The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada

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The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
SeaforthHighlanders
Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Heraldry
Active 1910–present
Country Canada
Branch Royal Canadian Infantry Corps

Primary Reserve (Militia)
Type Line Infantry
Role Light infantry
Size One battalion
Part of Land Force Western Area

39 Canadian Brigade Group
Garrison/HQ Seaforth Armoury

Vancouver, British Columbia
Motto Cuidich'n Righ (Help the King)
March The Piobaireachd of Donald Dhu
Commanders
Colonel-in-Chief HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
Insignia
Tartan Seaforth MacKenzie
Abbreviation Seaforth of C

The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada is a Canadian Forces Primary Reserve, infantry regiment, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The regiment is part of Land Forces Western Area's 39 Canadian Brigade Group.

Based at the Seaforth Armoury on Burrard Street in Vancouver, the regiment serves in both times of war and civil emergency, such as disaster relief after earthquakes or floods. It also contributes individual volunteers or "augmentees" to Canadian Forces operations around the world.

The regiment was formed in 1910 and served overseas as a regiment in both World War I and World War II. Members of the Seaforth Highlanders have deployed on many missions since World War II including Korea, Egypt, Cyprus, Croatia and most recently in Afghanistan.

Contents

[edit] The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada today

As a Primary Reserve unit most members of The Seaforth Highlanders are part-time soldiers. They train one night a week (currently Wednesdays) and one weekend per month. The rest of the time they work in civilian jobs or attend school. Often members will volunteer for full time training or deployment opportunities.

Their weekly training nights involve going to the Seaforth Armoury and training for three hours in the various skills need to be an infantry soldier.

The monthly weekend training exercise involves members reporting to the armoury on Friday night and going to one of the training areas in British Columbia or Washington State. There the soldiers combine and practice the skills they have learned during the weekly training nights. Then the soldiers return to the armoury on Sunday afternoon and go home.

Members of the Seaforth Highlanders can volunteer to deploy full time on operations around the world. In the last 15 years Seaforths have deployed on operations in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Afghanistan.

[edit] History

[edit] Foundations

In 1909 members of Vancouver's Scottish community sought to raise a highland regiment in Vancouver. The question was first put to the Gaelic societies and the idea was received favourably. A meeting was held on May 11, 1909, in the St. Andrews and Caledonian Societies rooms to discuss the issue.

The topic continued to be discussed in the Scottish circles of the city. The delegates met again on January 17, 1910, and it was reported that an application had been sent to the Minister of Militia to raise a highland regiment in Vancouver. It had been decided to apply for the number 72, that of the Seaforth Highlanders in Scotland, and that number being vacant on the Canadian Militia List.

On November 24, 1910, authorization was received from the Militia Department for the formation of a new regiment in Vancouver bearing the number 72, and wearing the same uniform and tartan as the Seaforth Highlanders of the Imperial service. In a letter dated April 11, 1911, consent to use the name Seaforth Highlanders of Canada was received from the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Imperial Seaforth Highlanders.

On June 22, 1911, the years of hard work culminated in the first parade of the regiment on the parade ground in downtown Vancouver.

The Seaforths first saw active service the next year in the summer of 1912 when rallies by striking coal miners in the area around Nanaimo led to rioting. A company from the Seaforths was sent to garrison the area and maintain the peace. Though not a shot was ever fired, peace was restored and maintained until the unit was called back to mobilize for war in August 1914.

[edit] World War I

Upon hearing of the proclamation of war with Germany on 4 August 1914 Lieutenant Colonel Edwards-Leckie, commanding officer of the Seaforth Highlanders, immediately offered the regiment for overseas service. His request was denied and instead the regiment provided 25 officers and 514 men for the 16th Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force, almost half the battalion. While waiting for permission for the Seaforths to go overseas the regiment recruited and deployed an additional 41 officers and 1637 men to numerous battalions.

Finally on 18 July Major J.A.Clark was appointed as the commander of the 72nd Battalion CEF Seaforth Highlanders of Canada and ordered to begin training for overseas service. The regiment travelled east through Ottawa to the United Kingdom and on August 18, 1916, the Seaforths were in France. Receiving the number 72nd Battalion made the Seaforths the only Canadian regiment in World War I to deploy with its regimental number as its battalion number.

The Seaforths were involved in some of the bloodiest battles of the war including Ypres, the Somme, and Vimy Ridge. During the final battle for Vimy Ridge, Lieutenant D.O. Vicars and Private McWhinney (later Lieutenant McWhinney, DCM) with Corporal "Hat" Matthews took, unaided, 400 yards of the German Support Line, nearly the entire battalion front. Later in the battle, the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel J.A. Clark, DSO, with one junior officer, two runners and a Lewis gun crew, pushed up a mile in advance of the battalion where they met Brigadier McBrien and two senior officers armed only with revolvers, and promptly attacked a party of 50 enemy soldiers, driving them off. During the attack on Elev Spur, the retreating enemy were in such disarray the Sergeant W. Brown, MM, stepped into a poker game, which he broke up with his rifle. It is a special tribute that the German communiqué referred to the Seaforths as "specially picked assault troops."

At 10:25 a.m. on November 11, 1918, the Seaforths received the following message while resting in Valenciennes. "Canadian Corps 06.45... Hostilities will cease at 11:00 hours on November 11th... Troops will stand fast on the line reached at that time which will be reported to Corps Headquarters... Strictest precautions will be maintained... There will be no intercourse of any description with the enemy... Further instructions follow... Fourth Canadian Division." The Great War was over.

The Seaforths would not leave France for home until May 1919 for there was still much work to be done. While they waited it was decided that the regiment should be presented with its new colours. The presentation was done on April 1, 1919, by Lieutenant General Arthur Currie, commander of the Canadian Corps. As the regiment marched off with their new colours flying in a stiff breeze "there was not a man present who did not feel that they focused the romance of the Battalion's history and the memories of the Battalion's dead."[1]

[edit] World War II

In the spring of 1939 it looked as if Canada would soon be at war again. Unlike the First World War this time The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada were among the first to deploy. On September 1, 1939, nine days before the Canadian declaration of war, the Seaforths were ordered to mobilize. In just one week the regiment recruited up to its full war-time strength and filled its first line of reinforcements. By Christmas 1939 they were on board H.M.T. Andes crossing the Atlantic bound for England.

After the withdrawal from Dunkirk the Seaforths were one of the only fully-equipped regiments in England. During the Battle of Britain they filled a variety of roles including manning anti-air batteries, providing anti-parachute defence and frontline coastal defence. In August 1942 Canada's 2nd Division invaded Dieppe. It was for his actions during this raid that former Seaforth officer Lieutenant Colonel C.C.I. Merrit was awarded his Victoria Cross while commanding The South Saskatchewan Regiment. He was presumed dead but it was discovered later that he was in fact taken prisoner.

The Seaforths however as part of the 1st Canadian Division would not see combat until July 1943 in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. The beach landing was relatively uneventful but the Seaforths would soon see hard battles as they fought veteran German units for hilltop town after hilltop town through Valguarnera, Leonforte, Nissoria, Agira and Reegalbuto, to Adrano.

When the Seaforths crossed into Italy on 4 September 1943 they found themselves and the rest of 1st Division pursuing the Germans north. The Germans had decided not to defend the south of Italy but to fight only occasionally, buying time for them to build up there defences further north. By 25 October the Seaforths had fought their way over 500 km from the landings in Reggio Calabria to the town of Baranello.

After a rest in Baranello the Seaforths were back into action. They had reached the Gustav Line, where the Germans planed to make their first stand. From December 6th to 22nd the 1st Division would advance only 6 km from the Moro River to the edge of a small town named Ortona. The town was located on the eastern end of the Gustav Line on the Adriatic Sea. The narrow streets and dense buildings lead to intense street to street fighting. The battle was so intense that it was nicknamed "little Stalingrad".

Amidst the fighting on the night of the 25th of December the Seaforth's quartermaster arranged a Christmas dinner for the soldiers at the front. One at a time the four companies of the regiment were rotated off the line to the Church of Santa Maria di Constantinopoli. As they sat down to a fresh meal of roast pork and mash potatoes one soldier ,a corporal, played the church's organ over the roar of the battle just a few hundred yards to the north. A few days later on the 28th of December the Germans pulled out of Ortona during the night, leaving the town to the Allies. Every year the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada commemorate this battle with the Ortona Dinner. This commemorative dinner takes the place of the regiment's annual Christmas dinner. Veterans from the battle along with the unit’s serving and former members sit down to a Christmas dinner with the same menu served in the church in 1943.

From Ortona the Seaforths continued to move north fighting through the Liri Valley and breaking through the Hitler Line, the Germans' second defensive line. This was the hardest fought battle for the Seaforths of the entire Italian campaign. At one point on the afternoon of 23 May 1944, the Seaforths, having taken the line, repelled a German counter attack, and when the Germans pulled off only eight soldiers remained, commanded by C Company Sergeant Major J.M. Duddle, who was the senior man left on the line. By the end of the day the Seaforths had taken 210 casualties including 52 killed.

The regiment continued fighting in Italy through Gothic Line, across the Savio River, where Sergeant E.A. "Smokey" Smith's actions earned him his Victoria Cross and through the Po Valley. On 13 March 1945 the Seaforths boarded ships to begin the trip to Northwest Europe where they were to be used in the liberation of Holland.

The Seaforths travelled through Germany and entered Holland on April 7 through the town of 's-Heerenberg. Their first action was the crossing of the IJssel River on 11 April. They then chased the Germans west across the fields south of Apeldoorn until the surrender of the Germans on 8 May 1944. On the 8th the Seaforths were ordered to Amsterdam to take possession from the German occupiers and make arrangements for the Germans to march home. The Seaforths were the first allied regiment to enter the city and the city lined the streets to welcome their liberators. The war was over. On October 7, 1945, the Seaforth Highlanders arrived home in Vancouver. An estimated 100,000 people lined the street from the Canadian Pacific Railway station to the Seaforth Armoury where the overseas battalion was dismissed for the last time.[2]

[edit] Post-war

The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada has not served overseas as a regiment since the end of World War II but the regiment continues to contribute reserve soldiers to operations around the world. Between 1950 and 1953 many Seaforths volunteered to join the regular force in order to serve in the Korean War. Between 1951 and 1953 Seaforths could join the full time army as members of the 27th Canadian Infantry Brigade's, 1st Canadian Highland Battalion, E Company (Seaforth Highlanders), which served in Germany until becoming part of The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada in 1953.[2] Members of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada since 1953 have been able to volunteer for overseas and domestic operations as individual augmentees. These augmentees fill vacant positions in regular force units while the unit is deployed overseas and then return to their reserve regiments upon the end of the deployment. Seaforths have volunteered for operations in Egypt, Cyprus, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Afghanistan.

In September 1993 members of the regiment augmenting 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry were involved in the fighting in the Medak Pocket. This operation involved fire fights between Croatian forces and the Canadians, who were there as part of the United Nations peacekeeping force.

Since January 2006 members of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada have deployed to Afghanistan in roles varying from training the Afghan National Army to conducting combat operations.

[edit] Traditions

[edit] Cap badge

A stag's head caboched above a scroll bearing the Gaelic motto CUIDICH'N RIGH, below the ducal coronet and cypher of the Duke of Albany.

[edit] Battle cry

Tuloch Ard (The High Hill) From the battle cry of the Imperial Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's Own). The cry is derived from the name of the gathering place of the Clan Mackenzie, a mountain near Kintail in Ross Shire, Scotland.[3]

[edit] Battle honours

The Seaforth Highlanders has received 30 battle honours for its service in the First and Second World Wars.

Battle honours in capitals are authorized to be emblazoned on the regimental colours.

[edit] World War I

[edit] World War II

[edit] Notable members of the regiment

[edit] Victoria Cross recipients

[edit] World War I

[edit] World War II

[edit] Cadet units

There are several Royal Canadian Army Cadets units spread across British Columbia that are affiliated to the Seaforths. Cadets are not soldiers; they are part of an organization dedicated to developing citizenship and leadership among young men and women aged 12 to 18 years of age with a military flavour, and are not required to join the Canadian Forces.

Corps Location
72 RCACC Vancouver
2812 RCACC Surrey
2893 RCACC Port Coquitlam
2963 RCACC Sechelt

Cadet units affiliated to the SHofC receive support and also are entitled to wear traditional regimental accoutrements on their uniforms.

[edit] Alliances

[edit] References

  1. ^ McEvoy, B (1920). History of the 72nd Canadian Infantry Battalion Seaforth Highlanders of Canada. Vancouver [BC] : Cowan
  2. ^ a b Roy, R.H. (1969). The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, 1919–1965. Vancouver [BC]: Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
  3. ^ MacKinnon, C.R. (1995). The Scottish Highlanders. New York [NY]: Barnes & Noble

[edit] Order of precedence

Preceded by:
Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke		 The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Succeeded by:
The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's)

[edit] External links

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