Caterham Indoctrination 1954
Hello,
Please let me introduce myself, my name is Ian Whyte and I am the number 2 son of now deceased Major Donald Whyte MBE, ex Scots Guards. Way back in about 1957, dad was the then Regimental Sergeant Major of the Guards Depot in Caterham, Surrey, England I would have been about 6 years old then.
I was doing some research last night on Caterham and specifically I was looking for some photo’s of the old Guards Depot, you may be aware that the old barracks was sold long ago, it is now a housing estate, the old barrack rooms have now been converted into apartments. Trawling through the various search engines I came upon an entry that referred to the Canadian Guards Association, my curiosity got the better of me as I remember an old photo now held as a family memento. You can just imagine my joy when I opened up a page on your site, there seated amongst a group of Canadian Guardsmen is my now departed dad, some of those same Guards members depicted on your site I believe are shown in the photo in my possession.
Forwarded to you, you may like to include the attached photo in a future magazine, if you have one that is, or post it on your association web site, you may also now like to put a name to the R.S.M. seated with the group of Canadian Guardsmen depicted on your site.
Take care and kind regards,
Ian & Mary WHYTE, 38 Dewsbury St, Middle Park, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Ph. 07 3715 7591
Hello Gerry,
Glad that you got the picture o.k. I may have given you some wrong information however. From records I have, it would appear that the date you gave on your web page is correct, the year being 1954. Dad was the Regimental Sgt Major of the then Caterham Guards Depot; it was during this period that the group of Canadian Guards came over to the U.K. for tuition from dad; dad later returned to Caterham with the regiment when it was based in Caterham around 1957, sorry for the confusion.
For your viewing pleasure, I have forwarded to you another 2 pics, one depicts dad as the R.S.M. of the Guards Depot in 1954, the same picture also shows a good friend of dad's who is also now deceased but went on to your Guards Depot in Canada, the late R.S.M. J West, I’m sure there are members of your association who will remember him. (see below)
Gerry, the 2nd pic I have enclosed, a bit of trivia, is one of dad, 
again
as the R.S.M., dad was instrumental in developing the various drill
movements for the soon to be released SLR, hope you find them of interest.
Kind regards, Ian.
P.S. I have 2 brothers currently residing in Canada, one at Fort Erie and the other in Toronto. Great country but too cold for me I’m afraid, I prefer the heat.
NOTE: I have the photo that Ian refers to above. It is too big for the web pages because the photo has so many people in it, but I can email it to any members who would like a copy! webmaster
The Caterham saga continues!
I am a former Scots Guardsman now living in King City, Ontario. I recently had the opportunity of locating your fine web site and found that you had a photograph of your first instructors and included in the picture was my late father, Donald McNab Whyte, Scots Guards, who at the time was the RSM of the Guards Depot at Caterham. I have several photographs of my father and members of the Canadian Guards. I have located one such photograph which is attached hereto.
I will attempt to locate the other photographs which are somewhere in my house. Best wishes to all former Guardsmen,
Bill Whyte
William R. Whyte Armet Armored Vehicles Ltd P.O Box 273 King City, Ontario, 905-833-2221 www.aavi.com (Jan 23)
update: (Jan 30, 2006 - noted on page 12 of History, "A Regiment Worthy of its Hire" (Patterson) ) that the officers and NCOs included in these photos are Major TM MacDonald, Major PA Mayer, Capt DR Brochu, WO1 JJT McManus, Lt M Barnett, Lt JJ Bray, Lt JC Turgeon, 2Lt GR Cheriton, Sgt AJ Doucet, Sgt PJ Stone and 2 other WO2s. (GJH)
Hi Gerry, Funnily enough I was not aware that my brother in Australia had also found your site and was in touch with you, until today!
I'm a member of the Scots Guards, Warrant Officers and Sergeants Association and once a year, usually in November, a great gathering to meet old comrades takes place, along with a gig for the Pipes & Drums. If any of your Association members fancies a trip and a sleepover (God forbid) in a Guards Barracks, they should let me know, I would be pleased to invite guests. Best regards, Bill Whyte (Jan 24, 2005)