Legion of Frontiersmen | |
---|---|
Active | 1905–present |
Country | Commonwealth Realms |
Role | Nationalist group |
Motto(s) | God Guard Thee |
The Legion of Frontiersmen is a civilian organisation formed in Britain in 1905 by Roger Pocock, a former constable with the North-West Mounted Police and Boer War veteran. Prompted by fears of an impending invasion of Britain and the Empire, the organisation was founded to be a field intelligence corps that would watch over and protect the boundaries of the Empire. Headquartered in London, the Legion of Frontiersmen formed branches throughout the Empire to prepare enlistees for war and to foster vigilance in peacetime. Despite efforts, the Legion never achieved significant official recognition; in part because many Commonwealth nations' laws prohibit militia groups.
Casualties in the First World War devastated the Legion of Frontiersmen, and except for a brief resurgence in the interwar period, a series of schisms and sectarianism prevented attempts to reinvigorate the movement. In the late 1930s, the Legion of Frontiersmen in Canada was formally affiliated with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but after a schism split within the Canadian Frontiersmen, the RCMP severed formal ties. [1] Various Legion of Frontiersmen groups still exist throughout the Commonwealth, but as a whole, it has been unable to define its niche post World War II; especially because the organisation generally refuses to provide information about its activities to prospective applicants.
During the First World War, the Legion of Frontiersmen helped raise and fill the ranks of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, the 19th Alberta Dragoons, the 49th Battalion - Canadian Expeditionary Force (today's Loyal Edmonton Regiment), the 210th Battalion (Frontiersmen), - Canadian Expeditionary Force, [2] [3] the 25th (Frontiersmen) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, [4] and the Newfoundland Regiment. [5] Despite the nature of the organisation, many of its members had no military experience and were probably no better (or worse) than other recruits to other wartime raised units. [6]
The earliest official description of an authorized uniform for a Canadian unit is noted in The Frontiersman, (December 1912, page 223) describing Vernon and Okanagan Command’s uniform as follows: “Shirt Tunic – To be of substantial material, colour navy blue; leather buttons; nickel shoulder chains. Breeches or (Trousers) – Any shade of khaki. Footwear – Brown leather; any combination that affords cover as high as the calves. Headdress – Straight brim Stetson, any shade of brown, with leather band and regimental crest and monogram. Accessories – Brown leather fringed gauntlets; silk blue and white “bird’s-eye” neckerchief; regulation LF holster.” [7]
Branches of the legion, in different parts of the Commonwealth award medals within their units and occasionally to external branches, commands, or units. [8] [9] The Australian Division awards a decoration called the "Australian Medal of Merit" and within the organisation has used the post nominal letters AMM. [10] On occasion, such medal names and use of post nominal letters has caused controversy. [11]
The 1st Commonwealth Division was the military unit that commanded Commonwealth land forces in the Korean War. The division was a part of the multinational British Commonwealth Forces Korea, with infantry units of the British Army, Canadian Army and Australian Army, forming the bulk of the division. Additionally, the New Zealand Army supplied artillery complements and an Indian medical unit was also attached. As with the "Korean Augmentation To the United States Army" (KATUSA) programme, numerous South Korean troops were seconded to the Commonwealth division to make up numbers under a scheme known as "KATCOM".
The Jewish Legion was an unofficial name used to refer to five battalions of the British Army's Royal Fusiliers regiment, which consisted of Jewish volunteers recruited during World War I. In 1915, the British Army raised the Zion Mule Corps, a transportation unit of Jewish volunteers, for service in the Gallipoli campaign. Two years later in August 1917, the decision was made to raise an infantry battalion of Jewish soldiers which would be integrated into an existing British Army regiment.
The South Alberta Light Horse (SALH) is a Canadian Army armoured cavalry regiment of the Canadian Army Reserve. It traces its complicated lineage to the Rocky Mountain Rangers, and claims its direct ancestry to the 15th Light Horse, along with various other Alberta based cavalry units. The "Light Horse" designation comes from its light cavalry and mounted infantry origins.
The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881.
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The 25th (Frontiersmen) Service Battalion, Royal Fusiliers was a British Army unit that served during World War I. It was raised by the Legion of Frontiersmen.
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Lieutenant-Colonel Louis Scott (1887–1967) served in the First and Second World Wars, and led a resurgence of the Legion of Frontiersmen in Canada between the wars.
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