During the First World War, The Royal Canadian Regiment entered France during November 1915 and fought throughout the War with the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade of the 3rd Canadian Division. The Regiment's conduct on the battlefield led to the selection and awarding of 16 Battle Honours for the First World War. Battle Honours were selected in accordance with the Conditions of Award of Battle Honours for the Great War 1914-1919, published in Canadian Army General Orders in 1928.
Published by General Order 110 of 1929, The RCR were authorized the following Battle Honours:
"Mount Sorrel, Somme, 1916, Flers-Courcelette, Ancre Heights, Arras, 1917, 18, Vimy, 1917, Hill 70, Ypres, 1917, Passchendaele, Amiens, Scarpe, 1918, Hindenburg Line, Canal du Nord, Pursuit to Mons, FRANCE AND FLANDERS, 1914-18"
First World War | ||
Local Operations, 1916. (Previous to the Allied Offensive) | Mount Sorrel | 2-13 June 1916 |
Operations on the Somme. (1 July - 18 November, 1916) | Somme, 1916 | 1 July - 18 November 1916 |
Flers-Courcelette | 15-22 September 1916 | |
Ancre Heights | 1 October - 11 November 1916 | |
The Arras Offensive (9 April - 15 May, 1917 | Arras, 1917 | 9 April - 4 May 1917 |
Vimy, 1917 | 9-14 April 1917 | |
Hill 70 | 15-25 August 1917 | |
The Flanders Offensive (7 June - 10 November, 1917) | Ypres, 1917 | 31 July - 10 Nov. 1917 |
Passchendaele | 12 October 1917 and/or 26 October - 10 November 1917 | |
The Advance in Picardy (8 August - 3 September, 1918) | Amiens | 8-11 August 1918 |
The Breaking of the Hindenburg Line (26 August - 12 October, 1918) | Arras, 1918 | 26 August - 3 September 1918 |
Scarpe, 1918 | 26-30 August 1918 | |
Hindenburg Line, Battles of | 12 September - 9 October 1918 | |
Canal du Nord | 27 September - 2 October 1918 | |
Picardy (17 October - 11 November). | Pursuit to Mons | 11 November 1918 |
FRANCE AND FLANDERS, 1915-18 | FRANCE AND FLANDERS, 1915-18 |
The RCR currently holds 25 battle honours for the First World War. The additional nine battle honours have come to the Regiment as a result of the amalgamation of the Canadian Fusiliers and the Oxford Rifles in 1954 when they became the London and Oxford Fusiliers (3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment). The battle honours of five infantry battalions and one machine gun battalion of the CEF were perpetuated by these Militia regiments and subsequently became battle honours to be carred by The RCR in honour of the memory and achievements of those units.
The units of the CEF perpetuated by The RCR today are the following:
More on the perpetuation of battle honours, and also the full current list of battle honours of The RCR.
The RCR in the Great War
War Diary
Battle Honours
Battle Bars and The RCR
The RCR Battle Bar Ledger (pdf)
Honours and Awards
Roll of Honour
Prisoners of War
Cemetery List
Cemetery Map
Courts Martial
Officers
RSMs of The RCR (1914-1919)
NCOs and Soldiers
An Officer's Diary (1914-1918)
Recollections of a Nonagenerian (R. England) (1916-1919)
On to Bermuda (1914-15)
England and France 1915-1916 (Hayes; 1931)
Overseas with The Royals (1915)
Regimental History Pamphlet (1917)
Amiens (1918)
Cambrai (1918)
Monchy-le-Preux (1918)
Under-aged Soldiers in The RCR
Not All Were Volunteers; The RCR and the Military Service Act
Sentenced to Death by Court Martial
The 7th Trench Mortar Battery
A Regimental Goat
Regiment and Family, Bermuda 1914-15
"March the Guilty Bastard In"
Surrendered as Stowaway
Re-Visiting the Great War Roll of Honour for The RCR
Canadian Corps Trench Standing Orders (1916)