memorial in Glenmore Park that was dedicated in June 1968. The group's final reunion was in 1971. For further information see A Legacy of Courage : "Calgary's own" : 137th Overseas Battalion, C. E. F. / Fred Bagley & Dr. Harvey Daniel Duncan. -- Calgary : Plug Street Books, 1993.

This photo album was compiled during the First World War by an unidentified member of the 137th Battalion from Calgary, Alberta. The battalion was organized December 22, 1915 and was absorbed by the 21st Reserve Battalion to provide reinforcements for the Canadian Corps in the field. It was disbanded on September 15, 1920.

The 196th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, also known as the Western Universities Battalion or "Wubs" consisted of students and faculty from the provincial universities of the four western provinces. It was organized into companies A, B, C, and D, from the universities of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia respectively. The battalion was formed early in 1916, and trained at Camp Hughes, Manitoba and in England. In 1917 it was broken up, and its members were transferred to other battalions that had been depleted in battle during the First World War. Members of the Battalion met annually for reunions from 1919 until at least 1969. George C. Waight of Winnipeg was the organizer of these events. Egbert N. "Eg" Bowman of Calgary collected newsclippings about the reunions and corresponded with some of his old comrades.