History
Early history
With the passing of the Militia Act of 1855, the first of a number of newly raised independent militia companies were established in and around the Peel County region of Canada West (now the province of Ontario).
On 14 September 1866 the 36th Peel Battalion of Infantry was authorized for service by the regimentation of seven of these previously authorized independent militia rifle and infantry companies. Its Regimental Headquarters was at Brampton and had companies at Brampton, Orangeville, Albion, Streetsville, Alton, Grahamsville, Mono Mills, Tullamore and Sand Hill, Ontario. [1] [2]
The South African War & Early 1900s
During the Boer War, the regiment as a unit, did not go to war; however, many officers and other ranks from the regiment served there with the Canadian Contingents.
On 8 May 1900 the 36th Peel Battalion of Infantry was Reorganized and Redesignated as the 36th Peel Regiment. [1] [5]
The Great War
During the First World War, the 36th Peel Regiment as a unit was not mobilized but when the Canadian Expeditionary Force was raised in September 1914, drafts from various units were called up and formed into numbered battalions. The 36th Peel Regiment in particular contributed drafts to help form the 4th Battalion (Central Ontario), CEF as part of the First Canadian Contingent (later the 1st Canadian Division). [6] [7]
On 10 July 1915 the 74th Battalion, CEF was authorized for service and on 29 March 1916 the battalion embarked for Great Britain. After its arrival in the UK, the battalion provided reinforcements to the Canadian Corps in the field. On 30 September 1916 the battalion's personnel were absorbed by the 50th Battalion (Calgary), CEF ; the 52nd Battalion (New Ontario), CEF and the 2nd Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles . On 15 September 1917 the 74th Battalion, CEF was disbanded. [2]
On 22 December 1915 the 126th Battalion (Peel), CEF was authorized for service and on 14 August 1916 the battalion embarked for Great Britain. On 13 October 1916 the battalion's personnel were absorbed by the 109th Battalion (Victoria & Haliburton), CEF and the 116th Battalion (Ontario County), CEF to provide reinforcements to the Canadian Corps in the field. On 21 May 1917 the 126th Battalion, CEF was disbanded. [2]
On 15 July 1916 the 234th Battalion (Peel), CEF was authorized for service and on 18 April 1917 the battalion embarked for Great Britain. After its arrival in the UK; on 30 April 1917 the battalion's personnel were absorbed by the 12th Reserve Battalion, CEF to provide reinforcements to the Canadian Corps in the field. On 1 September 1917 the 234th Battalion, CEF was disbanded. [2]
1920s–1930s
The Peel Regiment (1921–1923)
The county regiments, which had been by-passed during the First World War, were in dire need of revitalization. Lieutenant-Colonel McCausland, who had commanded the 74th Battalion, was appointed to command the 36th Peel Regiment in 1920.
On 15 March 1920 as a result of the Otter Commission and the following post-war reorganization of the militia, the 36th Peel Regiment was Redesignated as The Peel Regiment and was reorganized with 3 battalions (2 of them paper-only reserve battalions) to perpetuate the assigned war-raised battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. [1] [8]
Some of the officers felt they would have to recruit from beyond the bounds of the county in order to be viable. The Headquarters, A and B Companies were in a large second-storey flat at the corner of Pacific and Dundas Streets in West Toronto; C Company was in Brampton and D Company in Port Credit. Some of the Toronto regiments had objected to this incursion, and in March 1922, the unit was directed that its officer personnel should reside within the recruiting area. McCausland, who lived in Toronto, resigned, as did numerous other officers. Major RV Conover, who had served with The Halton Rifles, but commanded the company in Brampton, where he now lived, was selected to succeed in command.
The Peel and Dufferin Regiment (1923–1936)
The Peel Regiment had had a presence in Dufferin County, in Orangeville and Shelburne. Perhaps the insistence on officers coming from the recruiting area led to the formal inclusion of Dufferin in the regimental title. On 15 April 1923 the regiment was Redesignated as The Peel and Dufferin Regiment and was authorized to draw from both counties. D Company was headquartered at Orangeville. Early that year the regiment had received permission from Sir Robert Peel (after whose family the county had been named), to use part of his personal crest as the regimental badge. The crest is 'a demi-lion rampant, gorged and collared, charged with three bezants, between the paws a shuttle'. (A bezant in heraldry is a gold roundel, and takes its name from the gold coins 'of Byzantium' which circulated in England in medieval times). The demi-lion was quickly incorporated into the design of the buttons, and in 1925 into the cap badge and collar badges of the new unit.
Annual training in 1925 was conducted at local headquarters; because of fiscal restraints, in three sessions of three days each. Lieutenant-Colonel Conover, who was now on the district staff, arranged a three-day musketry camp at Long Branch Rifle Ranges over Labour Day, introducing the idea of district training. The three regiments of the 25th Infantry Brigade who attended, however, had to pay for their own transportation and ration expenses. The training exercises now went beyond the drill and rifle practice of earlier days, and during the inter-war years involved attack and defensive positions, inter-arm co-operation (the artillery came out to the farmlands west of Brampton and demonstrated a smoke screen), ground to air signalling, and even aerial bombardment.
The colours of the old 36th Regiment had been laid up in Christ Church, Brampton in 1924, and the following year the Peel Chapter, Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire, presented a king's colour to The Peel and Dufferin Regiment. The county of Peel gave a grant in 1924 towards the purchase of a regimental colour, but its production was delayed pending a decision on the granting of battle honours to militia regiments. These battle honours would be assigned to The Peel and Dufferin Regiment in 1930.
The Department of National Defense approved the design for the regimental colour, incorporating these battle honours, and on 22 May 1930 the Governor General, Viscount Willingdon, presented the colour on behalf of the county council.
As a result of the 1936 Canadian Militia Reorganization, on 15 December 1936 The Peel and Dufferin Regiment was Amalgamated with The Lorne Rifles (Scottish) to form the present regiment, The Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment) . [1] [2] [9] [10] [11]
The Lorne Scots is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. It is part of the 4th Canadian Division's 32 Canadian Brigade Group.
The 20th Battalion, CEF was a unit of the First World War Canadian Expeditionary Force.
The 126th Battalion (Peel), CEF was a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the unit began recruiting in late 1915 in Peel County. After sailing to England in August 1916, the battalion was absorbed into the 109th and 116th Battalions, CEF, and the 8th Reserve Battalion on October 13, 1916. The 126th Battalion (Peel), CEF, had one Officer Commanding: Lieut-Col. F. J. Hamilton.
The 164th Battalion, CEF, was a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. Based in Orangeville, Ontario, the unit began recruiting in late 1915 in Halton and Dufferin Counties.
The 234th Battalion (Peel), CEF was a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. Based in Toronto, the unit began recruiting in the spring of 1916 in Peel County. After sailing to England in April 1917, the battalion was absorbed into the 12th Reserve Battalion on April 29, 1917. The 234th Battalion (Peel), CEF had one Officer Commanding: Lieut-Col. W. O. Morris.
The 37th Battalion, CEF, was an infantry battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the Great War.
4th Battalion, CEF was an infantry battalion raised as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force for service during the First World War. Raised in Canada in September 1914, the battalion sailed to the United Kingdom within weeks of its establishment. After a short period of training it was committed to the fighting on the Western Front, remaining in France and Belgium until the war ended. It returned to Canada in mid-1919 and after its personnel had been demobilized, the battalion was subsequently disbanded in 1920.
The 74th Battalion, CEF was an infantry battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the Great War. The battalion was authorized on 10 July 1915 and embarked for Great Britain on 29 March 1916 where it provided reinforcements to the Canadian Corps in the field. On 30 September 1916 its personnel were absorbed by the 50th Battalion (Calgary), CEF, the 51st Battalion (Edmonton), CEF, the 52nd Battalion, CEF and the 2nd Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles, CEF. The battalion was disbanded on 15 September 1917.
The 76th Battalion, CEF was an infantry battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the Great War. The 76th Battalion was authorized on 10 July 1915 and embarked for Great Britain on 23 April 1916. It provided reinforcements to the Canadian Corps in the field until 6 July 1916, when its personnel were absorbed by the 36th Battalion, CEF. The battalion was subsequently disbanded on 17 July 1917.
The Lorne Rifles (Scottish) was an infantry regiment of the Non-Permanent Active Militia of the Canadian Militia (now the Canadian Army). First raised in the 1860s, the regiment was known for most of its existence as The Halton Rifles until 1931 when the regiment was renamed as The Lorne Rifles (Scottish). In 1936, the regiment was amalgamated with The Peel and Dufferin Regiment to form The Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment).
The Victoria and Haliburton Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Non-Permanent Active Militia of the Canadian Militia. In 1936, the regiment was converted from infantry to artillery to become the 45th Field Battery RCA and now forms part of the 50th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA.
The Haldimand Rifles was an infantry regiment of the Non-Permanent Active Militia of the Canadian Militia. In 1936, the regiment was Amalgamated with The Dufferin Rifles of Canada to form The Dufferin and Haldimand Rifles of Canada.
The Dufferin and Haldimand Rifles of Canada was an infantry regiment of the Non-Permanent Active Militia of the Canadian Militia and later the Canadian Army. The regiment was formed in 1936, when The Haldimand Rifles was Amalgamated with The Dufferin Rifles of Canada. In 1946, the regiment was converted from Infantry to Artillery and now forms part of the 56th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA.
The Dufferin Rifles of Canada was an infantry regiment of the Canadian Non-Permanent Active Militia 1866-1936.
The Northumberland Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Non-Permanent Active Militia of the Canadian Militia. In 1936, the regiment was amalgamated with The Durham Regiment to form The Midland Regiment.
The York Rangers was an infantry regiment of the Non-Permanent Active Militia [NPAM] of the Canadian Militia. Although the unit was first officially created in 1866, the regiment traces its ancestry and origins as far back to Rogers' Rangers of the Seven Years' War, the Queen's Rangers of the American Revolutionary War and also the York Militia of the War of 1812. In 1936, the regiment was amalgamated with The Queen's Rangers to form The Queen's York Rangers.
The Argyll Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the Non-Permanent Active Militia of the Canadian Militia. In 1936, the regiment was converted from infantry to form one of the Canadian Army's first tank units, and then in 1946 was converted to anti-tank artillery. In 1954, the regiment was converted back to infantry and amalgamated along with The Midland Regiment into The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment.
The Middlesex and Huron Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Non-Permanent Active Militia of the Canadian Militia. It was formed in 1936, as a result of the Amalgamation of The Middlesex Light Infantry and The Huron Regiment. In 1946, the regiment was disbanded.
The Grey Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Non-Permanent Active Militia of the Canadian Militia. In 1936, the regiment was amalgamated with the Simcoe Foresters to form the Grey and Simcoe Foresters.
The Lincoln Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Non-Permanent Active Militia of the Canadian Militia. In 1936, the regiment was Amalgamated with The Lincoln and Welland Regiment to form a new regiment also named The Lincoln and Welland Regiment.
Canada 