The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's)

The Canadian Scottish Regiment
(Princess Mary's)

Cap badge of The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's)
Active 1912–present
Country Canada
Branch Canadian Army
Type Light Infantry
Role To close with and destroy the enemy
Size One battalion
Part of 39 Canadian Brigade Group
Garrison/HQ
Patron Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood
Motto Scottish Gaelic: Deas gu cath ("Ready for the fray" or "ready to sting" – see §Motto)
Colours Red, blue, and green
March "All the Blue Bonnets Are over the Border"
Mascot None currently; traditionally a Saint Bernard dog named "Wallace". Wallace I joined the Regiment in 1939. The latest mascot, Wallace VI, died in 2011.[1]
Equipment Small arms including the C7 rifle, C9 light machine-gun, C6 machine gun, and M203 grenade launcher.
Commanders
Colonel-in-chief HRH Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy
Insignia
Tartan Hunting Stewart
Abbreviation C Scot R

The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army based on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.

The regiment is located in Victoria, Nanaimo, and Courtenay, British Columbia. It is part of the 3rd Canadian Division's 39 Canadian Brigade Group, which commands all army reserve units in British Columbia. One of four infantry regiments in British Columbia, the Canadian Scottish is the largest reserve unit in Western Canada.

As a light infantry regiment the regiment trains in raids, reconnaissance patrolling, ambushes, amphibious operations and airmobile operations. The unit also trains to meet the realities of the "Three Block War" – warfighting, peacekeeping, and humanitarian support.

General

The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) is actively involved in sending troops to various Canadian missions around the world.

As of 2012, all members of the regiment who were serving on combat operations with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Afghanistan have returned home.

Members of The Canadian Scottish Regiment have also been involved in peacekeeping missions; notably in Egypt, Golan Heights, Cyprus, Croatia, Bosnia, and Sierra Leone.

William Henry Metcalf, VC
William Johnstone Milne, VC
Cyrus Wesley Peck, VC
Piper James Cleland Richardson, VC, c. 1914–15. (Photo from Library and Archives Canada.)

The regiment originated on 3 September 1912 when the 88th Regiment, Victoria Fusiliers, was authorized. When the 16th (Canadian Scottish) Battalion, CEF, was created in 1914, it drew on soldiers from four separate regiments – the 50th Regiment (Gordon Highlanders of Canada) in Victoria, the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders of Canada in Vancouver, the 79th Regiment (Cameron Highlanders of Canada) in Winnipeg, and the 91st Canadian Highlanders (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) in Hamilton. The desire was to not perpetuate specific regimental identities and so the new battalion was simply referred to as "Canadian Scottish".

The 16th Battalion served in the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Canadian Division. Since its early beginnings, the battalion had a high standard of conduct on the battlefield and was commanded by outstanding leaders. One such was Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Currie who rose to command the Canadian Corps during the First World War. Currie was a master tactician whose skills led the Canadians to victory at the Vimy Ridge, the Amiens, and the intense last Hundred Days campaign which ended the Great War.

Four members of the 16th Battalion were awarded the Victoria Cross. Private William Milne single-handedly attacked and destroyed two enemy machine gun nests at Vimy Ridge on 9 April 1917 and was killed the same day. Lance Corporal William Henry Metcalf and Lieutenant Colonel Cyrus PeckMP, won their VC's on the same day: 2 September 1918 during the Canadian Corps capture of the Drocourt-Quéant Line. Piper James Richardson who was just 18 years old when he enlisted, and was killed on October 8, 1916 during the Battle of the Somme shortly after having played his company through No Man's Land. He disappeared in shellfire after going back to retrieve the bagpipes he laid aside to bring back a wounded comrade. Piper James Richardson's Pipes were returned to the Regiment in the 2000s after being found on display at a private school in Scotland due to research initiated by Pipe Major Roger McGuire. They were presented to the people of B.C. on November 8, 2006, at a ceremony on the lawn on the Provincial Legislature in Victoria. The pipes are on public display in the Rotunda of the Provincial Legislature.

After the war, the battalion disbanded, and in the 1920 re-organisation of the Militia, in the wake of the work of the Otter Commission, a new regiment was created amalgamating the 50th Regiment and the 88th Regiment Victoria Fusiliers, and named "The Canadian Scottish Regiment". The title "(Princess Mary's)" was appended in 1948 by permission of King George VI and Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood, who had consented to become colonel-in-chief of the regiment in 1930, being also colonel-in-chief of the Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment) since 1927, and to whom the Canadian Scottish had been allied in 1927.

The Canadian Scottish were unusual in 1939 in having two battalions on the strength of the Canadian Militia. The 1st Battalion was mobilized for overseas service in 1940 and trained in Debert, Nova Scotia, until August 1941, from where it moved to the United Kingdom as part of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. On 6 June 1944 C Company was in the first wave ashore in Normandy on Juno Beach, the rest of the battalion following in the second wave. The battalion proceeded to advance a total of six miles inland – farther than any other assault brigade of the British Second Army that day. The regiment went on to earn 17 battle honours, including one for the liberation of Wagenborgen, a Dutch village; this last honour was not awarded until the 1990s.

Lineage

The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's)

The 50th Regiment "Highlanders"

66th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RCA

(Machine Gun), The Canadian Scottish Regiment

Regiment), RCA Amalgamated 31 December 1954 with The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) and the 62nd Anti-Tank Battery, RCA

62nd Anti-Tank Battery (Self-Propelled), RCA

Amalgamated 31 December 1954 with The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) and the 66th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (Canadian Scottish Regiment), RCA

Lineage of The Canadian Scottish Regiment:[2]

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