Places to go and people to see in Calgary

[Michael Dorosh]

I will be at the rifle range in Edmonton, unfortunately.

If looking for other military themed attractions in Calgary, you can also try:

Battalion Park

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battalion_Park

Peacekeeper Park

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacekeeper_Park

The latter two have the virtue of being free and without restricted access. Battalion Park has some good interpretive boards and a fine view of the mountains as well as the old Camp Sarcee.

Mewata Armouries

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mewata_Armoury

Visit the Sherman, Bailey Bridge and Universal Carrier out front - walk right up. Another one of our many M4A2E8 (?) gate guards. Not a whole lot to see inside the armouries, and may be closed if there are no units training on the weekend, but there are a few historic photos on the walls inside.

Central Memorial Park

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Memorial_Park

Where the civic cenotaph is, plus two war memorials (one to the South African War and another to the First World War, on the opposite end of the park from the cenotaph, outside the public library).

[Michael Dorosh]

Oh, regarding surplus - Crown Surplus is mostly a camping supply store now, though admittedly I haven't been there in a couple of years. The "museum" in the back had been off-limits the last time I was there. It was not a museum, but a collection - an impressive one - of equipment, small arms, uniforms, etc., though not much of it was labelled or well-displayed. I don't know if this has changed since I was last there. The staff is friendly, relatively young (second generation) and willing to help customers but the business is not centred on military surplus as the days of cruising the bins there for mint 37 Pattern webbing, wartime battledress and inexpensive wartime badges are probably gone. They do have decent contemporary military-grade clothing and adventure gear and the occasional bargain on vintage 'stuff'.

There is a place on 9th Avenue called Shoulder to Shoulder (which is walking distance from Crown, so you can probably still squeeze in a visit to both) which seems to have more in the way of actual militaria, with a good collection of badges for sale (for those interested in that) and a number of Second World War era uniforms (I suspect some on consignment), though the place is small, cramped, and dirty (perhaps the way some would want it) and the owner seems to hold a number of stereotypical radical right-wing views which he will gladly share with you if you ask.

These are naturally my own opinions based on my experience. In its heyday, Crown Surplus was a mecca for militaria but I do believe the business had to grow beyond it. Sad for those of us who would as kids beg our fathers to take us down there on Saturday mornings just to cruise through the musty smelling G.I. issue pistol belts and Vietnam War clothing and dig through rain barrels full of Canadian Army shoulder titles, but they must be doing something right to still have such a large parcel of land so close to downtown.