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The Royal Canadian Regiment

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Canada |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | Allegiance: | |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | Branch: | Canadian Forces |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left; width: 30%; " | Type: | |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | Role: | |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | Size: | Four battalions |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | Command structure: | Canadian Forces Land Force Command |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | : | |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | Garrison/HQ: | 1st Battalion - CFB Petawawa
2nd Battalion - CFB Gagetown
3rd Battalion - CFB Petawawa
4th Battalion - ASU London |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | : | HRH The Duke of Edinburgh |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | : | Major General Walter M. Holmes, CBE, CD (Retired) |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left; " | Nickname: | Royal Canadians |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left; " | Patron: | |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | Motto: | Pro Patria (For Country) |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | : | |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | : | |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | March: | Quick - The Royal Canadian Regiment (aka: St. Catharines)
Slow - Pro Patria |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | Mascot: | |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | Notable battles or wars: | Battle of Ypres
Battle of the Somme
Battle of Vimy Ridge
Italian Campaign
Korean War |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | Notable commanders: | |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | Anniversaries: | |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | Decorations: | |- class="hiddenStructure" ! style="text-align: left;" | Battle honours: | |}

The Royal Canadian Regiment (The RCR) is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces. The RCR is the most senior infantry regiment in the regulars, but is 11th among the infantry militia. The regiment has a long and storied history of hazing and initiation practices, some of which have brought the regiment negative media attention. The regiment consists of four battalions, three in the regular force and one in the reserve force (militia):

Battalion Home Brigade Notes
1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment CFB Petawawa (Ontario) 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Mechanized infantry
2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Gagetown, New Brunswick 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Mechanized infantry
3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment CFB Petawawa 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Light infantry. Includes a parachute company.
4th Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment London and Stratford, Ontario 31 Canadian Brigade Group Reserve Force; dismounted infantry

Contents

History

The Royal Canadian Regiment is one of Canada’s oldest Regular Force military units. The regiment was formed as the Infantry School Corps on 21 December 1883, as a regular unit that would train the Canadian militia. Its first battle honours were earned during the North-West Rebellion in 1885, it fought at Batoche and Cut Knife Creek, and later assisted the Royal Northwest Mounted Police in the Yukon during the Gold Rush.

The regiment changed its name to The Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry in 1899, and fought as such in the Second Boer War; a second battalion was formed to increase the regiment's strength, although this battalion was quickly dismantled in 1902. A third battalion was also raised during this conflict to garrison Halifax while the British garrison troops also deployed to South Africa.

In the Boer War, the Toronto company of the 2RCRI fought Canada’s first overseas battle at Sunnyside, Cape Colony, on January 1, 1900, defeating a Boer commando in an action let by Australia's Queensland Mounted Infantry. The unit as a whole then joined and played an instrumental role in the victory at the Battle of Paardeburg Drift, including an advance by night towards the enemy lines, quietly digging trenches on high ground 65 yards from the Boer lines. The next morning, February 27, 1900, the Boers, staring into the muzzles of Canadian rifles, surrendered, thus removing the commando blocking the way to the first Boer capital, Blomfontein, Orange Free State. Having delivered the first unqualified good news of the war for the British Empire, the Regiment also distinguished itself on the march north, arriving first at the gates of Pretoria. For the nearly two years remaining in the war, cavalry took the leading role from infantry.

In 1902, the regiment finally changed its name to The Royal Canadian Regiment. In 1914, the Colonel of the Regiment was Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught. In 1914, the Regiment was deployed to Bermuda for garrison duties from September 1914 to August 1915 when it returned to Halifax and reattested for overseas service. The RCR arrived in France October 1915 to join the new 3rd Canadian Division. The Regiment combined with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and other Canadian units to form the “Shiny 7th Brigade” that fought at Cambrai and liberated the Belgian city of Mons. The regiment received numerous battle honours, including Ypres, the Somme, Vimy, and Mons.

In World War II, The RCR landed at Pachino in Sicily as part of the Allied invasion of Sicily and after fighting across the island, was involved in another amphibious landing at Reggio di Calabria. The RCR was also part of the fierce battle at Ortona and then took part in attacks on the German defences in Italy called the Adolf Hitler Line and the Gothic Line. The regiment was transferred to Europe in February 1945 and took part in the liberation the Dutch city of Apeldoorn.

The regiment returned home, then was deployed to Korea, where it fought in the Korean War. All three battalions of the regiment fought during the war. In February 1952, the Second Battalion fought the Chinese at the battle of Kowang San. It was replaced by the Third Battalion, which took over the Jamestown Line on Hill 187, where it fought one of the last engagements before the armistice in 1953. After the end of the Korean War, the regiment was reduced to two battalions, when the 3rd Battalion was renamed as 1st Battalion, Canadian Guards.

In 1958, The London and Oxford Fusiliers militia regiment was amalgamated into the regiment and renamed Third Battalion The Royal Canadian Regiment (London and Oxford Fusiliers). The battalion was renumbered as the 4th Battalion in 1970 when the 3rd Battlion (on the Regular Force establishment) was reactivated.

Both the 1st and 3rd Battalions of The RCR were deployed during the October Crisis in 1971.

The 3rd Battalion RCR was stationed in Europe as part of NATO from 1972 to 1975, then was posted to peacekeeping duties in Cyprus in 1976. In 1977 3RCR was posted to CFB Baden-Soelligan in Germany. In 1984 the battalion was rotated to Winnipeg. In 1988 the battalion was rotated back to Baden until the based was closed in 1993 at which time it was disbanded. 3RCR was reformed in 1996.

In 1990, two companies from 3RCR (CFB Baden, Germany) and one company from 1RCR (CFB London, Ontario) served in the Persian Gulf during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, the first Gulf War. The supply lines were administered through the operational bases in Germany, which at the time were in Baden-Soellingen and Lahr, Germany.

In 1992, soldiers from the English-speaking November Company of the Third Battalion (Major Devlin), based out of Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Baden-Soellingen in Germany, as an attachment to the French-speaking Royal 22e Régiment, operationally secured the Sarajevo airport during the Yugoslav wars. This Operation saw a re-deployment of the entire Battle Group from Croatia to the Sarajevo Theatre of Operations, under the command of General MacKenzie. Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, made mention of this Operational Force and its commitment to international peace while in the National Capital Region that same year. The Unit returned to Bosnia for a tour with the stabilization force, SFOR, in 1998 and 1999.

The 1st Battalion has served as peacekeepers in the Sinai Peninsula, in Bosnia and Kosovo.

By 1970, the regiment had a new Colonel-in-Chief, the Duke of Edinburgh. Currently, the Colonel of the Regiment is Major General Walter M. Holmes, CBE, CD.

Royal Canadian Regiment on guard at Buckingham Palace
Enlarge
Royal Canadian Regiment on guard at Buckingham Palace

In 2000, the 2nd Battalion had the honour of mounting the Queen's Guard at Buckingham Palace, when a detachment came to London to commemorate the Canadian involvement in the Second Boer War, and to celebrate the re-opening of Canada House.

Italicized Battle Honours are emblazoned on the Regimental Colour of each Battalion.

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  • Saskatchewan
  • North West Canada 1885

Alliances

See also

Order of precedence

Regular Force:

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
First in precedence of Infantry regiments | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |The Royal Canadian Regiment | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

Reserve Force:

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
The Lincoln and Welland Regiment | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |4th Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (London and Oxford Fusiliers) | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
The Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada

External links

 

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