Royal Canadian Dragoons

The Royal Canadian Dragoons • Originated 21 December 1883 in Quebec City, Quebec as the Cavalry School Corps • Redesignated 14 May 1892 as the Canadian Dragoons • Amalgamated 27 June 1892 with the Canadian Mounted Rifle Corps in Winnipeg, Manitoba (lineage below): retaining its designation • Redesignated 24 May 1893 as The Royal Canadian Dragoons • Redesignated 16 October 1946 as the 1st Armoured Regiment (Royal Canadian Dragoons), RCAC • Redesignated 2 March 1949 as the Royal Canadian Dragoons (1st Armoured Regiment) • Redesignated 19 May 1958 as Royal Canadian Dragoons • Redesignated 12 January 1959 as The Royal Canadian Dragoons The Canadian Mounted Rifle Corps • Originated 20 July 1885 in Winnipeg, Manitoba as the School of Mounted Infantry • Redesignated 7 August 1891 as the Canadian Mounted Rifle Corps • Amalgamated 27 June 1892 with the Canadian Dragoons ==History==

Formation Formed on December 21, 1883 as the Cavalry School Corps, The Royal Canadian Dragoons is the senior cavalry regiment in the Canadian Army and was Canada's first professional, full-time cavalry unit. It was originally organized as a troop (the then-company-sized British Army cavalry maneuver sub-unit, today regarded as a squadron) and was commanded by Captain (Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel) J.F. Turnbull of Quebec City's Queen's Own Canadian Hussars. The first Regimental Sergeant-Major was Sergeant-Major George Baxter, recruited by Lt.-Col. Turnbull from the British Army's 4th Dragoon Guards at Aldershot along with two other British Army Sergeant-Instructors from the 7th Dragoon Guards and the 15th The King's Hussars. North-West Rebellion The Cavalry School Corps mobilized A Troop on 10 April 1885 for active service during the North-West Rebellion. It served with the Alberta Column of the North-West Field Force until it was removed from active service on 18 September 1885. A Troop patrolled the Touchwood Hills in Saskatchewan to secure lines of communication and saw no active combat. South African War (1903), Halifax Public Gardens, Nova Scotia The regiment was mobilized for service in South Africa during the Second Boer War as the 1st Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles, and composed of 19 officers and 371 men and their horses, organized into two squadrons. The battalion embarked for South Africa on 21 February 1900, where it fought as part of the 1st Brigade, 1st Mounted Infantry Corps and as part of Major-General Horace Smith-Dorrien's column until its departure from the theatre of operations on 13 December 1900. The nucleus of each squadron was provided by the experienced regular officers, non-commissioned officers and men from The Royal Canadian Dragoons. For this reason on 1 August 1900, at the unit's own request, the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles were renamed the Royal Canadian Dragoons. By 12 November 1900 the regiment's strength was down to three officers and 83 other ranks. Two famous Dragoon casualties of South Africa were Lieutenant Harold Lothrop Borden, son of the then-Minister for Militia and Defence Frederick William Borden and Major A.L. "Gat" Howard, formerly the regiment's Machine Gun Officer, who remained behind in South Africa to command "Howard's Canadian Scouts." Gat Howard was captured and murdered while a prisoner. During the regiment's service in South Africa every junior officer, except for one, was killed in action, died of disease or was wounded, the regiment marched more than 2700 kilometers (1700 miles) and had been in action on 41 separate days. Due to the mountainous terrain of Italy, the regiment fought much of its time there in a dismounted role as infantry. In March 1945 the regiment moved with the I Canadian Corps to North-West Europe as part of Operation Goldflake, and the regiment resumed its role as the I Canadian Corps's armoured car regiment. The regiment was heavily engaged in operations in the Netherlands and Germany until the end of the war. The RCD was the first Allied unit to advance through Holland to the North Sea, famously liberated the city of Leeuwarden and fought off an attempted German amphibious assault. The fighting was so intense and chaotic that two of the squadron sergeants-major, WOII Deeming and WOII Forgrave, were separately awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (second in precedence to the Victoria Cross) for dismounting the members of their supply convoys and fighting through enemy infantry positions to get fuel, ammunition, water and rations forward to their squadrons. On 1 September 1945 a second Active Force component of the regiment mobilized for service in the Pacific theatre of operations designated as the 2nd-1st Armoured Car Regiment (The Royal Canadian Dragoons), RCAC, CASF. It was redesignated as the 2nd-1st Armoured Regiment (The Royal Canadian Dragoons), RCAC, CASF, on 15 November 1945; and as the 1st Armoured Regiment (The Royal Canadian Dragoons), RCAC, CASF, on 1 March 1946. On 27 June 1946 the regiment was embodied in the Permanent Force. UN and NATO The Royal Canadian Dragoons, along with Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians), contributed troops to 56 Reconnaissance Squadron for duty with the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) from March 1957 to January 1959, equipped with Ferret scout cars. The Officer Commanding, Major R. Barry Tackaberry, the Second-in-Command, Capt. J.A. Beament, the 2nd Troop Leader, Lt J.G.H. Ferguson, and the 4th Troop Leader, Lt J.B. Long, as well as half of the NCOs and soldiers, were Dragoons. Other squadrons of the regiment served there and in Cyprus. Two members of 56 Recce Squadron died: Lt Charles C. Van Straubenzee on 10 May 1957 and Trooper George E. McDavid on 29 November 1957. The regiment contributed several other recce squadrons to UNEF until its demise in 1967. Trooper Ronald H. Allan was killed by Egyptian machine gun fire on 28 November 1959. Afghanistan The Royal Canadian Dragoons contributed both reconnaissance and tank crews to the Canadian task forces that served in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014. The following Dragoons died in Afghanistan: • Sergeant Craig Paul Gillam, 3 October 2006 • Corporal Robert Thomas Mitchell, 3 October 2006 • Trooper Mark Andrew Wilson, 7 October 2006 • Master Corporal Allan Stewart, 11 April 2007 • Trooper Patrick James Pentland, 11 April 2007 • Trooper Darryl Caswell, 11 June 2007 • Major Raymond Ruckpaul, 22 August 2007 • Trooper Brian Richard Good, 7 January 2009 • Trooper Marc Diab, 8 March 2009 • Trooper Jack Bouthillier, 20 March 2009 • Trooper Corey Joseph Hayes, 20 March 2009 • Trooper Larry John Zuidema Rudd, 24 May 2010 Ukraine Operation Unifier, also known as Canadian Armed Forces Joint Task Force-Ukraine, is Canada's military mission to provide assistance to the training and professionalization of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Royal Canadian Dragoons contributed officers and soldiers to various rotations pre-Russia's February 2022 large-scale illegal invasion, including mounting and leading Rotation 5, and continue today to contribute to various ongoing missions to train the Security Forces of Ukraine to defend their homeland. Lineage chart ==Recognition==

depicting members of the Royal Canadian Dragoons Band with fanfare trumpets. On 10 November 1983 Canada Post issued 'The Royal Winnipeg Rifles, The Royal Canadian Dragoons as part of the Canadian Forces, Regiments, 1883–1983 series. The stamps were designed by Ralph Tibbles, based on a painting by William Southern. The 32¢ stamps are perforated 13.5 x 13 and were printed by Canadian Bank Note Company, Limited. ==Springbok cap badge==

The cap badge of The Royal Canadian Dragoons since 1913 features a springbok in recognition of the regiment's service in South Africa. In the Second Boer War (1899–1902) during the advance to Pretoria, the RCD set up camp in a field. Regimental legend has it that one of the sentries noticed that some springbok were behaving erratically, and alerted the officers, who ordered a stand-to. This resulted in the defeat of Boer forces that had been trying to sneak up through the fields to attack the Canadian force. However, there is no documentary evidence of this incident. The Commanding Officer at that time, Lt.-Col. Louis Lessard, makes no mention of it in his personal papers or his official reports. The commander of the RCD then put a request to King Edward VII, the reigning monarch, to officially have their cap badge changed to the springbok, which was finally accepted in 1913. ==Battle honours==

In the list below, battle honours in capitals were awarded for participation in large operations and campaigns, while those in lowercase indicate honours granted for more specific battles. Those battle honours in bold type are emblazoned on the regimental guidon. On 9 December 2022, Governor General Mary Simon presented the regiment with a guidon that includes the battle honour . North-West Rebellion • South African War • Great War Second World War Southwest Asia • '''''' Guidon history The regiment has possessed five regimental guidons in its history. Some retired guidons are laid up at the church at CFB Petawawa or at Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa. ==Victoria Crosses==

During the Second Boer War on November 7, 1900, The Royal Canadian Dragoons were engaged in the Action at Leliefontein. The regiment, operating in concert with the two 12 Pounder guns of the Left Section of D Battery, Royal Canadian Artillery, was acting as the rear guard for Major-General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien's column as it withdrew from the Komati River basin. The Boers had recently captured a quantity of British artillery ammunition and aggressively pressed the rear guard in an attempt to capture the two D Battery guns, even conducting a very rare mounted charge. In the end, the guns and the column were saved. Three Victoria Crosses were awarded to members of The Royal Canadian Dragoons for their actions during the course of the day: • Lieutenant H. Z .C. Cockburn • Lieutenant R. E. W. Turner • Sergeant E. J. G. Holland ==Regimental alliances==

• – The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) • – 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment (Light Horse) (Bond of Friendship) ==Order of precedence==