History of 59

59 Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps got its start in 1900 as a school cadet corps in Chatham Collegiate Institute. At the time, all cadet corps could be found in high schools. As the number suggests, it is one of the oldest Army Cadet units in the country.

At the time, the cadet programme was designed for boys to encourage leadership and military training. Most of the instructors were school teachers or ex-military personnel. In the late 1960s, many school cadet corps were becoming "open cadet corps", meaning anyone could join, not just the youth attending the school.

Led by Colonel R.D. West, CD OSTJ, the fight was on to establish 59 as an open cadet corps so that any teenaged boy in the community could join. Col West was successful in accquiring space in the Chatham Armoury and 59 became an open corps on 1 January 1968.

There was very little in the way of supplies and materiel, but the corps thrived. At one point in the corps history, there were satellite companies in many of the smaller towns near Chatham. The corps saw it's first female cadets join in 1975 , with one of the first to join, Dottie Laurie, becoming the first female CIC Commanding Officer of the corps.

The staff of 59 is made up of officers of the Cadet Instructors Cadre (CIC), a branch of the Canadian Forces Reserves, and by Civilian Instructors and volunteers. The corps parades on Wednesday nights from 1800 hrs to 2130 hrs at the Chatham Armoury, 50 William St. N., Chatham Ontario.