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This site contains scans of the offical war diary for the 1st Battalion Black Watch (RHR) of Canada from 1944 to 1946. The Battalion was required to submit monthly records of their day-to-day activities during Active Service, starting from the mobilizing of the regiment at the beginning of the war until its demobilizing at the beginning of 1946. I have scanned the complete War Diary, as well as selected Appendices, and I will be adding other relevant documents not directly from the War Diary files.

I began this site in an attempt to learn more of my father’s (Jack Niven) experiences during the war, but quickly realized it contained information which would be of interest to a broad spectrum of people.

As I proceed I hope to add explanatory references, graphics, and links – and possibly some first-hand accounts of some diary references. I am also working on creating a database of all of the BW casualties, but that remains a work in progress. I also hope to offer occasional blogs on individuals from the Battalion who were killed in action and have, at least in my opinion, a unique story to tell. Getting to know an individual’s background helps to humanize them and can serve to highlight how much they actually sacrificed.

Please remember that this is a volunteer effort and, no matter how much I would like to give up everything and work on this site, progress will be in fits and starts. Thanks for your patience and if you have a Black Watch story to relate please share it. The experiences of veterans are an important chapter in our history and one which we are losing all too rapidly.