Personal Profile Collections
Reginald (Reg) H. Roy
Short Biography:
Reg Roy was born in New Glasgow, NS, on December 11, 1922. He was living in Sydney, NS, when he joined the Cape Breton Highlanders in the spring of 1939. He was only 16 years old at the time and too young for the rank of private, so he was Boy Roy, a name that stuck with him for a long time. Reg trained with the Cape Breton Highlanders in Canada and sailed to England with them in October/November, 1941. In April, 1943, Reg, now with the rank of sergeant, was selected to return to Canada to be an officer cadet. He attended Brockville Officer Training School and then proceeded to Aldershot where he received his commission as a lieutenant. For a short time he was posted to his home town of Sydney for home defence duties before returning overseas. He rejoined the Cape Breton Highlanders in Italy on October 17, 1944 as a platoon commander. He remained with the unit for the remainder of the war.
After the war, Reg moved to British Columbia where he married his Cape Breton sweetheart Ardith Christie. They had one daughter, Franklyn. Reg completed high school, attended Victoria College and then the University of British Columbia where he received a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts. He rejoined the reserves and went to work at the Army Historical Section in Ottawa where he helped to write the official history of the Canadian Army in the Second World War. He later worked as an archivist in Ottawa and British Columbia. In 1958 he joined the History Department at Royal Roads Military College before becoming a member of the University of Victoria’s History Department. Reg obtained his Ph.D from the University of Washington in 1965 and became Professor of Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Victoria in 1968. He retired in 1988 but continued to teach part-time.
Reg was a distinguished military historian and scholar, and authored 12 books and dozens of articles on military and defence topics. He lectured at venues across the world. Reg concluded his military career as Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of 241 (Victoria) Communications Squadron from 1988 to 2006. One of Reg’s most enduring legacies was founder of the veterans oral history collection at the University of Victoria’s McPherson Library. In 2005 it was renamed the Reginald Roy Veterans Oral History Collection in his honour.
Reg passed away in 2013 at the age of 90.