The Royal Canadian Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces. The regiment consists of four battalions, three in the regular force and one in the reserve force (militia). The RCR is the most senior infantry regiment in the regulars, but is 11th among the infantry militia.

also see Royal Canadian Regiment Museum

The regiment was formed as the Infantry School Corps on 21 December 1883. Its first battle honours were earned during the North-West Rebellion in 1885. 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.

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 and, once World War I began, the regiment was deployed to France. There, the regiment received numerous battle honours, including Ypres, the Somme, Vimy, and Mons. The regiment went to Siberia in 1918, then returned to Canada in 1919.

It stayed at home until World War II began, and in 1943, the regiment took part in the invasion of Sicily. The regiment pushed northward with the rest of the Allied forces, and it received honours for fighting in North-West Europe. The regiment returned home, then was deployed to Korea, where it fought in the Korean War. 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 as the new 3rd battalion. The battalion was renumbered as the 4th battalion in 1970 when a new regular battalion was formed.

By 1970, the regiment had inherited a new Colonel-in-Chief, the Duke of Edinburgh. Currently, the regiment's Colonel is Major General Thomas F. de Faye .

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 Boer War, and to celebrate the re-opening of Canada House.

Battle honours

• Saskatchewan, North West Canada 1885, Paardeberg, South Africa 1899-1900
• The Great War: Ypres 1915¹ '17, Gravenstafel1, St. Julien¹, Festubert 1915¹, Mount Sorrel, Somme 1916, Pozières¹, Flers-Courcelette, Ancre Heights, Arras 1917 '18, Vimy 1917, Arleux, Scarpe 1917 '18, Hill 70, Passchendaele, Amiens, Drocourt-Quéant1, Hindenburg Line, Canal du Nord, Cambrai 1918¹, Pursuit to Mons, France and Flanders 1915-18, Siberia 1918-19²
• The Second World War: Landing in Sicily, Valguarnera, Agira, Adrano, Regalbuto, Sicily 1943, Landing at Reggio, Motta Montecovervino, Camponasso, Torella, San Leonardo, The Gully, Ortona, Cassino II, Gustav Line, Liri Valley, Hitler Line, Gothic Line, Lamone Crossing, Misano Ridge, Rimini Line, San Martino-San Lorenzo, Pisciatello, Fosso Vecchio, Italy 1943-45, Apeldoorn, North-West Europe 1945
• Korea 1951-53

• 1. inherited 1958 by union with The London and Oxford Fusiliers
• 2. granted ca. 2000 with perpetuation of 260th Battalion CSEF

External link

• The Royal Canadian Regiment