pyeknu
Chief petty officer
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Post by pyeknu on Aug 3, 2019 16:28:44 GMT
The last of Tenth Canadian Division's manoeuvre Militia brigades...
54 CANADIAN BRIGADE GROUP
54 Canadian Brigade Group Headquarters (54 CBG HQ)
Brigade Group Headquarters - Catharine Street Barracks, HAMILTON, Ontario
The Elgin Regiment (RCAC) (ELGIN R)
Regiment Headquarters - Wilson Avenue Armoury, SAINT THOMAS, Ontario
"A" Squadron
"B" Squadron
Support Squadron
"C" Squadron - Elm Street Military Annex, AYLMER, Ontario
"D" Squadron - Currie Road Military Annex, DUTTON/DUNWICH, Ontario
8th (Wentworth) Field Artillery Regiment, RCA (8 FD REGT RCA)
Regiment Headquarters - Green Mountain Road Armoury, HAMILTON (STONEY CREEK), Ontario
2/11 (Hamilton) Battery
308 Headquarters and Services Battery
40 (Sportsman's) Battery - Winona Rifle Range and Military Annex, GRIMSBY, Ontario
102 (Dundas) Battery - York Road Military Annex (DUNDAS), HAMILTON, Ontario
223 (Glanbrook) Battery - Mount Hope Barracks, HAMILTON (GLANBROOK), Ontario
The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment) (RHLI)/Królewska Piechota Światła Hamilton (Pułk Hrabstwa Wentworth) (KPŚH)
Battalion Headquarters/Siedziba Batalionu - LCol John Weir Foote VC CD Armoury/Zbrojownia PPłk John Weir Foote KW OKsZ, HAMILTON, Ontario
"A" Company/Kompania Lekkiej Piechoty "A"
"C" Company/Kompania Lekkiej Piechoty "C"
"E" Company (Weapons)/Kompania Wspierająca Walkę "E"
"F" Company (Support)/Kompania Wsparcia Technicznego "F"
"B" Company/Kompania Lekkiej Piechoty "B" - Parkside Drive Military Annex/Aneks Wojskowy na Dysku Parkside, HAMILTON (WATERDOWN), Ontario
"D" Company/Kompania Lekkiej Piechoty "D" - Harvester Road Armoury/Zbrojownia na Drodze Harvester, BURLINGTON, Ontario
The Norfolk Rifles (NORFOLK RIF)/Il Reggimento di Fucili Norfolk (FUC NORFOLK)
Battalion Headquarters/Quartier Generale del Battaglione - Sgt Frederick Hobson VC Armoury/Arsenale del Serg Frederick Hobson VC, NORFOLK COUNTY (SIMCOE), Ontario
"A" Company/Compagnia di Fucili "A"
"E" Company (Weapons)/Compagnia alle Armi "E"
"F" Company (Support)/Compagnia al Servizio "F"
"B" Company/Compagnia di Fucili "B" - Argyle Avenue Armoury/Arsenale sul Viale Argyle, NORFOLK COUNTY (DELHI), Ontario
"C" Company/Compagnia di Fucili "C" - Erie Street Military Annex/Annesso Militare in via Erie, NORFOLK COUNTY (PORT DOVER), Ontario
"D" Company/Compagnia di Fucili "D" - Duncolme Road Military Annex/Annesso Militare sulla Strada Duncolme, NORFOLK COUNTY (WATERFORD), Ontario
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's) (ASH OF C)/Il Reggimento di Montanari di Argyll e Sutherland dal Canada (Quello della Principessa Louise) (RMAS DAL C)
Battalion Headquarters/Quartier Generale del Battaglione - LCol Lionel Herbert Millen DSO Armoury/Arsenale del TenCol Lionel Herbert Millen DSO, HAMILTON, Ontario
"A" Company/Compagnia di Fucili "A"
"B" Company/Compagnia di Fucili "B"
"E" Company (Weapons)/Compagnia alle Armi "E"
"F" Company (Support)/Compagnia al Servizio "F"
"C" Company/Compagnia di Fucili "C" - Winona Rifle Range and Military Annex/Gamma di Fucili e Annesso Militare a Winona, GRIMSBY, Ontario
"D" Company/Compagnia di Fucili "D" - Mount Hope Barracks/Caserma a Mount Hope, HAMILTON (GLANBROOK), Ontario
3rd Battalion, The American Legion (212th Infantry Regiment) (3-212 IR)
Battalion Headquarters - Maj Alexander Rassmussen Armoury, HAMILTON (ANCASTER), Ontario
Company "N"
Company "O"
Company "R" (Weapons)
Company "S" (Support)
Company "P" - York Road Military Annex (DUNDAS), HAMILTON, Ontario
Company "Q" - Green Mountain Road Armoury, HAMILTON (STONEY CREEK), Ontario
54 Combat Engineer Regiment (54 CER)
Regiment Headquarters - Green Mountain Road Armoury, HAMILTON (STONEY CREEK), Ontario
204 Alpine Squadron
203 Support Squadron
200 Administration Squadron
18 Field Squadron - LCol John Weir Foote VC CD Armoury, HAMILTON, Ontario
201 Field Squadron - Sgt Frederick Hobson VC Armoury, NORFOLK COUNTY (SIMCOE), Ontario
202 Combat Diver Squadron - Winona Rifle Range and Military Annex, GRIMSBY, Ontario
754 Signal Squadron (754 SIG SQN)
Squadron Headquarters - Catharine Street Barracks, HAMILTON, Ontario
54 Service Battalion (54 SVC BN)
Battalion Headquarters - Catharine Street Barracks, HAMILTON, Ontario
Transport Company
Supply Company
Maintenance Company
Administration Company
545 General Support Company - Argyle Avenue Armoury, NORFOLK COUNTY (DELHI), Ontario
Attached to the formation from other elements of the Canadian Forces:
119 "City of Hamilton" (Tiger) Tactical Helicopter Squadron (119 THS) (detached from 42 Canadian Air Group, Royal Canadian Air Force)
Squadron Headquarters - Nash Air Station, Burlington Airpark, BURLINGTON, Ontario
20 Field Ambulance (20 FD AMB) (detached from 2 Canadian Forces Health Services Group, Military Personnel Command)
Battalion Headquarters - Catharine Street Barracks, HAMILTON, Ontario
Ambulance Company
Surgical Company
Medical Support Company
Administration Company
54 Military Police Company (54 MP COY) (detached from 2 Military Police Regiment, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff Group)
Company Headquarters - Catharine Street Barracks, HAMILTON, Ontario
The "Steel City Brigade" would be the round-out Militia formation of the post-war Skyhawk Division, covering the metropolitan city of Hamilton, the city of Burlington in Halton Region, the two of Grimsby in Niagara Region, the city of Norfolk County and the county of Elgin (including the city of Saint Thomas). Effectively the post-war version of the bloodied 20 Canadian Brigade Group (Light) from Seventh Canadian Division that endured the tragedy of the Battle of Emst in the Netherlands in the mid-fall of 1940, the new 54 Canadian Brigade Group would maintain a small air assault infantry force within its ranks of armoured car and motorized infantry.
The senior existing regiment of 54 CBG would be the famous "Rileys", the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment), whose pedigree went back all the way to 1862, before Confederation put Canada on the march to eventual independence. One of the stronger Militia units before the Shift - the average parade strength of the regiment was around 250 all ranks, which would easily make up nearly a third of a wartime infantry battalion - the Rileys would be deluged with volunteers after the Shift and the need to prepare an overseas unit was paramount. Much to the delight of the old hands in the regiment, the overseas unit would be tasked as air assault infantry, with a whole tactical aviation wing assigned to support it and its three sister battalions from Perth County, Waterloo Region and the other infantry unit which had been headquartered at the LCol John Weir Foote Armoury in Hamilton before the Shift. After a considerable amount of training at both CFB Borden and Camp Meaford, the newly-constituted 20 Canadian Brigade Group (Light) - with the Rileys in the lead - were dispatched to Europe as part of Seventh Canadian Division.
People should have seen it coming.
Like another battle that nearly tore apart the regiment's active wing in "round one" of World War Two on the beaches of Dieppe in 1942, the Battle of Emst showed what NOT to do with a specially trained air assault battalion of infantry in a standard ground combat rôle. When assigned to help plug the line at Emst in replacement of a British infantry brigade, 20 CBG(L) found themselves facing a motorized brigade-equivalent of the SS's infamous Der Führer Regiment, whose loyalty to Adolf Hitler was absolute and whose orders to make the Allies pay in blood for their audacity to resist the Nazi war machine were set in stone. And while the Canadians had unofficially made it a policy to treat the "death eaters" of the Waffen SS more harshly than regular Wehrmacht forces, the sheer ferocity of the battle had caught the relatively green troops of the Rileys and their sister infantry units totally off guard. While not suffering the sheer rivers of blood that the Perth Regiment did that day, the Rileys didn't escape Emst unscathed; the only GOOD thing about that battle was that the men of the SS Der Führer Regiment were nearly wiped off the map as a result. Because of that, the Rileys carried the hard experience of Emst with them for the remainder of the war.
It probably might not have helped the regiment that it had become one of the three infantry units to have been "adopted" by the elements of the Bezpłatna Polsko-Kanadyjska Brygada's Ontario wing, which saw the Rileys' active unit become more than half-Polish by the time 20 CBG(L) rejoined its parent unit for the invasion of Denmark and northern Germany in the spring of 1941. This would see the regiment take on the Polish name "Królewska Piechota Światła Hamilton (Pułk Hrabstwa Wentworth)" and assume the same Polish-language rank structures for non-commissioned members as the Rileys' sister units in London wood; the one exception would be for the various rank of privates, which was given the Polish title Myśliwy (literally "huntsman") in mark that the regiment was ceremonially a unit of light infantry instead of standard line infantry. While the adoption of the regiment into the BPKB was known to the Germans by the time the final phase of the war began in early 1941, the sheer scale of the Allies' moves to suppress the Third Reich and its various controlling mechanisms didn't see a repeat of Emst before hostilities concluded.
Post-war, the regiment would return to its home armoury on James Street North in downtown Hamilton. With the armoury now effectively their own base given that the Canadian Argylls had been given their own brand-new armoury on Aberdeen Avenue west of downtown, the regiment would dispatch two peacetime companies to Burlington ("D" Company) and the old town of Waterdown ("B" Company) to expand the unit's recruitment footprint. And while shifting to motorized infantry was seen as quite the relief to the veterans of Emst and elsewhere, the regiment would maintain its air assault skills with assistance of personnel from the third battalion of the Royal 22e Régiment now based out of Butler's Barracks in nearby Niagara-on-the-Lake. A change to the hat badge would be permitted thanks to the infusion of Polish and Polish-Canadian personnel in the regiment: The initials RHLI on the maple leaf would be replaced by KPŚH while the scroll reading WENTWORTH REGIMENT would be rendered as PUŁK HRAB. WENTWORTH; of course, the shoulder titles would be rendered in Polish as well.
The Steel City's other resident infantry unit, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's), would also become a veteran of 20 CBG(L)'s misfortune at Emst, though its ranks wouldn't be as badly affected as their sister Highland unit from Perth County had been. Throughout "phase two" of the Second World War, the regiment's active unit in Europe would earn its reputation as being one of the "Ladies from Hell", a nickname bestowed on the British Black Watch that would extend to all Scottish-descent infantry forces of the Commonwealth, mostly stemming from the presence of pipers who would literally serenade the fighting forces into battle; given the greater musical repertoire the Canadian Argylls could bring since they hailed from 2018, the melodies they could bring to bear on the enemy were far more varied than any battalion of their British sister regiment in the field at that time...especially when one tried to mate bagpipes to power metal music such as what had been used by the famous Swedish band Sabaton! Since musicians had been pressed into becoming stretcher bearers while in the field to assist the battalion's medical platoon, the presence of the Argylls' pipe band in the field made itself felt in many ways from the Low Countries to Denmark to Germany in the middle and latter phases of the war.
Much to the amusement of many on all sides of the conflict, the Argylls wound up being adopted by the expat Italian community in Canada as one of the units of the Brigata Canadese Italiana di Santa Caterina da Siena ("Free Italian Canadian Brigade of Saint Catherine of Siena"); because of this, the regiment was given the Italian language title "Il Reggimento di Montanari di Argyll e Sutherland dal Canada (Quello della Principessa Louise)". Thanks to veterans of the up-time Italian Army's famous Alpini mountain infantry soldiers joining the regiment and the other units of the BCISCS, the Canadian Argylls were seen as one of the toughest units sent overseas; this helped the regiment weather the crucible of the Battle of Emst with the lowest casualty levels of all the units of 20 CBG(L). And while the Germans loathed the idea of up-time citizens of their primary ally in the Pact of Steel actually fighting for their enemies, the disgust many Italians living in Canada at the time of the Shift felt at the idea of potentially dealing with the two ugly factors that ruled their homeland in this sad time - the Fascists under Benito Mussolini and the various Italian crime families such as the Mafia and the Camorra - saw natives of that land join the military, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service in droves and do whatever they could to put the Nazi monsters down as well as keep the Mafiosi and the Camorristi (who had lost ALL their Canadian-based operations thanks to the Shift) from coming north of the border from America to start up anew within the Dominion.
As with other "foreign legion" forces in the Canadian Army, rank structures for non-commissioned members were modelled somewhat after that of the up-time Italian Army as follows:
Chief Warrant Officer - Maresciallo Capo ("chief marshal") (MarCa) *
Master Warrant Officer - Maresciallo Ordinario ("ordinary marshal") (MarOrd)
Warrant Officer - Maresciallo ("marshal") (Mar)
Sergeant - Sergente (Serg)
Master Corporal - Caporal Maggiore ("corporal major") (CleMagg)
Corporal - Caporale (Cle)
Private - Alpinista ("mountaineer") (Asta)
* Anyone at this rank placed in the position of regimental sergeant major would be addressed as Primo Maresciallo ("first marshal").
In addition, the hat badge would be slightly modified: In lieu of the English ARGYLL AND SUTHERLAND CANADA, there would be written the Italian ARGYLL E SUTHERLAND DAL CANADA. Shoulder titles would be changed from ASH of C to RMAS dal C as well.
Post-war, the Argylls would be allowed to have their own armoury located on the corner of Aberdeen Street and Longwood Road South, close to where the regimental association was headquartered; the construction of the location was carried out by elements of the Navy's construction engineer group while the active unit was overseas. The armoury was named in tribute to LCol Lionel Herbert Millen, who commanded the regiment's Great War incarnation, the 19th Battalion (Central Ontario), which would be perpetuated by the regiment. Two companies of the unit would be based elsewhere. "C" Company returned to its traditional home at Grimsby east of Hamilton, moving into an expanded Winona Rifle Range which also incorporated a new military armoury annex shared between several units. "D" Company would move into the newly-constructed Mount Hope Barracks on the field of John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in the old township of Glanbrook south-southwest of downtown.
Falling in between the Rileys and the Argylls in the order of precedence is the reformed Norfolk Rifles of the old county of the same name located at the south end of King's Highway 6 on the shores of Lake Erie. This was because the Rileys were first founded on 11 December 1862, the Norfolks would be first commissioned on 28 September 1866 and the Argylls wouldn't join the order of battle until 1 September 1903. The Norfolks would have been allowed to maintain their own place on the order of battle because they technically married into the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery (they were transformed into what eventually became the 25th Medium Regiment, RCA during the 1936 Militia reforms), with one battery of the unit lasting effectively to this day: 69 Field Battery, RCA, which was based at the Sgt Frederick Hobson VC Armoury in the old town of Simcoe; said battery would be part of the 56th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA before the Shift. After the Shift, the 25th Regiment was re-raised to serve as the Ninth Canadian Division's general support artillery unit for the last phase of "round two" of the Second World War. At the same time, an infantry battalion was raised to serve as part of 28 Canadian Brigade Group (Airborne) in Eighth Canadian Division; said battalion would be designated the "Norfolk Rifles" and would serve well in the middle and latter phases of "round two" of the Second World War in the Low Countries and Germany while its sister artillery regiment would only be involved in the last phases of the conflict when the Black Friar's Division was rushed to the front line to reinforce First Canadian Army.
The Norfolks would also be adopted by the BCISCS as a result of manning requirements and the need to get a second airborne brigade group filled out for overseas service; veterans of the Italian Army's Alpini and other special forces who were in Canada at the time of Shift were more than happy to assist there. Since the regiment hadn't been on the order of battle as infantrymen since 1936, a whole new cap badge had to be designed. Mixing elements of the badges worn by the pre-1928 Norfolk Rifles and the post-1928 Norfolk Regiment of Canada, the crest would have the Maltese cross common to rifles regiments in the Commonwealth, it bearing an annulus emblazoned NORFOLK RIFLES (in English) or FUCILI NORFOLK (in Italian), that encircling the image of the figure of Canada Mourns from the Canadian Vimy Memorial (in lieu of Britannia as worn by the regiment's sister unit from England), said figure holding aloft a maple leaf while sitting on a chair with a circular shield bearing the central crest of the Order of Canada, complete with that order's motto DESIDERANTESE MELIOREM PATRIAM ("They Desire a Better Country"); this motto was chosen as a verbal slap in the face to the Fascisti in control of the mother country at the time. The shoulder titles were kept to the language neutral NORFOLK over crossed Lee-Enfield Cavalry Carbine Mark I rifles. And ranks for non-commissioned members of the Norfolks would be titled in the same way as for the Argylls, save for privates; in traditional rifles regiments, such soldiers were known as Riflemen (Rfn), which would earn them the Italian title Fuciliere, short-formed as "Fucil".
Post-war, the regiment would take over the Sgt Frederick Hobson VC Armoury in old Simcoe; the location is named in honour of an English-born member of the regiment then residing in Galt (now Cambridge) who served in the Great War as part of the 20th Battalion (Central Ontario) of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and who would later be killed at the Battle of Hill 70 in 1917 performing acts of valour which would see him posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. The regiment would base "A", "E" and "F" Companies in Simcoe while dispatching "B" Company to Delhi, "C" Company to Port Dover and "D" Company to Waterford.
The final infantry force of 54 CBG would be the third battalion of the American Legion (212th Infantry Regiment), which had been actually mobilized as the first battalion when up-time and down-time American volunteers flocked to the colours to serve overseas; the battalion would be raised as the Foote Armoury and trained by the stay-home elements of the Rileys and Argylls to bring the unit up to speed for eventual service with the Eleventh Canadian Division...which wouldn't get the opportunity to go overseas before the war finally ended. With that, the battalion would be renumbered as the third battalion and allowed to take up quarters at the newly-constructed Maj Alexander Rassmussen Armoury in the old town of Ancaster on the west side of King's Highway 403 from old Hamilton itself; the location would be erected on Golf Links Road close to a free run area named after the late Cpl Nathan Cirillo of the Argylls (killed in the attack on Parliament in Ottawa in 2014). The armoury itself would take its name from an American-born volunteer who served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the Great War (and who was also a veteran of the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection and even fought alongside Pancho Villa for a time; Maj Rassmussen would join the CEF as a part of the original American Legion, the 97th Battalion (which would be eventually perpetuated by the modern American Legion). With Companies "N", "O", "R" and "S" based at the Rassmussen Armoury, the Legion would dispatch Company "P" to a new military annex set up on York Road in old Dundas; Company "Q" would move into new quarters atop the Niagara Escarpment (the "Mountain" as it is known in Hamilton) on Green Mountain Road close to Centennial Parkway (the old King's Highway 20) in old Stoney Creek.
The primary unit based at the Green Mountain Road Armoury would be the brigade group's force of combat engineers, 54 Combat Engineer Regiment. Formed right after the Shift as the field engineer force for 20 CBG(L), the regiment would suffer as much casualties as that formation's infantry forces at the Battle of Emst; this would entitle members of the post-war version of 20 Combat Engineer Regiment to wear red memorial cloth behind their hat badges in remembrance. 20 CER had been given the right to raise six squadrons to serve with its parent brigade group. The only pre-Shift unit that would join the regiment would be 18 Squadron, which had served as a brigade field company during "round one" of the Second World War from Normandy to the end of the conflict as part of Third Canadian Division; the squadron would be based post-war in Hamilton and serve with the 2nd Field Engineer Regiment until reduction to nil strength in 1965. Reformed after the Shift with help from 31 Combat Engineer Regiment in Waterloo, the squadron would be joined by five post-Shift 200-series units to become the air assault engineer force for 20 CBG(L) overseas, serving while being quite bloodied at Emst from the Low Countries to Germany. Post-war, the regiment would be renumbered and returned to Canada to reside across the City of Hamilton. The unit would be restructured to have atop the field park support squadron and the administration squadron at Green Mountain Road two field squadrons, one squadron of combat divers and one alpine mountain squadron; this would be the only such unit in II Canadian Corps. 18 Squadron would reside at the Foote Armoury downtown, with 201 Squadron moving in with the Norfolks in Simcoe and 202 Squadron moving into the Winona Range and Annex in Grimsby.
Also moving into the armoury on Green Mountain Road would be 54 CBG's regiment of gunners. The 8th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA was first mustered as an old-school artillery brigade in 1913, sending gunners to fight overseas in both the Great War and "round one" of the Second World War while serving in both the field artillery and medium artillery rôles; the regiment would be reduced to nil strength and placed on the Supplementary Order of Battle in 1970, with only 11 (Hamilton) Battery surviving to be made part of the 11th Regiment in Guelph. After the Shift, 11 Battery was taken out of its parent regiment and allowed to become the core of the new 8th Regiment, which would be assigned as the air assault force of gunners to 20 CBG(L). The regiment would survive Emst and serve with its parent brigade group right to the end of the war, then was repatriated to Canada. The wartime 11 Battery would remain as a Regular Force unit, being assigned to the 71st (Acadia) Light Artillery Regiment as part of the post-war 12 Canadian Brigade Group (Light); naturally, the Militia unit would be designated as "2/11 Battery". Having joined the 8th Regiment in both wartime and in peace were 40 and 102 Batteries as well as one of the post-Shift units formed in the Royal Regiment, 223 Battery. 40 Battery was first formed in Grimsby in 1912, shifting to Hamilton eight years later, where it would serve with the 8th Regiment until reduced to nil strength in 1970; after "round two" of World War Two, the battery would return to Grimsby and reside at the Winona Ranges. The battery earned the nickname "Sportsman's Battery" thanks to the many professional sports players who joined the unit for service in "round one" of the Second World War; among them was the famous Maj Constantine "Conn" Smythe who would later own the Toronto Maple Leafs. 102 Battery was first formed in the 1936 Militia reforms, manned by personnel of the old Wentworth Regiment (which had just united with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry that year), based out of Dundas; it would serve until reduction to nil strength in 1965. After the Shift, the battery rejoined its regiment and would serve in Europe, returning to a new military annex built on York Road overlooking Lake Jojo in the old town of Dundas. And 223 Battery was one of the several post-Shift elements of the Royal Regiment to be raised to flesh out all field units with four combat batteries; it would take up quarters at the Mount Hope Barracks (a part of Garrison Hamilton which would be a detachment of CFB Toronto) where the post-war headquarters of the Skylark Division would be located. Even if the regiment was scheduled to be given two batteries of M777 howitzers for use in the field, the unit would retain its QF 17-pounder anti-armour weapons as field artillery used in the war.
The formation's armoured force would be the reborn Elgin Regiment, which was reformed from the pre-Shift 31 Combat Engineer Regiment (the Elgins), that unit itself being formed in 1997 from the conversion of the original Elgin Regiment (RCAC) which could trace its lineage back to the original 25th Elgin Battalion of Infantry formed in 1866. Assigned to Fourth Canadian Division's 11 Canadian Armoured Brigade Group, the regiment would fight through the Low Countries and Germany in all phases of "round two" of the Second World War, adding onto the considerable amount of battle honours the regiment gained in both the Great War and "round one" of World War Two, both as itself and as the famous "Kangaroos" of the 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment that introduced the idea of mechanized infantry during that conflict; after the Shift, the Elgin Regiment (RCAC) was granted the right to perpetuate 1 CACR given that a lot of the wartime regiment's staff had been drawn from the active unit of the Elgins (who then were assigned as the tank delivery force of First Canadian Army). Serving well in Europe during "round two" of the Second World War, the Elgins would be allowed to return to their namesake county post-war, regaining use of their old quarters on Wilson Avenue in Saint Thomas. With "A", "B" and Support Squadrons based in the now-independent city, the regiment would base "C" Squadron at the military annex at Aylmer while "D" Squadron would be quartered in the old town of Dutton in the municipality of Dutton/Dunwich. To mark the regiment's time as engineers, both of the post-war combat engineer units formed from the pre-Shift 31 CER would bear the subtitles "the Elgins" in salute to their parent regiment, making 53 Combat Engineer Regiment the ceremonial "second regiment" of the Elgins and 52 Combat Engineer Regiment the ceremonial "third regiment" of the armoured unit. The regiment would also mark the Scottish origins of its name by adopting the tartan of Clan Bruce (whose head serves as the Earl of Elgin in Britain) as their own, though they would wear tartan trews in lieu of kilts as the Clan Bruce is a Lowland Clan; such a mark of affiliation would see LCol Edward James Bruce. the tenth Earl of Elgin and fourteenth Earl of Kincardine, made the colonel-in-chief of the regiment.
All other parts of the brigade group would be drawn from the wartime 20 CBG(L). 754 Signal Squadron was formed from the main element of the pre-Shift 31 Signal Regiment, which was descent from the post-Unification 709 Communications Squadron, it itself formed from 3 Squadron of the post-World War Two 1st Canadian Division Signal Regiment; the squadron would even adopt the old 709 Squadron's badge as its own. 54 Service Battalion would be raised from the Hamilton company of the pre-Shift 31 Service Battalion and would perpetuate the line of units that coalesced into the Unification Era 23 (Hamilton) Service Battalion; like its sister unit, it would revive the old 23 Service Battalion's crest for use by itself. 20 Field Ambulance was raised from the pre-Shift 23 Field Ambulance; it would serve as part of Seventh Canadian Division's health services team throughout the war. And 54 Military Police Company was raised from drafts of the old 31 Military Police Platoon in London and sent to Europe as 20 Military Police Platoon. All these units would take up quarters alongside the brigade group headquarters staff at the Catharine Street Barracks (also known as Canadian Forces Reserve Barracks Hamilton), which would be effectively recommissioned as a part of Garrison Hamilton and made a detachment of CFB Toronto.
And then there came the brigade group's tactical aviation unit...
119 Squadron was first formed as 19 Squadron in 1935 as part of the Royal Canadian Air Force Reserve, being stationed at the Mount Hope Airport that would eventually convert into RCAF Station Hamilton when war came four years later. Renumbered to its present designation, the squadron served as a bomber reconnaissance unit flying reconnaissance missions off both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts for the remainder of "round one" of the war; the squadron would fly everything from the Northrop Delta to the Bristol Bolingbroke to the Lockheed Hudson during that time. The squadron had been adopted by the city of Hamilton and became known as the "Hamilton Tiger Squadron"; it was one of FOUR home war establishment units of the RCAF to get an official badge approved for its use by the College of Arms in 1942. However, given the draw-down of the RCAF post-war, 119 Squadron was struck off the active rolls of Air Force units, where it would remain until after the Shift when it was reformed at Mirabel as one of the two tactical aviation squadrons assigned to 23 Wing supporting 19 Canadian Brigade Group (Airborne) in Seventh Canadian Division; in the meantime, the City of Hamilton had adopted 424 Squadron as the "Hamilton Tigers". The squadron would perform well and be allowed to remain on strength post-war, shifting to its new base at Nash Air Station, located at the Burlington Airpark north of Hamilton itself; the station is named in honour of Great War air ace F/L Gerald Eward Nash of old Saltfleet Township (which later became part of the city of Stony Creek). The squadron would be granted a special dispensation to remain affiliated with the City of Hamilton even if modern RCAF rules forbid any municipality from adopting more than one active squadron. Even better, the squadron's badge - technically described as Argent on an ogress a tiger's head affronté caboshed proper - would also serve as the basis of the badge of the wartime 20 CBG(L) and the peacetime 54 CBG.
Next: The headquarters and support forces of the Skylark Division.
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pyeknu
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Post by pyeknu on Aug 4, 2019 14:42:44 GMT
And the map is done!  |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Aug 4, 2019 14:47:21 GMT
And the map is done! Another fine map pyeknu. |
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pyeknu
Chief petty officer
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Post by pyeknu on Aug 5, 2019 15:22:28 GMT
And now, the command element and division-level forces for southwestern Ontario...
TENTH CANADIAN DIVISION
Tenth Canadian Division Headquarters (10 CDN DIV HQ)
Division Headquarters - Maj Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe MC Armoury, HAMILTON (GLANBROOK), Ontario
11th (Wellington) Target Acquisition Artillery Regiment, RCA (11 TA REGT RCA)
Regiment Headquarters - Wyndam Street Armoury, GUELPH, Ontario
16 Observation Post Battery
311 Headquarters and Services Battery
29 Ground Sensor Battery - Whites Road Military Annex, MINTO (PALMERSTON), Ontario
43 Unmanned Airborne Systems Battery - London Road Armoury, WELLINGTON NORTH (MOUNT FOREST), Ontario
217 Radar Battery - McQueen Boulevard Armoury, CENTRAL WELLINGTON (FERGUS), Ontario
21st (Quad-Counties) Missile Artillery Regiment, RCA (21 MSL REGT RCA)
Regiment Headquarters - Kerr Drive Armoury, NORTH HURON (WINGHAM), Ontario
99 (Wellington) Battery
321 Headquarters and Services Battery
97 (Bruce) Battery - West River Road Military Annex, BROCKTON (WALKERTON), Ontario
98 (Huron) Battery - Cambria Road Armoury, GODERICH, Ontario
100 (Perth) Battery - Rocher Road Military Annex, NORTH PERTH (LISTOWEL), Ontario
25th Air Defence Artillery Regiment (Norfolk Rifles), RCA (25 AD REGT RCA)
Regiment Headquarters - Argyle Avenue Armoury, NORFOLK COUNTY (DELHI), Ontario
41 Battery
325 Headquarters and Services Battery
42 Battery - Erie Street Military Annex, NORFOLK COUNTY (PORT DOVER), Ontario
69 Battery - Sgt Frederick Hobson VC Armoury, NORFOLK COUNTY (SIMCOE), Ontario
239 Battery - Duncolme Road Military Annex, NORFOLK COUNTY (WATERFORD), Ontario
12 Engineer Support Regiment (12 ESR)
Regiment Headquarters - Avonhead Road Armoury, MISSISSAUGA, Ontario
223 Technical Construction Squadron
225 Field Support Squadron
220 Administration Squadron
221 Vertical Construction Squadron - Streetsville Naval Arsenal and Military Annex, MISSISSAUGA, Ontario
222 Horizontal Construction Squadron - Mount Pleasant Naval Arsenal and Military Annex, BRAMPTON, Ontario
224 Survey and Geomatics Squadron - Confederation Parkway Armoury, MISSISSAUGA, Ontario
710 Signal Regiment (710 SIG REGT)
Regiment Headquarters - Northfield Drive Armoury, WATERLOO, Ontario
3 (Electronic Warfare) Squadron
4 (Workshop) Squadron
Support Squadron
1 (Main) Squadron - Maj Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe MC Armoury, HAMILTON (GLANBROOK), Ontario
2 (Alternate) Squadron - Highbury Barracks, LONDON, Ontario
10 AREA SUPPORT REGIMENT
10 Area Support Regiment Headquarters (10 ASR HQ)
Regiment Headquarters - Homer Watson Boulevard Armoury, KITCHENER, Ontario
101 Transport Battalion (101 TPT BN)
Battalion Headquarters - Oxford Street Armoury, LONDON, Ontario
1 Company (Movement Control)
2 Company (Terminal)
38 Company (Support)
3 Company (Personnel Movement) - Homer Watson Boulevard Armoury, KITCHENER, Ontario
19 Company (Cargo) - Mount Hope Barracks, HAMILTON (GLANBROOK), Ontario
23 Company (Ammunition) - McQueen Barracks, ESSA (BORDEN), Ontario
24 Company (Port) - Mill Street Naval Arsenal and Military Annex, WINDSOR, Ontario
102 Supply Battalion (102 SUP BN)
Battalion Headquarters - Mount Hope Barracks, HAMILTON (GLANBROOK), Ontario
4 Company (General)
20 Company (Victualling)
14 Company (Ordnance) - Oxford Street Armoury, LONDON, Ontario
18 Company (Ammunition) - McQueen Barracks, ESSA (BORDEN), Ontario
19 Company (Weapons) - Homer Watson Boulevard Armoury, KITCHENER, Ontario
21 Company (Technical) - Northfield Drive Armoury, WATERLOO, Ontario
22 Company (Liquids) - Capt George Stirrett MC DCM Armoury, SARNIA, Ontario
103 Maintenance Battalion (103 MAINT BN)
Battalion Headquarters - Central Avenue Armoury, WINDSOR, Ontario
13 Company (Light Vehicles)
39 Company (Electro-Optronics)
29 Company (Heavy Vehicles) - Oxford Street Armoury, LONDON, Ontario
47 Company (Materials) - Mount Hope Barracks, HAMILTON (GLANBROOK), Ontario
14 Company (Light Weapons) - Homer Watson Boulevard Armoury, KITCHENER, Ontario
15 Company (Technical Support) - Northfield Drive Armoury, WATERLOO, Ontario
16 Company (Ammunition) - McQueen Barracks, ESSA (BORDEN), Ontario
104 Administration Battalion (104 ADM BN)
Battalion Headquarters - Homer Watson Boulevard Armoury, KITCHENER, Ontario
104 Personnel Resources Company
106 Postal Services Company
100 General Support Company - McQueen Barracks, ESSA (BORDEN), Ontario
101 Forward Support Company - Oxford Street Armoury, LONDON, Ontario
102 Forward Support Company - Mount Hope Barracks, HAMILTON (GLANBROOK), Ontario
103 Forward Support Company - Central Avenue Armoury, WINDSOR, Ontario
105 Technical Services Company - Northfield Drive Armoury, WATERLOO, Ontario
Attached to the formation from other elements of the Canadian Forces:
10 Military Police Battalion (10 MP BN) (detached from 2 Military Police Regiment, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff Group)
Battalion Headquarters - Hacienda Road Armoury, MALAHIDE, Ontario
22 Military Police Company
90 Military Police Support Company
34 Military Police Company - Mount Hope Barracks, HAMILTON (GLANBROOK), Ontario
46 Military Police Company - Central Avenue Armoury, WINDSOR, Ontario
10 Intelligence Company (10 INT COY) (detached from 2 Intelligence Battalion, Canadian Forces Intelligence Command)
Company Headquarters - Maj Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe MC Armoury, HAMILTON (GLANBROOK), Ontario
421 TACTICAL AVIATION WING (detached from 42 Canadian Air Group, Royal Canadian Air Force)
421 Wing Headquarters (421 WING HQ)
Wing Headquarters - Elliott Air Station, WELLAND, Ontario
159 "Town of Lincoln" (Quail Dove) Tactical Transport Helicopter Squadron (159 TTHS)
Squadron Headquarters - Elliott Air Station, WELLAND, Ontario
182 "Town of Fort Erie" (Kestrel) Attack Helicopter Squadron (182 AHS)
Squadron Headquarters - Elliott Air Station, WELLAND, Ontario
223 "City of Welland" (Milkweed) Air Ambulance Helicopter Squadron (223 AAHS)
Squadron Headquarters - Elliott Air Station, WELLAND, Ontario
361 "Township of West Lincoln" (Maleo) Air Maintenance Squadron (361 AMS)
Squadron Headquarters - Elliott Air Station, WELLAND, Ontario
10 HEALTH SERVICES REGIMENT (detached from 2 Canadian Forces Health Services Group, Military Personnel Command)
10 Health Services Regiment Headquarters (10 HSVC REGT HQ)
Regiment Headquarters - Thompson Barracks, ESSA (BORDEN), Ontario
10 Canadian Field Hospital (10 CFH)
Battalion Headquarters - Thompson Barracks, ESSA (BORDEN), Ontario
Triage Company
Surgical Company
Recovery Company
Medical Services Company
Dental Company
Administration Company
36 Field Ambulance (36 FD AMB)
Battalion Headquarters - Richmond Street Armoury, LONDON, Ontario
Ambulance Company
Surgical Company
Medical Support Company
Administration Company
4 CANADIAN ARMOURED BRIGADE GROUP (see here)
51 CANADIAN BRIGADE GROUP (see here)
52 CANADIAN BRIGADE GROUP (see here)
53 CANADIAN BRIGADE GROUP (see here)
54 CANADIAN BRIGADE GROUP (see here)
As stated before, the Tenth Canadian Division is one of the three post-Shift major formations of the Canadian Army that never had a version serve in "round one" of the Second World War. Named the "Skyhawk Division" thanks to its light blue formation patch, it assembled forces from across the nation to eventually become one of the three fighting elements of III Canadian Corps, whose artillery forces were the first to arrive in theatre in late 1940 to serve as an effective fire support brigade under the control of the commander of First Canadian Army. By this time, production of vehicles such as the Leopard 2 C2, Challenger 2 C2 and the C131 self-propelled gun ensured that the Skyhawks would be a fully mechanized force once they were able to join up with Ninth Canadian Division (Armoured) and Eleventh Canadian Mechanized Division to serve under III Corps. The final ORBAT of the overseas formation went this way:
As noted before, the plan was to see the division fall in as part of II Canadian Corps for a time before the Eleventh Canadian Division would arrive on the field, then the Tenth would join the Ninth and Eleventh to form III Canadian Corps' fighting elements.
The war ended before the formation - which was mustered in Ontario at this time awaiting embarkation - could even leave Canada.
Much to the relief of worried relatives who had been getting tired of seeing the televised news reports of casualties making their way down the Highway of Heroes from CFB Trenton to Toronto as had been done during the War on Terror in Afghanistan once they were repatriated.
With hostilities ended, Tenth Canadian Division was stood down from mobilized status, then assigned to become the command element of the former territory of 31 Canadian Brigade Group. This encompasses the following parts of the province of Ontario: The counties of Essex, Lambton, Middlesex, Elgin, Perth, Huron, Bruce and Wellington; the regional municipalities of Waterloo and Oxford; the single-tier municipalities (formed from old counties) of Chatham-Kent, Norfolk, Brant and Haldimand; and the independent cities of Windsor, Saint Thomas, London, Saint Marys, Stratford, Guelph and Hamilton. Now, as noted before, the boundaries can be fluid as witness the fact that several units of the division's constituent brigades actually are based in the regional municipalities of Niagara, Halton and Peel as well as the county of Dufferin - never mind the fact that the formation's only Regular Force element was based at CFB Borden, which is in the county of Simcoe - but since Tenth Canadian Division would fall under the commander of II Canadian Corps in Kingston, such wouldn't be as bothersome in both the operational and administrative levels as one might think.
With the many lessons learned about how to use a modern modular-type division in warfare during the era of the Second World War, the division's forces would be effectively maintained as they were in the field, with the addition of three specific support artillery regiments in an unofficial "brigade" that could be controlled by the commander of the division artillery (who would be dual-hatted as deputy commander of the division as a whole). Thus, two of the three regiments of the Skyhawk Division would convert to new duties, with the 11th Regiment becoming the division's target acquisition force and the 25th Regiment becoming the air defence force.
The 11th Target Acquisition Artillery Regiment, RCA was at the time of the Shift the only artillery force assigned to 31 CBG; it would be converted to become the general support regiment of the Fourth Canadian Division (Armoured) before serving in the Low Countries and Germany for "round two" of the Second World War. Post-war, the regiment would return to its home in Guelph, with detached batteries based out of new armouries and military annexes in the Fergus part of Central Wellington, the Mount Forest part of Wellington North and the Palmerston part of Minto at the far northwest end of the county; the regiment would get the area title "Wellington" to mark its location. The 21st Missile Artillery Regiment, RCA was reformed after the Shift; it had been on the Supplementary Order of Battle since 1970 after serving for thirty-six years from its creation in the 1936 Militia reforms. While its rear staff would help in the rebirth of the infantry battalions that had helped contribute to the regiment's creation in those time, the active unit itself would serve in I Canadian Corps' artillery force throughout all stages of "round two" of the Second World War. Post-war, the regiment would return to quarters, with headquarters based out of the Wingham part of North Huron and detached batteries located at Goderich, the Walkerton part of Brockton and the Listowel part of North Perth; the regiment would also take up the regional title "Quad-Counties" marking the four counties whose infantry forces helped create the unit in 1936: Bruce, Huron, Perth and Wellington. The 25th Air Defence Artillery Regiment, RCA was reformed around the detached 69 Field Battery in the Simcoe part of Norfolk County; it had been part of the 56th Regiment prior to the Shift. Reprising the name of the post-1936 Norfolk Rifles, the regiment would be made the general support unit of the Ninth Canadian Division (Armoured), just making it to Europe in time for the last phases of "round two" of the Second World War; as hinted before, the infantry wing of that regiment would see more action as a part of Eighth Canadian Division (Airmobile). Post-war, the regiment would convert into a full air defence unit, returning to take up a new headquarters in the Delhi part of Norfolk County, with detached batteries in the town of Simcoe and the villages of Port Dover and Waterford. The regiment would be seen ceremonially as the second battalion of the Norfolk Rifles; this would see personnel of the 25th Regiment adopt dark blue garrison caps and the standard rifle regiment marching pace as well as gain a volunteer band of buglers with its marching musicians.
Falling in as the post-war division's engineer support force would be 12 Engineer Support Regiment, headquartered in the city of Mississauga west of Toronto with its primary base located in the southwest part of Canada's sixth-largest urban centre by population. The regiment, a brand-new post-Shift unit, had been formed in Peel Region to serve as the engineer support force of the Black Friar's Division, which meant shifting to the Skyhawks wouldn't be too much of an issue when it came to retraining. The regiment would be composed of six squadrons, including both vertical and horizontal construction engineer units, a group of technical engineers partially trained by the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals to handle things such as computer connections and the like, plus a combined survey/geomatics unit which would be available to be called out to aid in provincial-run construction projects whenever required. Beyond its main base on Avonhead Road, the regiment would share quarters with the local Naval Reserve unit, HMCS Missinnihe in both the Streetsville part of Mississauga and the Mount Pleasant part of Brampton; this would allow 12 ESR and Missinnihe to become affiliated units and give the former regiment the chance to work with the Naval Reserve's 1 Construction Engineer Regiment. The last detached squadron of 12 ESR would be quartered on Confederation Parkway alongside the headquarters of the 9th Mississauga Horse.
710 Signal Regiment was established in Vancouver just after the Shift by personnel from 39 Signal Regiment to serve as the Skyhawk Division's telecommunications force. Post-war, the regiment would be renumbered and based in Waterloo, taking up quarters at a new armoury on Northfield Drive in land contributed by BlackBerry at their technology park in the northeast end of the city. The regiment would be divided into four numbered squadrons as well as headquarters and support unit, structured in the same way as it would serve in the field. 1 Squadron (the "main" telecommunications hub) would be co-located with the division headquarters' staff at a new armoury located on Dickenson Road overlooking John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport. 2 Squadron (the "alternate" hub) would take up quarters at Highbury Barracks in London, which is where the deputy commander of the division/commander of the division artillery would be based and would be in effective control over 51 and 52 Canadian Brigade Groups. 3 Squadron (the electronic warfare force) and 4 Squadron (the telecommunications workshop element) would be based in Waterloo alongside regiment headquarters; since a lot of BlackBerry staff would be in the Militia, the regiment would become one of the leaders in military signals development.
10 Area Support Regiment is the peacetime version of the Skyhawk Division's joint operations support group, which originally drew in personnel from 39 Service Battalion to work overseas as the combined logistics and maintenance force for the division. Post-war, the group was made a proper regiment in both the Royal Canadian Logistics Service and the Corps of Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, with four constituent battalions in charge of specific duties the unit would perform in support of the division as a whole. Headquartered at a new armoury in southern Kitchener (so chosen because of its quick access to King's Highway 401), the regiment would have satellite armouries near the international airports in London and Hamilton as well as close to the Chrysler plant in Windsor; detachments of the regiment would also be maintained alongside the headquarters division of HMCS Hunter in Windsor as well as beside the Canadian Forces Logistics Training Centre at CFB Borden to support 4 Canadian Armoured Brigade Group. The regiment's constituent companies would revise the old numbers (as well as new numbers in the same series) used by the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps (for 101 Transport Battalion), the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps (for 102 Supply Battalion) and the Corps of Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (for 103 Maintenance Battalion); 104 Administration Battalion would handle the regiment's internal service support needs as well as have the personnel administration/financial staff for the division and the division's internal postal service group.
Attached to the division from other elements of the Canadian Forces would be the formation's health services, military police, military intelligence and tactical aviation forces. 10 Military Police Battalion would be the expanded division military police company stood up in Vancouver and drawing in personnel from across the nation. Post-war, the new battalion would be quartered at a new base beside the Ontario Police College in the township of Malahide near Aylmer; this was done to ensure the personnel of the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal assigned to support the division would be physically separated from the troops they were assigned to supervise. Atop drawing in the field security companies assigned to the brigade groups, the battalion would have three garrison companies and a garrison support company, with two units detached to the new Central Avenue Armoury in Windsor as well as the Mount Hope Barracks in the Glanbrook part of Hamilton. 10 Intelligence Company, the unit of the Canadian Forces Intelligence Regiment assigned to support the division, was first formed in Vancouver from 6 Intelligence Company's local platoon; it would be based alongside its new operational division at the armoury near the Munro Airport. 10 Health Services Regiment would be headquartered at CFB Borden next to the Canadian Forces Health Services Training Centre; atop commanding a field hospital which could be reinforced by local elements of the Health Services Group when required, it would also technically control the manoeuvre brigade groups' field ambulance battalions as well as a separate field ambulance unit based out of the Richmond Street Armoury in London near the University of Western Ontario. And 421 Tactical Aviation Wing would be the post-war version of 27 Wing which had been formed to support the Ninth Canadian Division; based out of reclaimed industrial land north of King's Highway 58A in Welland (across the highway from where the Regular Force elements of the RCAF in the Rose City would be quartered), it would have a tactical transport squadron of CH-147 Chinhooks, an attack helicopter squadron of CH-172 Lakotas and a specialized air ambulance helicopter squadron of CH-146 Griffons to assist 10 Health Services Regiment whenever required; naturally, an air maintenance squadron would also be assigned to the formation. All squadrons would be adopted by the city of Welland (for 223 Squadron), the town of Lincoln (for 159 Squadron), the town of Fort Erie (for 182 Squadron) and the township of West Lincoln (for 361 Squadron). Mascots for the flying units of 421 Wing would range from the tropical quail-dove for the Lincoln Squadron, the kestrel for the Fort Erie Squadron, the maleo for the West Lincoln Squadron to the milkweed flower (known also by its Latin name Asclepias in honour of the Greek god of healing Asclepius) for the Welland Squadron.
Finally, division headquarters would be placed at a section of the Mount Hope Barracks dedicated to Maj Constantine Falkland Cary "Conn" Smythe of Toronto, who (as noted before) served in the "Sportsman's Battery" during World War One (where he was awarded the Military Cross) and would later own the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Next: II Canadian Corps' Militia armoured brigade as we head into Hogtown!
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pyeknu
Chief petty officer
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Post by pyeknu on Aug 6, 2019 1:26:44 GMT
And the map is done:  |
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Zyobot
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Just a time-traveling robot stranded on Earth.
Posts: 17,352
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Post by Zyobot on Aug 6, 2019 1:31:26 GMT
Nice map, pyeknu. Sadly, I myself have a heck of a long ways to go before I can compose comparable ORBATs and detailed graphics at that level. |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Aug 6, 2019 3:42:15 GMT
And the map is done: Another great map pyeknu. |
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pyeknu
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Post by pyeknu on Aug 7, 2019 16:59:39 GMT
Now that the Skyhawk Division is dealt with, time to visit the Sloggers of the Scheldt...
55 CANADIAN BRIGADE GROUP (ARMOURED)
55 Canadian Brigade Group (Armoured) Headquarters (55 CBG HQ)
Brigade Group Headquarters - Matheson Boulevard East Armoury, MISSISSAUGA, Ontario
The Governor General's Horse Guards (Militia) (GGHG[M])
Regiment Headquarters - LCol George Taylor Denison III Armoury, TORONTO (NORTH YORK), Ontario
"A" Squadron
"B" Squadron
Support Squadron
"C" Squadron - Dalton Armoury, TORONTO (SCARBOROUGH), Ontario
"D" Squadron - Capt Bellenden Seymour Hutcheson VC Armoury, TORONTO (ETOBICOKE), Ontario
9th Mississauga Horse (9 MISS H)/密西沙加第9騎兵團 (Mìxīshājiā Dì 9 Qíbīng Tuán) (密第9騎團)
Regiment Headquarters/軍團總部 (Jūntuán Zǒngbù) - Confederation Parkway Armoury/Confederation Parkway的軍械庫 (de Jūnxiè Kù), MISSISSAUGA, Ontario
"A" Squadron/A中隊 ("A" Zhōngduì)
"B" Squadron/B中隊 ("B" Zhōngduì)
Support Squadron/作戰服務支援中隊 (Zuòzhàn Fúwù Zhīyuán Fūduì)
"C" Squadron/C中隊 ("C" Zhōngduì) - Streetsville Naval Arsenal and Military Annex/Streetsville 的海軍軍械庫和軍事附件 (dì Hǎijūn Jūnxiè kùhé Jūnshì Fùjiàn), MISSISSAUGA, Ontario
"D" Squadron/D中隊 ("D" Zhōngduì) - Mount Pleasant Naval Arsenal and Military Annex/Mount Pleasant 的海軍軍械庫和軍事附件 (dì Hǎijūn Jūnxiè kùhé Jūnshì Fùjiàn), BRAMPTON, Ontario
The Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment) (RCAC) (QY RANG)/I Rangers della Regina di York (1° Reggimento Americano) (CCRC) (RRY)
Regiment Headquarters/Quartier Generale del Reggimento - LGen Hon John Graves Simcoe Armoury/Arsenale di GenCA John Graves Simcoe, AURORA, Ontario
"A" Squadron/Squadrone "A"
"B" Squadron/Squadrone "B"
Support Squadron/Squadrone di Supporto
"C" Squadron/Squadrone "C" - Fort York Armoury/Arsenale a Fort York, TORONTO, Ontario
"D" Squadron/Squadrone "D" - Oak Ridges Military Annex and Naval Arsenal/Annesso Militare e Arsenale Navale a Oak Ridges, RICHMOND HILL, Ontario
3rd Prince of Wales' Canadian Dragoons (3 PWCD)/3. Dragonerregiment des Prinzen von Wales von Kanada (3. DRPWK)
Regiment Headquarters/Regimentshauptquartier - Murray Street Armoury/Waffenkammer in der Murraystraße, PETERBOROUGH, Ontario
"A" Squadron/Panzergeschwader "A"
"B" Squadron/Panzergeschwader "B"
Support Squadron/Kampfunterstützungsgeschwader
"C" Squadron/Panzergeschwader "C" - Victoria Park Armoury/Waffenkammer im Victoria Park, KAWARTHA LAKES (LINDSAY), Ontario
"D" Squadron/Panzergeschwader "D" - Dodge Street Armoury/Waffenkammer in der Dodgestraße, COBOURG, Ontario
7th Toronto Field Artillery Regiment, RCA (7 TOR RCA)
Regiment Headquarters - Riverdale Park Armoury, TORONTO, Ontario
15 Battery
307 Headquarters and Services Battery
2/9 Battery - Eastville Avenue Military Annex, TORONTO (SCARBOROUGH), Ontario
130 Battery - LCol George Taylor Denison III Armoury, TORONTO (NORTH YORK), Ontario
216 Battery - Fort York Armoury, TORONTO, Ontario
The Prince of Wales' Rangers (PW RANG)/Der Regiment von Rangern des Prinzen von Wales (RRPW)
Battalion Headquarters/Bataillon-Hauptquartier - Chemong Road Armoury/Waffenkammer in der Chemongstraße, PETERBOROUGH, Ontario
"A" Company/Rangerkompanie "A"
"B" Company/Rangerkompanie "B"
"E" Company (Weapons)/Feldwaffenkompanie "E"
"F" Company (Support)/Kampfdienstkompanie "F"
"B" Company/Rangerkompanie "C" - Main Street Military Annex/Nebengebäude der Mainstraße, KAWARTHA LAKES (BOBCAYGEON), Ontario
"C" Company/Rangerkompanie "D" - Deep Bay Road Military Annex/Nebengebäude der Deep-Baystraße, MINDEN HILLS (MINDEN), Ontario
55 Combat Engineer Regiment (55 CER)
Regiment Headquarters - Confederation Parkway Armoury, MISSISSAUGA, Ontario
214 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron
215 Support Squadron
210 Administration Squadron
211 Armoured Squadron - Oak Ridges Military Annex and Naval Arsenal, RICHMOND HILL, Ontario
212 Armoured Squadron - Dodge Street Armoury, COBOURG, Ontario
213 Combat Diver Squadron - Main Street Military Annex, KAWARTHA LAKES (BOBCAYGEON), Ontario
755 Signal Squadron (755 SIG SQN)
Squadron Headquarters - Matheson Boulevard East Armoury, MISSISSAUGA, Ontario
55 Service Battalion (55 SVC BN)
Battalion Headquarters - Matheson Boulevard East Armoury, MISSISSAUGA, Ontario
Transport Company
Supply Company
Maintenance Company
Administration Company
554 Forward Support Company - Chemong Road Armoury, PETERBOROUGH, Ontario
Attached to the formation from other elements of the Canadian Forces:
112 "City of Richmond Hill" (Canastero) Tactical Helicopter Squadron (112 THS) (detached from 42 Canadian Air Group, Royal Canadian Air Force)
Squadron Headquarters - Grange Air Station, Toronto/Markham Airport, MARKHAM, Ontario
21 Field Ambulance (21 FD AMB) (detached from 2 Canadian Forces Health Services Group, Military Personnel Command)
Battalion Headquarters - Confederation Parkway Armoury, MISSISSAUGA, Ontario
Ambulance Company
Surgical Company
Medical Support Company
Administration Company
55 Military Police Company (55 MP COY) (detached from 2 Military Police Regiment, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff Group)
Company Headquarters - Matheson Boulevard East Armoury, MISSISSAUGA, Ontario
The only Militia armoured force active in II Canadian Corps, 55 Canadian Brigade Group (Armoured) would be the immediate personnel support element to the units assigned to 4 Canadian Armoured Brigade Group in Borden even if the former formation is administratively part of the Fourth Canadian Division and the latter is part of the Tenth Canadian Division. Effectively the peacetime perpetuation of 12 Canadian Armoured Brigade Group that served with the Sloggers of the Scheldt in the Low Countries and Germany during "round two" of the Second World War, 55 CBG(A) would be built on a solid core of veterans who did wonders with their LAV Cougar C2 armoured cars in the Ardennes and the Rhineland before driving on into the heart of Nazi Germany; the regiments that had formed the armoured "fists" of that formation had begun transitioning into newly-built Leopard 2 and Challenger 2 main battle tanks when the war finally ended, so the people who survived that conflict would be quite familiar with and very happy to make use of those self-same vehicles when asked to serve in the Mobilized Reserve as augmentations to Regular Force units as well as weekend and summer exercises on the Borden and Meaford ranges while still part of the Primary Reserve.
Leading this formation would be the Militia wing of Canada's only Household Cavalry regiment, the Governor General's Horse Guards. With its "ennobled" element now part of 10 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group and based out of Ottawa, the Militia Horse Guards would be given the primary task to train augmentation personnel for both the Active and Mobilized Reserve to keep the Regular Force unit at full strength, both for operational duties and for public work as part of the Ceremonial Guard, which would now become a full-time activity of the Canadian Forces managed by the various elements of the Household Division. The unit's secondary duty would be to have an Active Reserve tank squadron at the ready to augment either 4 CABG, 10 CMBG or 8e Groupe-Brigade Légère du Canada in helping guard over the frontier, especially with the expanded number of border crossings over the Niagara River (as mentioned before). To ensure the Militia Horse Guards would be able to carry out such a mission, the regiment would be allowed to base detached squadrons at the Dalton Armoury in old Scarborough and the Capt Bellenden Seymour Hutcheson Armoury in the southern end of old Etobicoke to expand on the regiment's recruiting footprint. As for the headquarters, support and both "A" and "B" Squadrons, they would be shifted to an expanded version of the pre-Shift LCol George Taylor Denison III Armoury; the older facility would be renamed and expanded to hold the headquarters elements of the Fourth Canadian Division. The Denison Armoury is named in tribute to a scion of an Upper Canadian/Ontarian military dynasty who served in the local Militia during the Fenian raids of the 1860s and the Northwest Rebellion of 1885; he would also serve on Toronto city council and serve as city magistrate.
Having "married up" into the Horse Guards during the 1936 Militia reforms, the 9th Mississauga Horse (which was actually formed in 1903) would be separated from the parent regiment after the Shift to become its own tank unit. Established from a detached squadron of the stay-home element of the Horse Guards, the regiment would be brought to full strength thanks to a massive outpouring of up-time Chinese recruits who joined the unit after finding themselves effectively orphaned from their homeland. And while there had been concerns among personnel in the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency about possible agents of the up-time Chinese Ministry of State Security trying to return to the homeland to help Máo Zédōng's people win the simmering civil war against the hated Kuomintang under Jiǎng Jièshí (Chang Kaishek) in the background of the Second Sino-Japanese War, being physically and emotionally separated from their "people's capitalist socialist republic" that had evolved through Máo's rule, the Cultural Revolution and all the advances their homeland had endured from the 1980s onward impacted almost all expats from the Middle Kingdom who were vaulted back in time with the rest of the Dominion. Realizing they had the chance to do it right both with their newly-adopted nation as well as their true homeland, many Chinese gladly moved to form their own "foreign legion" brigades in the Canadian Army, the group being titled the 孫中山先生正義的中加加拿大旅 (literally Sūn Zhōngshān-xiānshēng Zhèngyì de Zhōngjiā Jiānádà Lǚ or "Doctor Sūn Zhōngshān's Righteous Chinese-Canadian Brigade"), using the proper Mandarin way of rendering the name of modern China's founder, Sun Yatsen.
Once properly adopted by the SZ3JL, the 9th Mississauga Horse would be given the Chinese title 密西沙加第9騎兵團 (Mìxīshājiā Dì 9 Qíbīng Tuán) and adopt both Mandarin and Cantonese as the second and third operational language of the unit. Naturally, the rank titles used by members of the regiment would be given Chinese names, inspired by that of both the People's Liberation Army Ground Force and the Republic of China Army:
Lieutenant Colonel - 中校 (Zhōngxiào) ("Mid-level Field Officer") *
Major - 少校 (Shàoxiào) ("Junior-level Field Officer")
Captain - 上尉 (Shàngwèi) ("Senior-level Officer")
Lieutenant - 中尉 (Zhōngwèi) ("Mid-level Officer")
Second Lieutenant - 少尉 (Shàowèi) ("Junior-level Officer")
Officer Cadet - 學員 (Xuéyuán) ("Student Officer")
* - Note that the regiment's honorary colonel would be given the Chinese rank title 大校 (Dàxiào), literally meaning "Grand Field Officer"; this is a rank title in the PLAGF but not the ROCA. The regiment's honorary lieutenant colonel would be addressed as 大中校 (Dàzhōngxiào), literally meaning "Grand Mid-level Field Officer". And when finally appointed, the regiment's colonel-in-chief would be addressed as 帝國大校 (Dìguó Dàxiào) or "Imperial Grand Field Officer".
Chief Warrant Officer - 大軍士長 (Dà Jūnshìzhǎng) ("Grand Chief Military Knight")
Master Warrant Officer - 上軍士長 (Shàng Jūnshìzhǎng) ("Senior-level Chief Military Knight")
Warrant Officer - 中軍士長 (Zhōng Jūnshìzhǎng) ("Mid-level Chief Military Knight")
Sergeant - 少軍士長 (Shào Jūnshìzhǎng) ("Junior-level Chief Military Knight")
Master Corporal - 上軍士 (Shàng Jūnshì) ("Senior-level Military Knight")
Corporal - 中軍士 (Zhōng Jūnshì) ("Mid-level Military Knight")
Trooper (Trained) - 少軍士 (Shào Jūnshì) ("Junior-level Military Knight")
Trooper (Basic) - 徒軍士 (Tú Jūnshì) ("Apprentice Military Knight")
Trooper (Recruit) - 徒兵 (Túbīng) ("Apprentice Soldier")
The use of the term "knight" (士) in rank titles for non-commissioned members would be a salute to the Mississauga Horse being a cavalry regiment.
Once mobilized, the 9th Mississauga Horse would serve in 37 Canadian Armoured Brigade Group in Ninth Canadian Division for the last phases of "round two" of the Second World War. After peace came, the regiment would be allowed to effectively become a unit both in the Regular Force and the Militia. The Regular Force unit would be designated the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles (in Chinese, 加拿大第4步槍團, read as Jiānádà dì 4 Bùqiāng Tuán) and take up residence at CFB Borden as an element of 4 CABG. The Militia regiment would remain as the 9th Mississauga Horse and take up residence at the newly-constructed Confederation Parkway Armoury in its hometown. Detached squadrons would be co-located with detached divisions of HMCS Missinnihe at the joint military annex/naval arsenal complexes in old Streetsville and the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood in Brampton. Thus, the Mississauga Horse and Missinnihe would become affiliated units.
To mark its spiritual affiliation with the Middle Kingdom, the 9th Mississauga Horse's cap badge would be modified from its pre-1936 design to have the scroll over the unicorn have the shortened unit title THE NINTH HORSE expanded to the full unit title in hànzì; the scroll at the base of the badge bearing the regiment's motto IN MALOS CORNU ("My Horn Against The Evil") would be rendered in Chinese as 我的號角反對邪惡 (read Wǒ de Hàojiǎo Fǎnduì Xié'è). Shoulder titles would read either 9 MH (in English) or 密9團 (in Mandarin).
Other elements of the various "foreign legions" that would serve in the Canadian Army during "round two" of the Second World War would be represented in 55 CBG(A). The Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment) (RCAC) from both York Region and Toronto itself would gain a massive number of up-time Italian and Italian-Canadian recruits (as well as some down-time Italian-Americans and Italians who didn't care for Benito Mussolini and his Fascists; those people would be cleared by CSIS and CBSA before putting on uniforms) to bring the unit up to wartime strength for service with 12 CABG in Fourth Canadian Division. Because of it becoming a part of the Brigata Canadese Italiana di Santa Caterina da Siena's Ontario wing, the regiment would gain the Italian title "I Rangers della Regina di York (1° Reggimento Americano) (CCRC)"; the "CCRC" would be the translation of "Royal Canadian Armoured Corps" in Italian: Corpo Corazzato Reale Canadese. Serving well in both the middle and latter phases of the campaign against the Nazis, the Rangers didn't experience any noticeable incidents against elements of the Waffen SS when they were positively identified as an Italian unit; much to the surprise of many in the unit, down-time Italian reporters from the homeland gladly trailed the regiment and the other elements of the BCISCS to relay stories of heroism to their newspapers (edited to ignore complaints up-time Italians had against il Duce, of course). Of course, marking the unit's new affiliation, the shield crest worn as a hat badge would be emblazoned with the Italian RANGERS della REGINA 1° AMERNI. in three-line vertical stack formation. Cloth shoulder titles would be rendered RRY in Italian while the metal shoulder titles would be read as RANGERS d. REGINA di YORK in two-line vertical stack formation. Rank titles for non-commissioned members would match that of other elements of the BCISCS save for the lowest rank of trooper, which would be rendered as Cavaliere (Cre), which means "knight" in Italian.
After hostilities ended, the regiment would be repatriated back to Canada; it wouldn't be given a chance to perpetuate as a Regular Force unit as the Horse Guards and the Mississauga Horse did, but drafts from the active unit would be allowed to serve on with both the GGHG in Ottawa and 4 CMR in Borden. The regiment would be made to shift full-time headquarters up from the Fort York Armoury near downtown Toronto to the LGen Hon John Graves Simcoe Armoury in Aurora; this is named after the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada and the commanding officer of the wartime Queen's Rangers, a Loyalist militia raised by Simcoe in upstate New York to help put down the rebels in the Revolutionary War. The regiment's "C" Squadron would be allowed to remain at the Fort York Armoury, but the Rangers would be persuaded to use all of York Region as its recruitment catchment zone. To better draw in new personnel, "D" Squadron of the regiment would be based out of the combined military annex and naval arsenal overlooking the Oak Ridges Moraine in Richmond Hill south of Aurora; the squadron would share headquarters with two Naval Reserve units, HMC Ships Oak Ridges and Nassau, which would become affiliated units to the Rangers.
The last two combat regiments in the brigade group would become elements of the Deutsch-Kanadische Legion's Ontario wing once they were constituted. Raised from volunteer drafts trained by the stay-home element of the 50th Light Artillery Regiment (The Prince of Wales' Rangers), RCA from Peterborough, both units would take up names of the artillery regiment's ancestral units. First to come was the 3rd Prince of Wales' Canadian Dragoons, which was given the German title "3. Dragonerregiment des Prinzen von Wales von Kanada". The regiment was first formed in 1875 as the third regiment of provisional cavalry in the growing Canadian Militia, based out of Cobourg in Ontario; it would serve throughout until the 1936 Militia reforms and amalgamation with the local infantry regiment to become the The Prince of Wales Rangers (Peterborough Regiment); said regiment would be converted to artillery in 1946 after "round one" of the Second World War, serving until reduction to nil strength in 1970. Once reformed as a separate armoured regiment, the Prince of Wales' Dragoons would form one of the armoured spearheads of the independent 40 Canadian Armoured Brigade Group that would serve as one of the spare formations available to the commander of First Canadian Army to plug up holes in the line in the middle and latter parts of "round two" of the Second World War. Like other elements of the DKL who were in the field, the Dragoons didn't endure any issues concerning encounters with troops of the Waffen SS or other parts of the Nazi party in its advance to Germany, though some of the up-time members of the unit found themselves seconded to 26 Electronic Warfare Regiment out of Kingston to aid in psychological operations against both the Wehrmacht and civilian authorities once First Canadian Army was in Germany proper; this would see the Dragoons awarded the Chief of the Defence Staff Commendation for their personnel's brilliance while working with 26 EWR while out in the field.
Post-war, the regiment would take over the armoury on Murray Street in Peterborough, while also dispatching detached squadrons to Victoria Park Armoury in the Lindsay part of Kawartha Lakes and the new Dodge Street Armoury in Cobourg. There would be no changes in the regiment's hat badge, though shoulder titles would be changed from the English 3 PWCD to the German 3. DRPWK both in cloth and metal formats. Rank titles would match that of other elements of the DKL save for the junior non-commissioned ranks, which would be rendered in German as follows:
Master Corporal - Stabsgefreiterdragoner ("staff exempted dragoon") *
Corporal - Hauptgefreiterdragoner ("principal exempted dragoon")
Trooper (Trained) - Obergefreiterdragoner ("leading exempted dragoon")
Trooper (Basic) - Gefreiterdragoner ("exempted dragoon")
Trooper (Recruit) - Dragoner ("dragoon")
* Note that those who have the appointment of Stabsgefreiterdragoner (master corporal is not a legal rank in the Canadian Forces) who are forced to fill a rôle that would be normally demanded of a higher rank (i.e. an acting section sergeant), they would be seen as "frocked" and given the appointment title Oberstabsgefreiterdragoner ("leading staff exempted dragoon").
The regiment would provide a Mobilized Reserve squadron for occupation duties in Germany once the war ended. After the war, the peacetime regiment was given the tasking of providing Militia augmentation to both the Royal Canadian Dragoons in Petawawa as well as the 3rd Canadian Mounted Rifles in Borden.
The reformed infantry battalion also formed from the 50th Regiment would be designated the Prince of Wales' Rangers (in mark to the artillery regiment's subtitle) and would be seen as the direct perpetuation of the original 57th Peterborough Battalion of Infantry formed in 1866 that would eventually evolve into the Peterborough Rangers in 1920, to which it would remain until union with the 3rd Prince of Wales' Canadian Dragoons in the 1936 Militia reforms. Much to the delight of members of the new regiment of infantry rangers, the Duke of Gloucester Prince Henry (younger brother of King George VI) agreed to become colonel-in-chief of the new unit despite it being titled the "Prince of Wales' Rangers". Because of its being part of the DKL, the regiment was given the German title "Der Regiment von Rangern des Prinzen von Wales". The regiment would adopt a modification of the old Peterborough Rangers' cap badge from 1920, which would switch the beaver at the centre of the badge with the coronet and feathers that marked the heir to the monarch of the United Kingdom, complete with the motto scroll bearing the German ICH DIEN ("I serve"). The annullus around the centre of the badge would be changed to that of the Order of the Garter strapped belt, complete with the middle French HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE ("Shame on Him who Thinks Evil of It"); this marked that the current colonel-in-chief was a member of England's highest order of chivalry. The rest of the badge would remain as is, complete with the regiment's old motto QUIS SEPARABIT ("Who Will Separate Us"). Shoulder titles would be done in cloth as PW RANG (in English) or RRPW (in German); the metal title would have the word RANGERS (in English) or RANGERN (in German) topped at the centre of the badge with the Prince of Wales' feathers and coronet. Rank titles would match the other elements of the DKL save for the junior non-commissioned ranks, which would be rendered this way:
Master Corporal - Stabsgefreiterranger ("staff exempted ranger") *
Corporal - Hauptgefreiterranger ("principal exempted ranger")
Private (Trained) - Obergefreiterranger ("leading exempted ranger")
Private (Basic) - Gefreiterranger ("exempted ranger")
Private (Recruit) - Ranger
* Note that those who have the appointment of Stabsgefreiterranger (master corporal is not a legal rank in the Canadian Forces) who are forced to fill a rôle that would be normally demanded of a higher rank (i.e. an acting section sergeant), they would be seen as "frocked" and given the appointment title Oberstabsgefreiterranger ("leading staff exempted ranger").
The Rangers would be tasked to form part of 41 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, the other independent formation answerable directly to First Canadian Army, for the middle and latter phases of World War Two; as its sister regiment would, the Rangers would leave behind a Mobilized Reserve company for occupation duties in Germany. Once peace came, the regiment would gain a new armoury on Chemong Road in the northern part of Peterborough; detached companies would be located in Bobcaygeon on the border between Peterborough County and the city of Kawartha Lakes as well as the Minden part of the township of Minden Hills in Haliburton County near the southern border of Algonquin Provincial Park.
Tasked as the brigade group's artillery force would be the 7th Toronto Field Artillery Regiment, RCA; this is the first element of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery that was permitted to have a location noted as part of the unit's official title. With a pedigree hailing back to 1942 during "round one" of the Second World War, the regiment served originally as the 31st Regiment before it was renumbered as the 7th Regiment in 1956 and the 7th Toronto Regiment in 1965. Mobilized right away after the Shift, the regiment became the armoured field force for 12 CABG, supporting its sister Toronto-area units in the Low Countries and Germany itself for the middle and latter phases of "round two" of the Second World War; like the 56th Regiment did, the 7th Toronto Regiment adopted the LAV I Cougar C3 fitted with the QF 17-pounder anti-armour gun and modified same to serve as self-propelled artillery designated the Cougar C4. After coming through the war with minimal casualties, the regiment would be repatriated to Canada and returned to Militia status save for 9 Battery; the "ennobled" element of this unit would be made part of the 79th Light Artillery Regiment (Lord Selkirk's Own), RCA out of Shilo.
Because of the change required to have only ONE combat unit (armour, infantry or artillery) located in a standard armoury, the 7th Toronto Regiment would shift out of its traditional home at Moss Park east of downtown and move into a new building constructed at the west end of Riverdale Park overlooking the lower Don River valley at the eastern end of the old city of Toronto near the border with old East York. It would retain all four batteries that had been mobilized with the regiment for "round two" of World War Two; atop the three batteries that were part of the regiment at the time of the Shift (9, 15 and 130 Batteries), the regiment would also form 216 Battery as the round-out element of the unit. Once demobilized, the regiment would base 15 Battery and 307 Headquarters and Services Battery at Riverdale Park, while 2/9 Battery would share the Eastdale Avenue Military Annex in Scarborough with elements of other Toronto-area units, 130 Battery would join the Horse Guards at the Denison Armoury in North York and 216 Battery would be based at Fort York Armoury alongside "C" Squadron of the Queen's York Rangers. The regiment would retain use of the Cougar C4 self-propelled guns until they would be replaced by the LAV IV Trebuchet C55s being built by Rheinmetall and Chrysler in Windsor. Two batteries of C131 self-propelled guns would be kept in storage at the RCEME School in Borden for the regiment's use on exercises and when called out for Active Reserve deployments when ordered by higher command.
55 Combat Engineer Regiment was formed from the pre-Shift 32 Combat Engineer Regiment to serve as the field sapper force for 21 Canadian Brigade Group (Light) as part of the Seventh Canadian Division. Post-war, the regiment would absorb those personnel of the wartime 12 Combat Engineer Regiment (which had been part of Fourth Canadian Division) to create a mixed armoured and light engineer force to support 55 CBG(A). The regiment would have as its active units two armoured squadrons (equipped with LAV IV Husky C32 armoured engineer cars), a squadron of combat divers and a squadron of explosive ordnance disposal experts available to it whenever required. The regiment would share Confederation Parkway Armoury with the 9th Mississauga Horse with dispatched squadrons elsewhere; one of the armoured squadrons would be based in Richmond Hill, the other armoured squadron at Cobourg and the combat divers would work out of Bobcaygeon to help keep the Trent-Servern Waterway secure alongside elements of the Naval Reserve based in the area.
755 Signal Squadron, 21 Field Ambulance, 55 Service Battalion and 55 Military Police Company served in "round two" of the Second World War as part of 21 CBG(L) or the like-numbered elements of Seventh Canadian Division; each of the units would also absorb those parts of 12 CABG's signal squadron, 12 Field Ambulance, 12 Service Battalion and 12 Military Police Platoon that wouldn't remain on active service with the post-war 12 Canadian Brigade Group (Light) in the Atlantic provinces. The signal, logistics/maintenance and provost forces would be based at a new armoury on Matheson Boulevard East just south of the massive interchange between King's Highways 401 and 427 near the border between Toronto and Mississauga close to the Lester B. Pearson International Airport; one of 55 CBG(A)'s post-war taskings was to prepare forces to augment the RCMP, CBSA and Ontario Provincial Police forces based at or near the airport in old Malton whenever necessary. 55 Service Battalion would also base a forward support company out of the Chemong Road Armoury in Peterborough to act as second-line logistics and maintenance support for the two units based there. As for the brigade group's affiliated health service force, they would reside at the Confederation Parkway Armoury, which put them close to both the Credit Valley Hospital and the Mississauga Hospital; both of these locations were teaching facilities affiliated with the University of Toronto, which would allow 21 Field Ambulance to serve as a training unit for new personnel of both the Royal Canadian Medical Service and the Royal Canadian Dental Corps in both the Regular Force and the Militia. As for tactical aviation, the brigade group became affiliated with 112 Squadron, which served as the wartime 12 CABG's tactical helicopter unit. Raised initially at the Downsview Airport in old North York from a detached flight of 400 Squadron, the new unit would be adopted by the city of Richmond Hill and would adopt the sharp-billed canastero from Chile and Argentina as its mascot. The squadron would join other local Air Reserve units at the Toronto/Markham Airport near the border of Markham and Whitechurch-Stouffville off old King's Highway 48; the base for these units would be designated as Grange Air Station in honour of F/L Edward Rochfort Grange of Lansing in Michigan and later Toronto in Ontario, who was born of British parents and flew with both the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Air Force in the Great War, obtaining five victories necessary to be declared an ace.
Next: The forces of the Niagara peninsula and the western suburbs of Toronto!
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pyeknu
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Post by pyeknu on Aug 8, 2019 13:46:11 GMT
And the map is done!  |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Aug 8, 2019 14:03:49 GMT
And the map is done! Another fine map pyeknu. |
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Aug 8, 2019 14:45:00 GMT
Another fascinating and very detailed Orbat. Surprising how many units are being formed with a concentration of languages who aren't either English or French speaking. Had always assumed that most immigrants had learnt to speak English or possibly French as in the US during most of its history. - That's changing in the US with so many Spanish speakers forming communities numerous enough and with a strong enough identity that their maintaining their language in many cases.
Two quick questions please? a) Are the 9th Mississauga Horse actually going to see service in China at any point? There seems to be a strong identity with China and its ongoing problems at this time - Japanese occupation and civil war - but I'm not sure what role they would play? Not sure that they would fit that well with either side in the civil war. Or noticing there are mentions of 'foreign legion brigades' which are separate from the 9thMH. - Just to say at one point you have a typo calling it the "9th Mississauga House".
b) I'm originally from near Peterborough, England and knew there was a town in Ontario but normally seen it named as Peterboro on maps, which I think is the US spelling. Notice you use the English version. Is that what's used in Canada itself and I've just seen atlases with a US origin possibly?
Thanks
Steve
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pyeknu
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Post by pyeknu on Aug 8, 2019 14:51:20 GMT
Another fascinating and very detailed Orbat. Surprising how many units are being formed with a concentration of languages who aren't either English or French speaking. Had always assumed that most immigrants had learnt to speak English or possibly French as in the US during most of its history. - That's changing in the US with so many Spanish speakers forming communities numerous enough and with a strong enough identity that their maintaining their language in many cases.
Two quick questions please? a) Are the 9th Mississauga Horse actually going to see service in China at any point? There seems to be a strong identity with China and its ongoing problems at this time - Japanese occupation and civil war - but I'm not sure what role they would play? Not sure that they would fit that well with either side in the civil war. Or noticing there are mentions of 'foreign legion brigades' which are separate from the 9thMH. - Just to say at one point you have a typo calling it the "9th Mississauga House".
b) I'm originally from near Peterborough, England and knew there was a town in Ontario but normally seen it named as Peterboro on maps, which I think is the US spelling. Notice you use the English version. Is that what's used in Canada itself and I've just seen atlases with a US origin possibly?
Thanks
Steve
Well, the main operational language would be English when the unit hails from any province outside recognized French-language zones (i.e. Québec, New Brunswick, eastern Ontario, the Winnipeg area of Manitoba). However, because so many expats were caught up in the Shift, it only seemed right that they would want to join the armed forces in units with fellow countrymen, hence we get the "foreign legion" brigades noted on so far. And while there would be some people who hadn't really mastered English or French (depending on where their unit hails from), they would be always tucked in with people who do speak one of the two official languages, so command and control issues would be smoothed over. The "foreign legion" concept is meant to make expats feel right at home in Canada since they're either not able to return to their down-time home countries or don't want to return to said home countries (especially those who don't exist in the 1940s). As for deploying in the SZ 3JL to China, that would be up to redrobin65 as this is his story. As to what will happen in the Far East, we'll have to see. Yes, "Peterborough" is the official spelling of the place, which is what I use here. |
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Aug 8, 2019 15:08:48 GMT
Another fascinating and very detailed Orbat. Surprising how many units are being formed with a concentration of languages who aren't either English or French speaking. Had always assumed that most immigrants had learnt to speak English or possibly French as in the US during most of its history. - That's changing in the US with so many Spanish speakers forming communities numerous enough and with a strong enough identity that their maintaining their language in many cases.
Two quick questions please? a) Are the 9th Mississauga Horse actually going to see service in China at any point? There seems to be a strong identity with China and its ongoing problems at this time - Japanese occupation and civil war - but I'm not sure what role they would play? Not sure that they would fit that well with either side in the civil war. Or noticing there are mentions of 'foreign legion brigades' which are separate from the 9thMH. - Just to say at one point you have a typo calling it the "9th Mississauga House".
b) I'm originally from near Peterborough, England and knew there was a town in Ontario but normally seen it named as Peterboro on maps, which I think is the US spelling. Notice you use the English version. Is that what's used in Canada itself and I've just seen atlases with a US origin possibly?
Thanks
Steve
Well, the main operational language would be English when the unit hails from any province outside recognized French-language zones (i.e. Québec, New Brunswick, eastern Ontario, the Winnipeg area of Manitoba). However, because so many expats were caught up in the Shift, it only seemed right that they would want to join the armed forces in units with fellow countrymen, hence we get the "foreign legion" brigades noted on so far. And while there would be some people who hadn't really mastered English or French (depending on where their unit hails from), they would be always tucked in with people who do speak one of the two official languages, so command and control issues would be smoothed over. The "foreign legion" concept is meant to make expats feel right at home in Canada since they're either not able to return to their down-time home countries or don't want to return to said home countries (especially those who don't exist in the 1940s). As for deploying in the SZ 3JL to China, that would be up to redrobin65 as this is his story. As to what will happen in the Far East, we'll have to see. Yes, "Peterborough" is the official spelling of the place, which is what I use here.
OK many thanks for the quick response.  |
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pyeknu
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Post by pyeknu on Aug 12, 2019 2:53:33 GMT
The first of Fourth Canadian Division's Militia infantry brigades...
56 CANADIAN BRIGADE GROUP
56 Canadian Brigade Group Headquarters (56 CBG HQ)
Brigade Group Headquarters - Butler's Barracks, NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ontario
2nd/10th Dragoons (2/10 D)/2e-10e Régiment de Dragons (2e-10e RD)/2-й і 10-й Полк Драгунів (2-j i 10-j Polk Drahúniv) (2i10 ПД [2i10 PD])
Regiment Headquarters/Quartier-Général du Régiment/Штаб Полку (Shtab Polkú) - Merrittville Armoury and Naval Arsenal/Manège Militaire et Arsenal Naval de Merrittville/Озброєння та Військово-Морський Арсенал у Мерріттвіллі (Ozbróennja ta Vijsʹkóvo-Morsʹkýj Arsenál u Mérrittvilli), WELLAND, Ontario
"A" Squadron/Escadron "A"/Ескадра "А" (Eskádra "A")
"B" Squadron/Escadron "B"/Ескадра "Б" (Eskádra "B")
Support Squadron/Escadron d'Appui/Ескадра Підтримки (Escádra Pidtrýmky)
"V" Squadron/Escadron "V"/Ескадра "В" (Eskádra "V") - Chippawa Armoury/Manège Militaire de Chippawa/Озброєння в Чіппаві (Ozbróennja v Chippávi), NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario
"H" Squadron/Escadron "H"/Ескадра "Г" (Eskádra "H") - Sgt William Merrifield VC Armoury/Manège Militaire du Sgt William Merrifield VC/Озброєння імені Сержанта Вільяма Мерріфілда ХВ (Ozbróennja ímeni Serzhánta Víl'jama Mérrifilda KhV), BRANTFORD, Ontario
29th Niagara Field Artillery Regiment, RCA (29 NIAG RCA)
Regiment Headquarters - Beaverdams Armoury, THOROLD, Ontario
33 (Thorold) Battery
329 Headquarters and Services Battery
2/10 (Saint Catharines) Battery - Lake Street Armoury, SAINT CATHARINES, Ontario
46 (Lincoln) Battery - Bartlet Road Military Annex, LINCOLN, Ontario
227 (Grimsby) Battery - Winona Rifle Range and Military Annex, GRIMSBY, Ontario
2nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Canada (Princess Irene's Own) (2 R REGT C)/2e Bataljon, Het Koninklijke Regiment van Canada (van Prinses Irene) (2e KRC)
Battalion Headquarters/Bataljon Hoofdkwartier - Dieppe Barracks/Dieppe Kazerne, TORONTO (NORTH YORK), Ontario
"F" Company/Geweercompagnie "F"
"G" Company/Geweercompagnie "G"
"J" Company (Weapons)/Wapencompagnie "J"
"K" Company (Support)/Ondersteunendcompagnie "K"
"H" Company/Geweercompagnie "H"- Fort York Armoury/Arsenaal in Fort York, TORONTO, Ontario
"I" Company/Geweercompagnie "I"- Weston Road Armoury/Arsenaal op Weston Road, VAUGHAN, Ontario
The Lincoln and Welland Regiment (L&WR)/Le Régiment de Lincoln et Welland (RL&W)/Полк Лінкольна та Велленда (Polk Línkol'na ta Véllenda) (ПЛВ [PLV])
Battalion Headquarters/Quartier-Général de Bataillon/Штаб Батальйону (Shtab Batal'jónu) - Butler's Barracks/Caserne Butler/Барак Батлер (Barák Bátler), NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ontario
"B" Company/Compagnie "B"/Стрілецька Рота "Б" (Striléts'ka Róta "B")
"G" Company (Weapons)/Compagnie "G" (Armes)/Збройна Рота "Ґ" (Zbrójna Róta "G")
"D" Company (Support)/Compagnie "D" (Appui)/Рота Підтримки Бойової Служби "Д" (Róta Pídtrymky Bojovojí Slúzhby "D")
"A" Company/Compagnie "A"/Стрілецька Рота "А" (Striléts'ka Róta "A") - Lake Street Armoury/Manège Militaire de la Rue Lake/Озброєння на Озері Вулиці (Ozbróennja na Ózeri Vúlytsi), SAINT CATHARINES, Ontario
"V" Company/Compagnie "V"/Стрілецька Рота "В" (Striléts'ka Róta "V") - Merrittville Armoury and Naval Arsenal/Manège Militaire et Arsenal Naval de Merrittville/Озброєння та Військово-Морський Арсенал у Мерріттвіллі (Ozbróennja ta Vijsʹkóvo-Morsʹkýj Arsenál u Mérrittvilli), WELLAND, Ontario
"H" Company/Compagnie "H"/Стрілецька Рота "Г" (Striléts'ka Róta "H") - Chippawa Armoury/Manège Militaire de Chippawa/Озброєння в Чіппаві (Ozbróennja v Chippávi), NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario
The Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment) (Grand Duchess Charlotte's Own) (LORNE SCOTS)/De Schotten van Lorne (Regiment van Peel, Dufferin en Halton) (van Groothertogin Charlotte) (SCHOT LORNE)
Battalion Headquarters/Bataljon Hoofdkwartier - Chapel Street Armoury/Arsenaal op Chapel Street, BRAMPTON, Ontario
"B" Company/Geweercompagnie "B"
"F" Company (Support)/Ondersteunendcompagnie "F"
"A" Company/Geweercompagnie "A" - Thomas Street Armoury/Arsenaal op Thomas Street, OAKVILLE, Ontario
"C" Company/Geweercompagnie "C" - Col John Roaf Barber Armoury/Arsenaal Kol John Roaf Barber, HALTON HILLS (GEORGETOWN), Ontario
"D" Company/Geweercompagnie "D" - First Street Military Annex/Militaire Bijlage op First Street, ORANGEVILLE, Ontario
"E" Company (Weapons)/Wapencompagnie "E"- Main Street West Military Annex/Militaire Bijlage op Main Street (Westen), SHELBURNE, Ontario
The Toronto Scottish Regiment (Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's Own) (TOR SCOTS)/Шотландский Полк Торонто (Королевы Елизаветы Королевы-Матери) (Shotlándskij Polk Torónto [Korolévy Elizabéty Korolévy-Máteri]) (ШПТ [КЕКМ] [ShPT {KEKM}])
Battalion Headquarters/Штаб Батальона (Shtab Batal'óna) - Capt Bellenden Seymour Hutcheson VC Armoury/Оружейная Палата имени Капитана Беллендена Сеймура Хатчесона КВ (Oruzhéjnaja Paláta ímeni Kapitána Belléndena Séjmura Khátchesona KV), TORONTO (ETOBICOKE), Ontario
"A" Company/Стрелковая Рота "А" (Strelkóvaja Róta "A")
"B" Company/Стрелковая Рота "Б" (Strelkóvaja Róta "B")
"D" Company (Weapons)/Oружейная Рота "Д" (Oruzhéjnaja Róta "D")
"E" Company (Support)/Поддержка Боевой Службы Рота "Е" (Poddérzhka Boevój Slúzhby Róta "E")
"V" Company/Стрелковая Рота "В" (Strelkóvaja Róta "V") - Garry W. Morden Training Centre/Учебный Центр имени Гарри В. Мордена (Uchébnyj Tsentr imeni Gárri V. Mordéna), MISSISSAUGA, Ontario
"G" Company/Стрелковая Рота "Г" (Strelkóvaja Róta "G") - Fort York Armoury/Арсенал в Форте Йорк (Arsenál v Fórte Jork), TORONTO, Ontario
56 Combat Engineer Regiment (56 CER)
Regiment Headquarters - Col John Roaf Barber Armoury, HALTON HILLS (GEORGETOWN), Ontario
2 Field Squadron
27 Support Squadron
140 Administration Squadron
35 Bridge Squadron - Chippawa Armoury, NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario
47 Field Squadron - Chapel Street Armoury, BRAMPTON, Ontario
139 Alpine Squadron - Beaverdams Armoury, THOROLD, Ontario
756 Signal Squadron (756 SIG SQN)
Squadron Headquarters - Butler's Barracks, NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ontario
56 Service Battalion (56 SVC BN)
Battalion Headquarters - Butler's Barracks, NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ontario
Logistics Company
Maintenance Company
Administration Company
561 Forward Services Company - Dieppe Barracks, TORONTO (NORTH YORK), Ontario
564 Forward Services Company - Capt Bellenden Seymour Hutcheson VC Armoury, TORONTO (ETOBICOKE), Ontario
565 General Services Company - Col John Roaf Barber Armoury, HALTON HILLS (GEORGETOWN), Ontario
Attached to the formation from other elements of the Canadian Forces:
222 "Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake" (Brock) Tactical Helicopter Squadron (222 THS) (detached from 42 Canadian Air Group, Royal Canadian Air Force)
Squadron Headquarters - Manley Air Station, Saint Catharines/Niagara District Airport, NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ontario
32 Field Ambulance (32 FD AMB) (detached from 2 Canadian Forces Health Services Group, Military Personnel Command)
Battalion Headquarters - Dieppe Barracks, TORONTO (NORTH YORK), Ontario
Ambulance Company
Surgical Company
Medical Support Company
Administration Company
321 Forward Medical Company - Merrittville Armoury and Naval Arsenal, WELLAND, Ontario
56 Military Police Company (56 MP COY) (detached from 2 Military Police Regiment, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff Group)
Company Headquarters - Lake Street Armoury, SAINT CATHARINES, Ontario
The first of Fourth Canadian Division's two standard Militia brigades, 56 Canadian Brigade Group has two separated recruiting catchment areas: The Regional Municipality of Niagara to the south of Lake Ontario, plus the Regional Municipalities of Halton and Peel, the county of Dufferin and the parts of the Regional Municipality of York and the city of Toronto west of Yonge Street north of Lake Ontario. This reflected the status of the pre-Shift 32 Canadian Brigade Group, which had absorbed both the Lincoln and Welland Regiment and the 56th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA into its ranks sometime after the turn of the Third Millennium to give the brigade group an effective "land" border with the United States; this would allow elements of 32 CBG to exercise with elements of the Empire State's national guard formations whenever possible. Of course, with the Shift bringing Canada back to a more conservative age ruling its southern neighbour, the need to secure the Niagara frontier would see Regular Force personnel take up quarters at a re-opened Camp Niagara in Niagara-on-the-Lake (across the river from Fort Niagara near Youngstown, which now contained the 28th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army, which was reactivated in the fall of 1940 in advanced preparation for American involvement in World War Two, both in "round one" and "round two"). And while the need to keep the frontier secure would concern the men of the Black Lions (as the 28th Infantry was nicknamed thanks to its official crest) as much as it would the 3e Bataillon of le Royal 22e Régiment and 8 Combat Engineer Regiment (both of whom were based at Butler's Barracks), peaceful and cooperative relations between the United States and Canadian Armies would see the Black Lions and the Vandoos forge a bond of friendship...which would prompt several National Guard regiments from the Empire State like the 71st Infantry Regiment from Batavia, the 108th Infantry Regiment from Rochester and the 174th Infantry Regiment from Buffalo to also reach across the border to bond with Militia units that would eventually form the peacetime 56 CBG.
The senior regiment of the post-war brigade was the second battalion of the Royal Regiment of Canada. Chosen to have an "ennobled" battalion assigned to serve as part of 10 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group while based out of the reclaimed lands at CFB Toronto's Dieppe Barracks, the Royal Regiment would also shift its Militia wing up from the Fort York Armoury near downtown Toronto as a way of dispersing the several combat units based in the Queen City to maximize the recruitment area for those units as well as grant easier accessibility for both serving and new members of the various regiments and battalions. While the Regular Force wing of the regiment would also forge a bond of friendship with the 28th Infantry across the lake (which would be enhanced with the opening of new cross-lake ferries connecting Toronto with Saint Catharines and Queenston in Niagara-on-the-Lake), the reserve battalion would forge a bond of friendship with the 108th Infantry; this would also be solidified by a new ferry service connecting the Queen City in Ontario with the Flower City of New York state that would help in cross-border commerce. Along the way, the Royal Regiment as a whole would be effectively adopted by the royal family of the Netherlands thanks to the many up-time Dutch expats who flocked to the Canadian Army to see their homeland freed after the Shift. Given the Dutch name "Het Koninklijke Regiment van Canada", the second battalion would be directly "adopted" by the royal House of Orange-Nassau; young Princess Irene of the Netherlands was unanimously chosen by the Dutch members of the active unit as the regiment's new colonel-in-chief...though, given that said princess was only born in 1939, her mother Queen Juliana would stand in her place until the younger royal reached maturity!
Basing itself at Dieppe Barracks alongside its active battalion once the wartime unit had finished service with 22 Canadian Brigade Group (Light) in Seventh Canadian Division, the Militia wing of the Royal Regiment would quarter a rifle company at the Fort York Armoury downtown (to maintain ties with old Toronto) and have a rifle company in Vaughan north of Toronto on Weston Road west of the Vaughan Mills Shopping Centre. The battalion would be the senior infantry unit of the Ontario wing of the Dutch-Canadian "foreign legion", the Orange-Nassau Gratis Nederlands-Canadese Brigade ("Free Dutch-Canadian Brigade of Orange-Nassau"); Queen Juliana would be permitted by King George VI to be brigadier-in-chief of the ONGNCB. The battalion would have a mobilized reserve company of soldiers deployed to the Netherlands post-war to help with security as the kingdom recovered from nearly being overrun by the Nazis; of course, the restored Royal Netherlands Army would take every chance available to upgrade training with the assistance of their up-time countrymen wearing the Maple Leaf flag. With the performance of the Canadian Army in "round two" of the Second World War - along with interviews down-time Dutch government officials would hold with those who served through "round one" of that conflict - the Royal Regiment would be granted the Freedom of the City privilege in several municipalities of the Netherlands, including the Hague and Amsterdam.
To make the Dutch members of the Royal Regiment feel more welcome serving with their unit, the hat badge was altered to have the lower scroll reading THE ROYAL REGIMENT OF CANADA changed to read KONINKLIJKE REGIMENT VAN CANADA. Also, the English motto READY AYE READY on the lower side of the crest was altered to the Latin translation PARATI VERO PARATI; such a change was eventually adopted for all members of the regiment, Regular Force and Militia alike. Shoulder titles in cloth were switched from R REGT C to a simpler RRC (in English) or KRC (in Dutch). Metal titles were also altered from THE ROYAL REGIMENT in two-line vertical stack to KONINKLIJKE REGIMENT (also in two-line vertical stack). Finally, to mark the official adoption of the Royal Regiment by the House of Orange-Nassau, the collar badges were changed to have a scroll placed under the number 3 on the grenade, reading PRINCESS IRENE'S OWN in English or VAN PRINSES IRENE in Dutch. Along the way, the Royal Regiment would form a bond of friendship with the recently-formed Garderegiment Fuseliers Prinses Irene ("Princess Irene's Guard Fusilier Regiment"), formed from survivors of the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands in early 1940 who worked hard to protect the royal family as they retreated to England while the Royal Netherlands Army reorganized into II Corps and III Corps to take back their homeland; up-time veterans of the Koninklijke Landmacht swept up by the Shift were more than happy to help train members of both the Royal Regiment and the Garderegiment Fuseliers before they went into action.
Another element to join the Orange-Nassau Brigade would be the regiment based in Peel and Halton Regions (as well as being traditionally based in Dufferin County): The Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment). Given the chance to serve with the Tea Party Division as part of 21 Canadian Brigade Group (Light), the Lorne Scots would come out of the war with more battle honours acquired in quite a short time in comparison with their performance in "round one" of World War Two; in that conflict, the regiment created headquarters defence companies for the various higher formation command units such as First Canadian Army, both I and II Canadian Corps and all five field divisions on the Continent. Performing quite well, the Lorne Scots would meld both Scottish and Dutch traditions into a unique blend that had everyone staring at them as they wondered what was going on with that unit. Granted the Dutch title "De Schotten van Lorne (Regiment van Peel, Dufferin en Halton)", personnel of the regiment wanted to adopt Princess Irene's yet-to-be-born sister Princess Margriet as their colonel-in-chief...which caused some consternation at Paleis Huis ten Bosch...!
"Juliana, dear, when exactly will you make me a grandmother again? We must keep the Canadians happy, you know."
- Reported comment by Queen Wilhelmina to her daughter Princess Juliana, made in early 1942 after the majority of the Netherlands was liberated by the Allies at the Paleis Huis ten Bosch in the Hague.
To ensure up-time Dutch from Canada didn't have to chose potential Nazi sympathizers as potential colonels-in-chief of the units in the Orange-Nassau Brigade via close relatives to the royal family of the Netherlands, Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg - whose country had been liberated by the Canadians and the French in "round two" of the Second World War - agreed to be the Lorne Scots' new colonel-in-chief even if the regiment was part of a Dutch "foreign legion" brigade; the grand duchess was a sixth-generation descendant of the Prince of Orange who became the first hereditary ruler of what would become the modern-day Netherlands, Stadtholder William IV.
Once the Lorne Scots were demobilized from wartime service, the regiment would return to its home armouries in Brampton, Oakville and the Georgetown section of Halton Hills. Expanded to have six full companies of mixed primary/active/ready reserve troops, it was decided to split the battalion into three wings covering the three traditional counties/regions from where the regiment recruited. "B" and "F" Companies would occupy the Chapel Street Armoury in Brampton, "A" Company would remain at the Thomas Street Armoury in Oakville, "C" Company would reside at the armoury in Georgetown (named after Col John Roaf Barber, a local businessman who served in the 20th Halton Battalion [the Lorne Rifles] which would later form part of the modern Lorne Scots and was a veteran of the Fenian raids in the mid-1860s), "D" Company would move into new quarters in Orangeville while "E" Company would share the military annex in Shelburne with "C" Company of the Wellington Regiment's first battalion.
Changes to regimental accoutrements were minor for the Lorne Scots. The scroll at the bottom of the hat badge - which read THE LORNE SCOTS over (PEEL, DUFFERIN AND HALTON REGT.) - were altered to read in Dutch DE SCHOTTEN v. LORNE over (REGT. v. PEEL, DUFFERIN en HALTON). The boar's head collar badges were modified to have scrolls slung underneath them, reading CHARLOTTE'S OWN in English or VAN CHARLOTTE in Dutch. Shoulder titles in metal reading LORNE SCOTS in two-level vertical stack were changed to SCHOTTEN van LORNE (also in two-level stack). Cloth titles were changed from the English LORNE SCOTS to read either LS(PD&HR) (in English) or SL (RPDenH) (in Dutch). And the Galley of Lorne that was worn on the sporran purse with dress uniforms was allowed to be worn atop the blazon shield of the House of Nassau-Weilbourg symbolizing the rulers of Luxembourg; the-then tenth Duke of Argyll, the very eccentric Niall Campbell, was more than happy to allow such a change to the unit's dress uniform, which resulted in the regiment claiming TWO royal patrons in the long term!
Up-time Russians caught in Canada thanks to the Shift felt themselves as much orphaned from their beloved motherland as their fellow up-timers from China did. While the chance was there that China could evolve into a modern democracy - especially if the Marxists under Máo Zédōng were smartly dealt with - the issues with down-time Russia were very dark given that the Ródina was part of the Soviet Union under the iron rule of Iósif Vissariónovich Stálin. And while there had been agents of the up-time SVR in Canada at the time of the Shift, none of them wanted to serve a murderous thug like Stálin; they were happy to join forces with CSIS to vet all up-time natives of the Federation in the Dominion before they were permitted to join the Canadian Forces and other civil security agencies like the RCMP and CBSA. Those who put on Army rifle green would form the "foreign legion" representing the world's largest country up-time in the Canadian Army, the Свободная Русско-Канадская Бригада имени Святого Апостола Андрея Первозванного (Svobódnaja Rússko-Kanádskaja Brigáda ímeni Svjatógo Apóstola Andréja Pervozvánnogo); in English, this translates to "Free Russian-Canadian Brigade of the Apostle Saint Andrew the First-Called".
And the first regiment to join the Saint Andrew Brigade was the Toronto Scottish Regiment (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's Own) from the Queen City itself.
With the regiment's name translated literally into Russian as Шотландский Полк Торонто (Королевы Елизаветы Королевы-Матери) (Shotlándskij Polk Torónto [Korolévy Elizabéty Korolévy-Máteri]) - short-formed as ШПТ (КЕКМ) in Cyrillic or ShPT (KEKM) in Latin script - the active unit would join the mobilized battalion of the Lorne Scots in 21 CBG(L) for the campaigns in the Netherlands, Denmark and northern Germany in the middle and latter phases of the war. Once peace had come, the regiment would maintain a mobilized reserve company for occupation duties in Germany - with many of its personnel detailed off to monitor the situation in the part of Poland which was liberated by the Allies west of the Molótov-Ribbentrop line that bisected the Second Republic in 1939. The remainder of the regiment would return to peacetime quarters at the Capt Bellenden Seymour Hutcheson VC Armoury in the southern part of old Etobicoke; the headquarters of the Toronto Scottish was named after a native of Illinois who served as a medical officer for the regiment's Great War incarnation, the 75th Battalion (Mississauga) of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, where he won the Victoria Cross helping wounded soldiers during the Battle of the Drocourt-Quéant Line in the late summer of 1918. There, two rifle companies, the weapons company and the support company were quartered. One rifle company returned to its pre-Shift home at the Garry W. Morden Training Centre in the western part of Mississauga; it is shared with the city's fire and rescue services as well as the Peel Regional Police Service. And the last rifle company would be based out of the Fort York Armoury near downtown Toronto; this was where the Toronto Scottish had been based until the move to old Etobicoke in 2009.
Changes to regimental badges were quite simple. The hat badge had the scrolls bearing the title TORONTO SCOTTISH changed to read ШОТЛАНДСКИЙ ТОРОНТО in Cyrillic; the motto CARRY ON on side scrolls was changed to a singular scroll wrapped under the unicorn's head, reading ПРОДОЛЖАТЬ (Prodolzhát'). This required the removal of the honour scroll reading BELGIUM - FRANCE 1916-1919; such was split and emblazoned on the side scrolls in Cyrillic, with БЕЛЬГИЯ (Bélʹgija) to the left and ФРАНЦИЯ (Frántsija) to the right, the year dates being dropped. However, the belt on the collar badges would retain said dates; in Cyrillic, it would read БЕЛЬГИЯ - ФРАНЦИЯ 1916-1919. Shoulder titles in metal would still have TORONTO SCOTTISH in two-stack vertical format in English; Russian-speakers would be allowed to wear ШОТЛАНДСКИЙ Р. ТОРОНТО in two-stack format. Cloth titles would still remain TOR SCOTS in English; Russian-speakers would get ШПТ (КЕКМ). Finally, to mark the regiment's adoption to the Saint Andrew's Brigade, the star of the up-time Орден Святого Апостола Андрея Первозванного (Órden Apóstola Andréja Pervozvánnogo; "Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle the First Called"), the highest order of chivalry of the old Russian Empire and the up-time Russian Federation, was allowed to be worn on the upper crest of the sporran purse of members of the Toronto Scottish wore when in dress uniforms.
One thing that the regiment had to change because of the massive influx of up-time Russians in its ranks was the way the individual companies were lettered. Instead of using the English order of letters, the Russian order was instituted, which sub-divided the unit into A, B, V and G Companies (the combat elements), D Company (the weapons element) and E Company (the combat service support element). Like with other "foreign legion" units, Russian became the second operational language of the Toronto Scottish. And while there was no real threat from the down-time Soviet government, the news of the Saint Andrew's Brigade made its way to Moscow, which would see the Communist propaganda machine as expressed in Právda and other such publications rail against the "decadent Canadians" who "enslaved" the displaced sons and daughters of the Ródina to put down the Fascists...yet NOT allowing said sons and daughters to return home to help make the Soviet Union a true world power!
Even those who had worked for the SVR found it difficult to NOT laugh at such verbal diarrhea while they helped CSIS keep the borders closed to down-time NKVD spies.
And if you think Moscow's reaction to the Saint Andrew's Brigade was bad...
...the people working for Stálin in Moscow really freaked out when they learned of the Вільна Українсько-Канадська Бригада імені Святого Володимира Святославича Великого (Víl'na Ukrajínsʹko-Kanádsʹka Bryháda ímeni Svjatóho Volodýmyra Svyatoslávycha Velýkoho), the "Free Ukrainian-Canadian Brigade of Saint Volodýmyr Svyatoslávych the Great", named in tribute to the man who helped Christianize old Kýjivs'ka Rus' in the late Ninth Century CE, Grand Prince Volodýmyr I.
"Impossible! The Soviet Union would NEVER break up! The Canadians are LYING!"
- Reported statement from Vjachesláv Mikhájlovich Molótov, Soviet minister of foreign affairs, when asked about the future of the USSR by CBS reporter Larry LeSueur in mid-1940 when up-time information was relayed to LeSueur from his boss Edward R. Murrow (then based in London).
Two regiments would join the Saint Volodýmyr Brigade from the future recruiting territory of 56 CBG. First was one of the spiritually oldest regiments in the Canadian Army, the Lincoln and Welland Regiment of the Niagara region. Descent from veterans of Butler's Rangers who fought on the Loyalist side in the Revolutionary War, the Links won battle honours from the War of 1812 as well as the Great War and "round one" of the Second World War, where the regiment's active element fought with the Fourth Canadian Division from Normandy to the Netherlands. In "round two", the Links would form an active air assault battalion that would join the active units of the Lorne Scots and the Toronto Scottish in 21 CBG(L), serving well in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany for the middle and last phases of the conflict. Performing well in that conflict, the regiment also won credits for helping provide Franco-Ontarian and displaced French and Belgian volunteers to the 3e Bataillon of le Royal 22e Régiment; this would see the Vandoos and the Links become affiliated units. As it was seen as part of the Ukrainian "foreign legion", the regiment received the Ukrainian title Полк Лінкольна та Велленда (Polk Línkol'na ta Véllenda) atop the French title le Régiment de Lincoln et Welland; this would make the unit one of several TRI-LINGUAL regiments in the Canadian Army! Because of this, the regiment adopted shoulder titles that would allow Ukrainian members of the unit to feel right at home. While the metal L&W shoulder flash worked well with both Anglophone and Francophone members of the regiment, Ukrainian members got the Cyrillic ПЛВ (PLV); cloth titles were changed from the English-only LINC WELD R to a more simple L&WR (in English), RL&W (French) or ПЛВ (Ukrainian). Naturally, the clam-shell cap badge descent from the coat-of-arms used by MGen Sir Isaac Brock (the saviour of Upper Canada in the early phases of the War of 1812) was also changed for Ukrainian-speaking members of the Links, with the LINCOLN & WELLAND on the annullus changed to read ЛІНКОЛЬНА ТА ВЕЛЛЕНДА; the motto scroll was changed from the Latin NON NOBIS SED PATRIAE ("Not For Self But For Country") to the Ukrainian translation ЦЕ НЕ ДЛЯ НАС, А Й ДЛЯ СВОЄЇ КРАЇНИ (Tse Ne Dlja Nas, a j Dlja Svojéji Krajíny).
Post-war, the regiment would relocate headquarters to the recommissioned Butler's Barracks near the urban part of Niagara-on-the-Lake, sharing the installation with the 3e Bataillon of le Royal 22e Régiment and a large element of 8 Combat Engineer Regiment. At that location would be based one rifle company plus the weapons and combat support companies of the unit. The first company of the battalion would remain at the Lake Street Armoury close to downtown Saint Catharines, with another company based at the Chippawa Armoury in the southern part of Niagara Falls and the last company moving into the combined armoury and naval arsenal constructed on the shores of the Welland By-Pass Channel of the like-named canal in the southeast part of Welland's urban zone. Again, as noted with the Toronto Scottish, the Lincoln and Welland would adopt the Ukrainian letter order to indicate their companies, with "A", "B", "V" and "H" companies being the combat elements, "G" company being the weapons element and "D" Company being the combat service support group of the battalion.
The other regiment of the Saint Volodýmyr Brigade in the post-war 56 CBG would be the reformed 2nd/10th Dragoons, which was the Niagara Region's resident cavalry regiment until its conversion to artillery in 1946 after "round one" of the Second World War. With a pedigree that dates back to 1872 and the old 2nd Regiment of Cavalry - and with ancestors who fought in the War of 1812 as part of the Niagara Light Dragoons formed to aid the British forces in Upper Canada against the Americans - the regiment served as artillery from 1946 in the light air defence and field rôles until reduction to nil strength in 1970. After the Shift, the regiment was mobilized as the 57th Light Artillery Regiment (2nd/10th Dragoons), RCA to serve in 21 CBG(L) alongside the Links, the Lorne Scots and the Toronto Scottish from the Netherlands to Denmark to Germany during the middle and latter phases of "round two" of the Second World War. At the same time, the need for armoured regiments to serve with the independent 40 Canadian Armoured Brigade Group - to serve as a special "SWAT team" of soldiers that could plug up the front lines at the direct control of the commander of First Canadian Army - saw the 2nd/10th reformed as a tank regiment, deploying to Europe to gain battle honours for the first time in the regiment's history; later, the Department of National Defence would award War of 1812 honours to the regiment once its guidon was created and issued. As the 2nd/10th hailed from a known French-speaking areas of Ontario, the regiment would become tri-lingual (English, French and Ukrainian) in operation languages.
Such forced some necessary changes to badges and the like. The regiment itself was given the Ukrainian title 2-й і 10-й Полк Драгунів (2-j i 10-j Polk Drahúniv) along with its French title 2e-10e Régiment de Dragons. A whole new hat badge was designed for the unit; the First Nation's warrior's head used by the regiment from 1936-46 was seen as too offensive. Falling back on the badge of the pre-1936 2nd Dragoons, the regiment would receive a crest bearing Brock's Monument in the centre on a wreath of maple leaves; such would be embossed by 2/10 in silver over the base of the monument. The wreath would bear an annullus topped by the Royal Crown framing the monument, emblazoned with REGIMENT OF DRAGOONS (in English) or RÉGIMENT DE DRAGONS (in French) or ПОЛК ДРАГУНІВ (in Ukrainian). A motto scroll would be wrapped around the base of the annullus, reviving the regiment's old motto of SAGITTARI (literally "Archers"); such being translated to Ukrainian as СТРІЛЬБА З ЛУКА (Stril'bá z Luká). Metal shoulder titles would be the language-neutral 2/10 over crossed Pattern 1796 light cavalry sabres. In cloth titles, members of the regiment wore either 2/10 D (in English), 2e-10e RD (in French) or 2і10 ПД (in Ukrainian). For collar badges on the dress uniform, the regiment was given the right to wear the badge of Saint Volodýmyr the Great on the centre of a maple leaf with the Royal Crown of Canada on the upper branch; a motto scroll with the regiment's mottoes as noted above.
The regiment would headquarter itself at the newly-constructed Merrittville Armoury and Naval Arsenal, located on the north side of Pier 10 of the Welland Ship Canal, which juts west from the By-Pass Channel constructed in the late 1960s to allow ships to sail directly to/from Thorold from/to Port Colborne without winding their way through the downtown core of the Rose City. This establishment would not only house two of the regiment's sabre squadrons and the support squadron, but also a battery of the regiment's sister artillery unit, a company of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment and a division of the Niagara Region's new Naval Reserve unit, HMCS Queenston. One sabre squadron would be based at the Chippawa Armoury in Niagara Falls (where the 57th Air Defence Artillery Regiment, RCA had its headquarters) and the other sabre squadron would be based in Brantford at the Sgt William Merrifield VC Armoury alongside the headquarters of the 56th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA. As with the Links, the 2nd/10th would adopt Ukrainian letter order for its squadrons: "A", "B", "V" and "H" are the sabre squadrons while "G" would be the service support squadron.
As an aside, the Canadian Heraldic Authority would permit post-nominal letters for various awards of valour to be translated into the native tongues of units adopted into the various "foreign legions". Thus, the Victoria Cross (post-nominals VC) would be translated as Крест Виктории (Krest Viktórii) in Russian (post-nominals КВ [KV]) and Хрест Вікторії (Khrest Viktóriji) in Ukrainian (post-nominals ХВ [KhV]).
The brigade group's artillery element is a brand-new element of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, the 29th Niagara Field Artillery Regiment, RCA. However, this unit takes up an old number that had served in "round one" of the Second World War. The original 29th Regiment saw service on the Pacific coast as air defence artillery, then was reformed as a self-propelled field regiment in Toronto, serving as such until 1965...when it was renamed as the 7th Toronto Field Regiment, RCA! The new regiment would be formed after the Shift to serve as part of 33 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group as a fighting element of the Eleventh Canadian Division. Three of the batteries contained within have storied histories. 10 Battery was first authorized all the way back in 1861, serving through many regiments until it ended up as part of the 56th Regiment in 1970. Both 33 and 46 Batteries was formed in 1936 as part of the 25th Regiment based in Norfolk County until they were shifted to Saint Catharines after "round one" of World War Two, serving with the 8th and 44th Regiments until reduction to nil strength in 1965. 227 Battery is a brand-new post-Shift battery. When the regiment was mobilized, it was intended to be designated the 44th Regiment until the designation was switched to a new light artillery unit based in Brockville. The Niagara-based regiment acquired the "29th Regiment" designation instead, making it an effective sister regiment to the 7th Toronto Field Regiment; the 29th Regiment would adopt "Niagara" as part of its official title. After hostilities, the regiment would become the local artillery unit for the northern part of Niagara Region to compliment the 57th Regiment based in old Welland County. Headquarters were made in the urban part of Thorold (where the headquarters complex of Niagara Region is located close to Brock University), with detached batteries in Grimsby, Lincoln (in the old town of Beamsville) and at the Lake Street Armoury in Saint Catharines. All batteries in the unit were given the right to have location titles to match what 10 Battery traditionally possessed. Naturally, the 29th Regiment is affiliated with both the 2nd/10th Dragoons and the Lincoln and Welland Regiment. Due to it being effectively descent from the 25th and 56th Regiments, the 29th Regiment is ceremonially seen as a rifles unit, wearing the dark blue garrison cap with red trim, marching at a quite faster pace as well as having a mounted ceremonial troop of horses for parades.
The formation's field engineers were established before the Shift as 32 Combat Engineer Regiment. After the transition back to the dark days of World War Two, the regiment would be tasked to train whole new units to serve in the Fourth and Seventh Canadian Divisions before itself was properly mobilized to serve as part of the overseas 32 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group to fight as part of Tenth Canadian Division. The regiment would fortunately not have to go overseas, thus was stood down and renumbered to fit as part of 56 CBG. Within its ranks, the regiment counts in four pre-Shift squadrons of the Royal Canadian Engineers, including the two active squadrons of the pre-Shift 32 CER, 2 and 47 Squadrons. Both of those squadrons would mobilize as field squadrons of the active 32 CER and remain as field engineers once stood-down and made part of 56 CER. Reformed to serve with the regiment were 27 Support Squadron and 35 Bridge Squadron; both of them were initially formed after "round one" of World War Two and were reduced to nil strength in 1954 when they were part of the old 2nd Field Engineer Regiment. Formed after the Shift were 139 and 140 Squadrons, the former becoming a unit of mountain engineers while the latter served as the regiment's combat service support element. Once demobilized, the post-war 56 CER would move into the Col John Roaf Barber Armoury in Georgetown alongside "C" Company of the Lorne Scots; based there would be 2, 27 and 140 Squadrons. 35 Squadron would base themselves at Niagara Falls alongside the 2nd/10th's "V" Squadron and the Links' "H" Company. 47 Squadron would take up quarters alongside the base units of the Lorne Scots in Brampton. And 139 Squadron would share the Beaverdams Armoury with the headquarters elements of the 29th Regiment.
The brigade group's communications unit, 756 Signal Squadron, was formed from the pre-Shift 32 Signal Regiment and was allowed to perpetuate 1 Squadron of the 2nd Canadian Division Signal Regiment formed after "round one" of World War Two; said squadron would serve with 2nd Division Signals through its transformation into the Toronto Signal Regiment in 1965, 709 Communications Regiment after Unification and 32 Signal Regiment after the turn of the Millennium. It would be headquartered at Butler's Barracks after serving as the communications element of 12 Canadian Armoured Brigade Group; of course, it would share signallers with the communications element of 21 CBG(L) after the war ended. Joining the formation from the Royal Canadian Logistics Service and the Corps of Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers would be 56 Service Battalion, which draws its pedigree from the pre-Shift 32 Service Battalion and all units that merged into it and the post-Unification 25 (Toronto) Service Battalion from the Army Service Corps, the Ordnance Corps and the RCEME. Basing itself at Butler's Barracks, the battalion's staff in Niagara-on-the-Lake would be composed of a unified logistics company, a maintenance company and the administration company; two forward support companies and a general support company would be based in North York, Etobicoke and Georgetown to support the formation's units north of Lake Ontario. Joining from the Canadian Forces Health Services Group would be 32 Field Ambulance, which was the mobilized pre-Shift 25 Field Ambulance though it never went overseas; the battalion would be based at the Dieppe Barracks at CFB Toronto, with a detached forward medical company headquartered in Welland at the Merrittville Armoury and Naval Arsenal. Representing the Canadian Forces Military Police would be 56 Military Police Company, descent from the old 25 Military Police Platoon that served as part of the old Toronto Militia District before it was renumbered as 32 Platoon after the Cold War. Said company would move into the Lake Street Armoury in Saint Catharines. And finally, the brigade group would gain 222 Squadron as its tactical aviation asset; the unit was formed at Tillsonburg to serve as part of 24 Wing supporting the ill-fated 20 Canadian Brigade Group (Light) in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany under Seventh Canadian Division. Said squadron would be adopted by the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake; it would adopt for its crest the town's symbols of a gilt wood mace being held aloft by an eagle superimposed on Brock's Monument. The squadron would become known as "Sir Isaac Brock's Squadron" and even adopt the motto SURGITE ("Press On") that was said to be the general's last words when he fell at the Battle of Queenston Heights in 1812; the motto is also used by Brock University in Saint Catharines. The squadron would be based at the Saint Catharines/Niagara District Airport off old King's Highway 55 near the hamlet of Homer next to the Welland Canal; the air station there is named in honour of 2Lt Patrick Sarsfield Manley of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force, who hailed from Coteau-du-Lac in Québec and attended Niagara University in Lewiston across from Queenston before crossing into Canada to fight in the Great War.
Next: The Militia in eastern Toronto and points beyond!
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stevep
Fleet admiral
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Post by stevep on Aug 12, 2019 15:02:54 GMT
I love the Soviet reaction to the Russian and Ukrainian origin units.  Although given the nature of the regime I hope that Canada manages to keep secret the identities of the people involved as their ancestors could have problems as a result!
It definitely won't happen TTL given the impending collapse of Nazi Germany but I would expect the regime is also in denial about the OTL German attack and the huge successes it initially has against the Red Army. Again it could be unpleasant as a result for some groups that OTL were considered compliant in support of the invaders, so the Crimean Tartars could have a nasty time and possibly another round of brutality in the Baltic states as well.
Notice you mention round two of WWII so wondering if after Hitler there is going to be a 'dispute' with Stalin. Have to see.
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Although given the nature of the regime I hope that Canada manages to keep secret the identities of the people involved as their ancestors could have problems as a result!