Early years The 1st Volunteer Militia Rifle Company of Ottawa was formed on April 3, 1856. At that time, the bulk of Canada's militia existed as small, independent companies scattered throughout the provinces. In 1866, the
43rd Battalion of Infantry (otherwise known as the Carleton Blazers) was formed in
Bells Corners (now part of
Ottawa) with companies in many of the surrounding communities and absorbed Ottawa's volunteer rifle company. This company is perpetuated to this day as "A" Company of The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa.
Defence of Canada The 43rd Battalion's first call to service came in 1870 when they were deployed to the
Prescott area to defend Canada against
Fenian raids. They saw no action there and quickly returned to Ottawa. Because they were so spread out, maintaining troop strength was difficult and in 1875, the regiment was disbanded. In 1881, the unit was stood up again but this time as the
43rd "Ottawa and Carleton" Battalion of Rifles with the Ottawa volunteer rifle company and a number of other companies in communities on the Ontario and Quebec sides of the
Ottawa River. No 2 Company, 43rd "Ottawa and Carleton" Battalion of Rifles, which was garrisoned in Hull is currently perpetuated by
Le Régiment de Hull.
Boer War Over the next 20 years, the 43rd's soldiers would see action in the
North-West (Riel) Rebellion and in the
Second Boer War. However, the battalion sent only volunteers to participate in these conflicts and never deployed formed units. They deployed against civil disturbances as well, such as the
Low Rebellion. During the Boer War, Private Richard Rowland Thompson, from Ottawa, was awarded the
Queen's Scarf, a scarf crocheted by
Queen Victoria, for bravery and his actions saving wounded soldiers. In 1902, the regiment so impressed the Duke of Cornwall (later King
George V) that he became the Camerons' first honorary colonel and allowed the regiment to bear his name. The regiment was then known ''43rd Regiment, Duke of Cornwall's Own Rifles''.
World War I 1914, when the
First World War began, the unit was mobilized for action. However, once again, the unit did not go overseas as a formed unit. Instead, the unit was used to recruit and train soldiers mostly for the
2nd,
38th, and
207th battalions of the
Canadian Expeditionary Force. The Camerons perpetuate the 38th and 207th battalions. The 38th saw action in France from 1916 to 1918 and received many battle honours. The members who served were also well decorated. The 207th left in June 1917 for France and were used as a reserve force for many units. File:38 Bn CEF.jpg|Battle patch of the 38th Battalion, CEF
Interwar During the interwar years, the 43rd Regiment was reorganized and renamed on several occasions. In March 1920, it was converted from line infantry to a highland regiment and renamed ''The Ottawa Regiment (The Duke of Cornwall's Own)
. The regiment was allocated two battalions, the 1st Battalion (38th Battalion, CEF) and the 2nd Battalion (207th Battalion, CEF) (the 2nd Battalion existed only on paper), as a means of retaining the history and honours of the wartime Canadian Expeditionary Force battalions. In 1922, the 43rd Regiment was renamed The Ottawa Highlanders
and, in 1933, it was renamed The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa''. "(M.G.)" (for machine gun) was added to the regimental title in 1936. Since 1881, the unit has shared the City of Ottawa's motto,
Advance. The Cameron Highlanders supported its then-colonel-in-chief and the
king of Canada,
George VI, and his wife,
Queen Elizabeth, during their
royal tour of the country in 1939, including during the unveiling of the
National War Memorial, and received, in recognition, the King's and regimental colours on
Parliament Hill in October of that year.
World War II July 1940, the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa's active service battalion left for garrison duty in
Iceland, which ended in April 1941 when they sailed to England. On 6 June 1944, the Camerons were the only Ottawa unit to land on
D-Day at
Juno Beach. The 1st Battalion consisted of three machine gun companies and one mortar company. Following the landing on D-Day, the battalion fought in almost every battle in the northwestern Europe campaign. However, the battalion's soldiers were often attached as platoons and companies in support of other units, so the battalion never fought as an entire entity. During this time, the 2nd Battalion recruited and trained soldiers in Canada for overseas duty. The 3rd Battalion was formed in July 1945 as a part of the Canadian Army Occupation Force in Germany.
Modern conflicts (NATO and United Nations missions) Since the Second World War, the regiment has remained in Ottawa. It is now a
light infantry regiment. Since 1985, the regiment's soldiers have served as deployed members on
NATO and
United Nations missions across the world and as members of Canadian Forces peacekeeping operations in
Bosnia,
Kosovo,
The Congo,
Cyprus,
Israel,
Somalia, and
Syria, among other deployments. During the deployment of a Canadian troops to
Afghanistan, a number of Camerons served as reserve augmentees to the regular force as part of the NATO
ISAF force. Camerons served in nearly every element of the task force with an infantry presence. They were involved in a full spectrum of operations, from the intense close combat of
Operation Medusa in September 2006 and mentoring and training the
Afghan National Army, to less conventional infantry tasks including civil-military cooperation, psychological operations, escort of logistical convoys, and force-protection duties at ISAF installations. The regiment continues to actively encourage members to volunteer for operational deployments, resulting in more Camerons serving overseas in recent years than in any period since the Second World War. In August 2013, the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa were granted the secondary title of ''Duke of Edinburgh's Own'' after its colonel-in-chief.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was colonel-in-chief from 1967 until his death in 2021. File:Tora-Bora-Full.jpg|The regimental flag of the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa flies above a
NATO installation near
Tora Bora in
Afghanistan ==Regimental identity==