I recently found this picture of a 2nd cousin of mine who was a member of the 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment. I had never heard of this outfit before. It seems they took the weapons off of the “Priest” armoured vehicle and turned it into a troop carrier. They called them “Kangaroos”. This proved to be a very effective adaptation to get troops safely near the front line. In the enclosed pictures, the one where my cousin is by himself probably shows him in the early part of the war. I say this because he has the main armoured unit badge on his cap. In the 2nd picture you can make out the insignia of the !st CACR. Unfortunately, he passed on sometime in the 1970’s. I would have liked to talk to him about his service.
Hi Laconia,
Great photos! My name is Bill Miller and I am the regimental historian/archivist for the 1CACR. I am always gathering photos/stories/documents and even the odd artifact from this unique and innovative Canadian regiment. I’d appreciate the opportunity to add copies of this Trooper’s photos and a biography to our growing regt’l archive.
Unfortunately, there is not a lot recorded about this regiment in the Canadian National Archives. Disbanded in Holland in June 1945, the regiment was broken up and the serving members scattered to the far corners of Canada. No official veteran association was ever formed, so gathering up the pieces of their history 65 years after the fact has been challenging to say the least and I have relied heavily on finding surviving veterans and/or their relatives via the internet! We didn’t even have a complete nominal roll until research was completed last fall.
If you would be good enough to contact me through my website (CanadianKangaroos.ca), I’d be happy to share what information I may have about this individual and his service. Thanks,
William Miller
1CACR Archive
(proud son of a Kangaroo too!)
A nice find! We shold continually keep looking out for photos and documents about these ‘niche’ groups. Good work.