North-West Rebellion The 12th Battalion of Infantry (York Rangers) mobilized four companies for active service on 10 April 1885. The companies served with the
York and Simcoe Provisional Battalion in the Alberta Column of the North West Field Force. The companies were removed from active service on 24 July 1885.
First World War The
20th Battalion (Central Ontario), CEF was authorized on 7 November 1914 and embarked for Britain on 15 May 1915. It disembarked in France on 15 September 1915, where it fought as part of the
4th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 2nd Canadian Division in France and Flanders until the end of the war. For much of the war, the commanding officer of the battalion was Lieutenant-Colonel C.H. Rogers, a descendant of Robert Rogers. The battalion performed particularly well at the
Battle of the Somme,
Vimy Ridge,
Hill 70,
Passchendaele, and at
Amiens and
Canal du Nord in 1918. Two of its members, Lieutenant
Wallace Lloyd Algie and Sergeant
Frederick Hobson, were posthumously awarded the
Victoria Cross. The 20th Battalion was disbanded on 30 August 1920. Altogether, 4,310 officers and men had served in the battalion; 843 were killed in action or died of wounds (often having been wounded earlier) and 1,855 were wounded—often several times. Some 22 members of the battalion had been taken prisoner during the war with the largest haul being when nine were taken when evacuating casualties at Passchendaele. The
35th Battalion, CEF was authorized on 7 November 1914 and embarked for Britain on 16 October 1915. The battalion was redesignated the
35th Reserve Battalion, CEF on 9 February 1915, and it provided reinforcements to the Canadian Corps in the field until 4 January 1917 when its personnel were absorbed by the
4th Reserve Battalion, CEF. The battalion was disbanded on 8 December 1917. The
127th Battalion (12th York Rangers), CEF was authorized on 22 December 1915 and embarked for Britain on 21 August 1916. It provided reinforcements to the Canadian Corps in the field until 20 November 1916 when it was reorganized as a railway battalion. It disembarked in France on 13 January 1917, and was redesignated the
2nd Battalion, Canadian Railway Troops, CEF on 3 February 1917, where it provided special engineering services to the British Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders until the end of the war. In April 1918 as the second great German offensive of the year rolled back over the old Somme Battlefield, the 127th was pressed into service as infantry near Amiens. Although initially trained as infantry, the battalion had not been employed as such but the men were apparently eager to show they could fight even if they were only armed with rifles. Combing through the chaos of Amiens, a large number of 'surplus' Lewis guns were 'acquired' and the battalion entered the line with considerably more firepower than might have been expected. At any rate, the German advance was being slowed up by exhausted troops and the usual logistical problems created in moving over World War I battlefields. The attempt to dislodge the 127th was not a determined one and the battalion's inordinate firepower debarred further attempts. The position they secured remained the Allied front line until the Amiens Offensive of 8 August 1918. Once relieved, the 127th returned to its previous duties. The battalion was disbanded on 23 October 1920. The
220th Battalion (12th Regiment York Rangers), CEF was authorized on 15 July 1916 and embarked for Britain on 26 January 1917, where its personnel were absorbed by the
3rd Reserve Battalion, CEF on 7 May 1917 to provide reinforcements for the Canadian Corps in the field. The battalion was disbanded on 1 September 1917.
Second World War Details from the regiment were called out on service on 26 August 1939 and placed on active service on 1 September 1939 for local protection duties until disbanded on 31 December 1940. The regiment subsequently mobilized the ''1st Battalion, The Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment), CASF'' on 5 March 1942.40 It served in Canada in a home defence role as part of Military District No. 2, until disbanded on 15 October 1943. Altogether, over 2,000 Rangers served in the Second World but those who went overseas did so in other regiments. In 2011, the
Minister of National Defence approved the
ex officio honorary appointment of the
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario as the unit's
Colonel of the Regiment in perpetuity. The appointment recognizes the regiment's links to
John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada and the regiment's commander during the
American War of Independence. The regiment's vehicles now include, according to official sources, the G Wagon - Light Utility Vehicle Wheeled (LUVW);
Textron Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV); and the
Medium Support Vehicle System (MSVS). ==Battle honours==