The Royal Canadian Regiment Shoulder Flash – World War 2

Description

Description: The Royal Canadian Regiment Shoulder Flash – World War 2

Condition: Very Good

Comments: The Royal Canadian Regiment Shoulder Flash – World War 2. Worn from late World War 2 through to the 1950s.

The Royal Canadian Regiment (The RCR) is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces. The RCR is the senior infantry regiment in the Regular Force, but its 4th Battalion (formerly the London and Oxford Fusiliers) is ranked 11th in the order of precedence among infantry regiments in the Primary Reserve. The regiment consists of four battalions, three in the Regular Force and one in the Primary Reserve (militia). The regiment’s four battalions are stationed in Ontario and New Brunswick. With many of its soldiers drawn from Ontario and the Atlantic Provinces in recent decades, the regiment maintains a general connection as the “local” infantry regiment for eastern Canada.

The RCR maintains a Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) in Petawawa, Ontario, which has no operational command role but handles regimental affairs outside the responsibility of the individual Battalions. The Royal Canadian Regiment Museum is located within historic Wolseley Hall in London, Ontario. Wolseley Barracks in London has been continuously occupied by some element of the regiment since construction of Wolseley Hall was completed in 1888. At various times Wolseley Barracks has been the home of the 1st and 2nd Battalions, and remains the home of the 4th Battalion today.

On 1 September 1939 the regiment was mobilized as part of the Canadian Active Service Force as Canada prepared for participation in the Second World War. When war was declared on September 10, the RCR had already been allocated to the 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade, a formation made up entirely of Ontario units. Moving to the United Kingdom in December 1939 as a component of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, the RCR saw hard training for almost four years.

On 10 July 1943, the RCR landed at Pachino in the opening waves of the Allied invasion of Sicily. The regiment and its sister units in the 1st Brigade, The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment and the 48th Highlanders of Canada fought in several battles as the division advanced north and then east towards Messina. After the 38-day campaign on the island was completed, the regiment was involved in another amphibious landing at Reggio di Calabria on the Italian mainland in September.

The RCR fought in several battles of the Italian campaign, including key engagements in the Moro River valley near Ortona in December 1943. During 1944, the regiment took part in attacks on German defensive lines called the Hitler Line and the Gothic Line.

The regiment was transferred to northwest Europe in February 1945 during Operation Goldflake and took part in the liberation the Dutch city of Apeldoorn. The regiment received 28 battle honours for its participation in the Second World War. The regiment returned home to Canada in 1945.