Joining the West Novas
West Nova Scotia Regiment’s Butterworth talks about army reserves
Lieutenant Colonel Ken Butterworth started in the army reserves in 1983. He was 16, just finishing high school and he didn’t have a job.
“It was work. You live in Cape Breton. I joined the reserves,” he told a packed room at the Rotary Club of Middleton’s weekly meeting March 19.
He spent three years in the Cape Breton Highlanders and went on to join the regular force, enjoyed a long career as an infantry officer, and retired in 2016. Now he’s back in the reserves as commanding officer of the West Nova Scotia Regiment.
He’d tell you there’s no life like it and recommend it to anyone.
He spoke to members of the Rotary Club about the opportunities the reserves afford young people both in employment and education. But you don’t have to be young to join. They accept members right up to age 58.
Lt.-col. Butterworth told Rotarians about his career. He joined the Royal Canadian Regiment and is a graduate of the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College in 1994, and the Australian Command and Staff College in 2004. And he has both bachelor and master level degrees.
That career, that start as a job in the reserves, took him all over the world. He served in the British Army with the Gloucestershire Regiment as well as serving for Middleton Rotarian Gerald Heisler hosted Lt.-col. Ken Butterworth during the club’s regular weekly meeting March 19. Lt.-col. Butterworth is commanding officer of the West Nova Scotia Regiment, part of the army reserves.
three years as a liaison officer and strategic planner at United States Central Command, Tampa, Florida – deploying forward to Qatar and Afghanastan many times.
Storied History
Middleton Rotarians learned the storied history of the West Nova Scotia Regiment whose battle honours include many of the major actions in the First World War, including Arras, Hill 70, Ypres, and Amiens, and more than two dozen in the Second World War -- and more recently
theatre honours in Afghanistan.
While the regiment’s story isn’t often told, it’s the stuff of Hollywood movies, with more than 100 years of heroes, headquartered out of Camp Aldershot near Kentville.
Semper Fidelis is their motto. It means Always Faithful.
On the morning of May 6, members of the West Nova Scotia Regiment will be at the Independent Grocery Store in Middleton for a recruitment event. There will be regimental vehicles on display and WNSR members will be there
to meet the public and provide information on the benefits of joining at West Novas.
And Lt.-col. Butterworth talked about joining the West Nova Scotia Regiment. He said members must be 16 years of age, a Canadian citizen, and they don’t have to sign a contract and there are no long-term commitments.
The starting pay rate is $88.52 a day for a private and goes up to $126.16 a day on promotion to corporal. And during full-time employment during training courses, members are paid seven days a week. Plus there are such things as dental coverage and tuition assistance for post secondary education programs.
Macdonald Museum
Janice Slauenwhite was at the Rotary meeting to hear Lt.-col. Butterworth speak. She’s director of Macdonald Museum in Middleton that last year housed a Canada 150 exhibit by the West Novas. It was so popular it looks like it will be back this year.
“The West Nova Scotia Regiment had a temporary exhibit at Macdonald Museum in the summer of 2017,” she said, noting it was well attended and the most popular show of the year for the museum. “When the Novas came to remove their things, we approached them about the possibility of having them move back in to the museum on a semipermanent basis for the spring of 2018. We were very pleased they accepted our offer and they’re now in the process of installing the new permanent exhibit.”
While the regiment holds the recruitment event in the morning on May 6, the focus shifts to Macdonald Museum in the afternoon. At 2 p.m. the museum will host the WNSR exhibit opening where people can meet those currently serving with the regiment – as well as past members.
“Novas on hand will be able to answer questions about the current exhibit that features welldone displays on the lives of many of its members,” Slauenwhite said.