The Ontario Regiment (RCAC)
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| The Ontario Regiment (RCAC) | |
|---|---|
 Crest of The Ontario Regiment (RCAC) |
|
| Active | 1866-present |
| Country | Canada |
| Branch | Army (Reserve) |
| Type | Armoured |
| Role | Reconnaissance |
| Size | One regiment |
| Part of | Royal Canadian Armoured Corps |
| Garrison/HQ | RHQ – Oshawa, Ontario |
| Nickname | Ontarios, ONTR |
| March | Dismounted - John Peel Mounted - My Boy Willie |
| Anniversaries | 1 March (St. David's Day) |
| Engagements | World War I Somme, 1916 World War II |
The Ontario Regiment (RCAC) is a Primary Reserve armoured reconnaissance regiment of the Canadian Forces Land Force Command. The unit is based in downtown Oshawa, Ontario. Formed in 1866, and more commonly known as the 'Ontarios', 'black cats' or 'ONT R', the regiment ranks among the oldest continuously serving Reserve (Militia) regiments in Canada and is one of the senior armoured regiments in the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps.
[edit] Early History: 1856-1914
Militia units have existed in what is now the Region of Durham since the earliest days of the century. In 1856, a company was raised by Capt James Wallace, in Whitby, Ontario, and became Number 6 Coy of the 2nd Battalion, Volunteer Militia Rifles of Canada, later named "The Queen's Own Rifles of Toronto" in April 1860. During the period of national tension that gripped Canada in the early 1860s, other volunteer militia infantry companies were formed in Ontario County. In 1862, two formed in Oshawa, two in Whitby and one each in Prince Albert, Greenwood, Uxbridge, Columbus and Brooklin. Many men were mobilized for service during the anxieties of 1864-66, when Fenian invaders massed south of the Niagara Frontier. The Oshawa Rifle Company took part in the Battle of Ridgeway, in June 1866, as part of a Provisional Battalion of Ontario Infantry.
The Ontario Regiment was officially formed from the nine independent rifle companies on September 14, 1866. It was named the 34th (Ontario) Battalion of Infantry. In later years, men of the regiment served in the Northwest Rebellion of 1885 when they were attached to The Queen's Own Rifles and the 10th Royal Grenadiers (now the Royal Regiment of Canada). During the South African War or Boer War, members of the 34th (Ontario) Battalion were attached to the 1st (Special Service) Battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment as well as The Royal Canadian Dragoons.
[edit] World War I: 1914-1918
In September 1915, the Second-in-Command (2IC) of the 34th (Ontario) Battalion, Major Sam Sharpe was authored to raise the 116th Battalion CEF, from Ontario County (which mainly consisted of the present-day Regional Municipality of Durham). This battalion fought with great distinction in France and Belgium. Another battalion, the 182nd was also raised from the county, but it did not serve in action as a formed unit, having been broken up after its arrival in England. Most of the battalion's men were sent to the continent to reinforcement several other Canadian battalions.
[edit] Inter-War Years and World War II: 1919-1945
In 1936, the unit was re-roled as a tank battalion and became one of the first units to comprise General F. F. Worthington's newly-minted Royal Canadian Armoured Corps in 1936. The unit trained in Oshawa, throughout Ontario County and at the Armoured School at Camp Borden. The unit was mobilized for World War II on September 1, 1939. Within six days 594 men had enlisted for active service. The unit trained extensively in England from 1941-43 and subsequently fought with distinction in several theatres during the war, beginning with the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943, through the Italian Campaign (World War II) seeing action in the fierce Liri Valley, Monte Cassino, and on to Ortona. In 1945, the unit entered the Northwest European theatre where it fought with distinction in the Dutch Campaign winning honours at Arnhem.
[edit] Post-War Period: 1945-present
Upon demobilization, The Ontarios continued as a reserve armoured regiment using Mark IV Sherman Tanks. In fact, the Regiment was one of the last Canadian militia units to give up their Shermans in 1972. Some of these actual tanks can be seen as monuments or gate guards at [CFB Kingston] and the former Denison Armoury on Dufferin Street in Toronto.
There were two more name changes for the Regiment after World War II. In 1946, the Regiment was designated the 11th Armoured Regiment (Ontario Regiment) and in 1958, the Regiment assumed the title by which it is known today: The Ontario Regiment (RCAC).
The Regiment was re-roled as an armoured reconnaissance unit employing a variety of equipment including jeeps, the ferret (on occasion) and the M113 Lynx armoured reconnaissance vehicle until 1980 when the Ontarios were re-designated an armoured regiment, this time employing the Cougar armoured vehicle. During many of the subsequent years, the Regiment maintained a wheeled armoured reconnaissance squadron (later downsized to an RHQ recce troop) employing the Iltis jeep. Many of the regiment's soldiers, NCOs and officers enjoy the unique distinction among their peers in reserve armoured regiments, having been trained in both armoured and reconnaissance roles.
With the retirement of the Cougar in the 2004, the Regiment was again re-designated an armoured reconnaissance unit, briefly employing and conducting trials on all terrain vehicles. Today, the Regiment continues its reconnaissance tasking and has adopted the Mercedes-built LUVW G-Wagon.
A significant number of the Regiment's soldiers have volunteered for active duty with NATO in Germany, United Nations missions in Cyprus, the Golan Heights, Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia and, most recently, the NATO-led engagement in Afghanistan.
The Ontario Regiment received the Freedom of the city of Oshawa and the County of Ontario in 1966 and the Freedom of the Region of Durham in 1979.
The current commanding officer of the unit is LCol R Brown, CD. The Regimental Sergeant Major is CWO HK Brown, CD.
A complete historical list of the unit's key appointments is available online at the Regimental Museum's official website.
[edit] Regimental Band
Since 1866, the 34th Battalion and its successor units including the 116th Battalion, 182nd Battalion, and the Ontarios maintained an award-winning brass marching band. The Regimental band earned top national honours in 1948 at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. The band's patron, Colonel Robert Samuel McLaughlin (Colonel Sam), funded the purchase of the band's instruments and uniforms for several decades, having gone so far as to build a bandshell at Oshawa's Memorial Park to provide the bandsmen with their own venue to entertain Oshawa's citizens.
The Regiment maintained its band until 1968 when, due to a painful reorganization of the Canadian Army, the unit's band establishment was eliminated by the federal Liberal government of the day. Lt (N) Bill Askew, a naval veteran of World War II and officer with the 1913 Ontario Regiment Cadet Corps refused to let the band wither. Under his leadership, the band was transformed into the present-day Oshawa Civic Band. Many of the former regimental bandsmen continue to play with the Civic Band today. The Civic Band regularly performs in a summer concert series at Oshawa's Memorial Park and, from to time, at military functions including the Regimental Ball (held each May) and the Regiment's annual Parkwood Promenade.
The band of the 1913 Ontario Regiment Cadet Corps has, for the past 30 years, provided the Regiment with much of its marching music at public events including the annual Remembrance Day parade, Change of Command ceremonies and Oshawa's annual Fiesta Week parade.
[edit] Allied Regiment: The Royal Welsh (UK)
Since 1928, The Ontarios have maintained a strong friendship and alliance with its allied British regiment, the Royal Welsh (Formerly The Welch Regiment (41st of Foot) which amalgamated with the South Wales Borderers (24th of Foot) to form The Royal Regiment Of Wales (RRW) in 1969.) In 2006, under a further reorganization of the British Army, the RRW was amalgamated with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers (RWF) to form the Royal Welsh Regiment (RWR).
Several exchange visits have taken place over the years. In 1969, officers and men of the Ontarios performed grounds-keeping duties on the occasion of the Welsh’s amalgamation parade at the unit's home, historic Cardiff Castle. In September 1983, a small group of Welsh officers and soldiers were on parade in Oshawa on the occasion of the Ontarios’ change of command. In July 1989, the Ontarios sent a 35-man guard to Wales for the RRW’s Tercentenary parade at Cardiff Castle. HRH Charles, Prince of Wales the longtime Colonel-in-Chief of the Welsh, inspected the Regiment.
The Welsh reciprocated in 1991 by providing a guard for a parade at Iroquois Park in Whitby, Ontario to mark the Ontarios’ 125th anniversary. Most recently, in September 2004, the Welsh band toured many of its War of 1812 battlefields near Niagara] and encampments throughout Ontario including Kingston, Ontario. The band also visited Oshawa to perform at the Ontarios’ annual Parkwood Promenade, held at the home of Colonel R.S. McLaughlin, the Regiment's former patron and longest-serving Honorary Colonel.
The Ontario Regiment received the Freedom of the city of Oshawa and the County of Ontario in 1966 and the Freedom of the Regional Municipality of Durham Region in 1979.
The current commanding officer of the unit is LCol Brown, CD. The Regimental Sergeant Major is CWO HK Brown, CD.
A complete historical list of the unit's key appointments is available online at the Regimental Museum's official website.
[edit] Battle Honours
Those battle honours approved for emblazonment on the Guidon are in bold.
[edit] World War I
- Somme, 1916; Arras, 1917; Vimy, 1917; Hill 70; Ypres, 1917; Passchendaele; Amiens; Arras, 1918; Scarpe, 1918; Drocourt-Queant; Hindenburg Line, Canal du Nord; Cambrai, 1918; Valenciennes; France and Flanders, 1916-18
[edit] World War II
- Pursuit to Messina; Sicily, 1943; Colle d’Anchise; The Gully; Casa Berardi; Ortona; Point 59; Cassino II; Gustav Line; St Angelo in Teodice; Liri Valley; Aquino; Trasimene Line; Sanfatucchio; Arezzo; Advance to Florence; Italy, 1943-45; Arnhem, 1945; North-West Europe, 1945
[edit] Cap Badge
[edit] Blazon
Gules on a bar a cat statant guardant irate Or, the whole within an annulus Gules fimbriated and inscribed with the motto FIDELIS ET PARATUS in letters Or and surmounted at the base by a bezant fimbriated and charged with a fillet saltire Sable the base quarter removed, and beneath the annulus a scroll Or with the words ONTARIO REGIMENT inscribed in letters Sable, and above, encircling the annulus, a wreath of nine maple leaves autumnally coloured, the centre one in chief ensigned by the Royal Crown proper;
[edit] Symbolism
The badge is based, in part, on the cat from the Clan MacGillivray familial crest, a member of which commanded the regiment in the early 1900s. After the First World War, the cat was designed into a fierce or fighting pose echoing the experience of the regiment's members in the war. The maple leaves, nine in total, reflect the nine regions that made up Ontario County for which the regiment is named. The three quarters of a disc in the base of the badge represents the old regimental Militia number "34". "ONTARIO REGIMENT" is a form of the regimental title and "FIDELIS ET PARATUS" is the motto of the regiment. .
[edit] Modern history
On the path to adoption of the current badge during the 1920s-30s, it was decided that a wreath of nine (9) maple leaves (pre-1949) should encircle the Ontarios' adopted symbol, the black cat, to reflect the nine regions that made up Ontario County for which the regiment is named. Post World War I regulations which forbade the use of the units traditional numerals '34' were posed an identification problem for the Regiment. The problem was solved by placing a circle at the base of the scroll and dividing it into four quadrants, one of which has been cleared, giving the idea of three from four or 34.
The Ontarios badge is topped with the crown of Canada's sovereign, currently the crown adopted by HM Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. The pre-Elizabeth II badge bore the George or King's Crown as seen above. Every member of the Regiment -- regardless of rank -- has wears the same brass (or anodized) cap badge. Several attempts to introduce a wire or cloth officer cap badge in both the 1960s and 1980s failed. The complete evolution of the cap badge is explained here.
[edit] Motto
Fidelis et Paratus (Faithful and Prepared)
[edit] Marches
- John Peel (Dismounted) John Peel: The man and his song
- My Boy Willie (Mounted) Lyrics
[edit] Regimental Lineage/Perpetuating Units
- Whitby Highland Rifle Company
- 34th Battalion of Infantry
- 34th (Ontario) Regiment
- 116th Battalion CEF & 182nd Battalion CEF
- The Ontario Regiment (Tank)
- 11th Armoured Regiment (Ontarios)
- 11th Armoured Regiment (Ontario Regiment)
- The Ontario Regiment (RCAC) - current
[edit] References
- The Adjutant. The 116th Battalion in France. Toronto: EPS Allen, 1921.
- Schragg, Lex. History of The Ontario Regiment, 1866-1951. Oshawa: General Printers, 1952.
- Marteinson, John Kristjan & Michael R. McNorgan. The Royal Canadian Armoured Corps: An Illustrated History. Toronto: Robin Brass Studio, 2000. (French version also available)
- Barris, Ted. Victory at Vimy. Markham: Thomas Allen Publishers, 2007.
[edit] External links
- The Ontario Regiment (RCAC) - Official website
- The Ontario Regiment (RCAC) Museum, Oshawa
- The Ontario Regiment (RCAC) Ferret Club, Oshawa
- Royal Canadian Armoured Corps Association (Cavalry)
- Royal Welsh Regiment UK
- Royal Regiment of Wales UK
[edit] Order of precedence
| Preceded by: 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's) |
The Ontario Regiment (RCAC) | Succeeded by: The Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment) (RCAC) |
