Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) - History

History

The regiment was one of the last in the British Empire to be created and raised by a private individual, Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal. During the Boer War, Lord Strathcona recruited and equipped the cavalry regiment at his own expense for service in South Africa. Many skilled horsemen (cowboys and North-West Mounted Police members) enlisted, allowing for a short training period and rapid deployment to Africa. The 537 officers and men, as well as 599 horses, of the new regiment sailed from Halifax on 18 March 1900 and arrived in Cape Town on 10 April. Along with The Royal Canadian Dragoons, the regiment won renown for their scouting skills.

Rumour exists that members of the North-West Mounted Police serving with the regiment during the Boer War preferred the boots the regiment wore, and adopted them as their own – hence the name "Strathcona boots" for RCMP high brown boots.

Another legacy of the official kit is the huge popularity of the distinctive Stetson Campaign Hat worn by all Canadians severing in Africa during the Second Boer War. After seeing Canadian troops in this attitire at the Relief of Mafeking, British Officer Robert Baden-Powell ordered 10,000 of the hats for his own troops.

Supposedly General Kitchener was astonished at the size of the newly arrived Canadian soldiers. Their commander, Sam Steele, is said to have replied "My apologies, sir. I combed all of Canada and these are the smallest I could find."

After the war, the regiment boarded ship at Cape Town on 20 January 1901 and arrived in London on 14 February. Here they met Lord Strathcona for the first time and were presented their medals by King Edward VII personally. On its return to Canada on 9 March 1901, the regiment was disbanded. The name "Strathcona's Horse" was revived in 1909 when the Royal Canadian Mounted Rifles (which had been created in the Permanent Force in 1901) was renamed "Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians)". The word Lord was prepended to the regimental title in 1911.

At the outbreak of the First World War, the regiment was mobilized and began its training in England. In 1915, Lord Strathcona's Horse served as infantry in the trenches in France. On 16 February 1916, the Strathcona's were reconstituted as a mounted force and, as an Imperial Service Regiment, served in the Canadian Cavalry Brigade attached to the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division, which in November 1916 became the 5th Cavalry Division of the British 4th Army. In March 1917, the regiment saw action as cavalry during the defence of the Somme front. It was during this fighting that Lieutenant Frederick Harvey won the Victoria Cross for rushing a German machine gun post and capturing the gun position. By 1918, the regiment and the Canadian Cavalry Brigade as a whole was now attached to Sir Arthur Currie's Canadian Corps. During the last great German offensive, called by the Germans Operation Michael, when the Imperial and French armies were on the verge of being split, the regiment earned its third Victoria Cross. On 31 March 1918, in what is known as "the last great cavalry charge" at the Battle of Moreuil Wood, Gordon Flowerdew was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for leading his men in a successful engagement with entrenched German forces.

One of the many dramatic changes World War I introduced into military organization and technology was the introduction of the tank, and in the 1930s the regiment followed suit with the rest of the world's modern militaries and was converted from cavalry to armoured.

During the Second World War, the regiment mobilized an armoured regiment for overseas service, which joined the First Canadian Armoured Division (renamed the 5th Canadian Armoured Division). During an inspection in England, King George VI noticed that the divisional patches on the sleeves of the troopers bore the legend "LSH". He remarked to a Strathcona's officer that he had always thought the proper abbreviation of "Lord" was "Ld". The regiment promptly changed its formation patches and have used the correct designation ever since.

In July 1940, LdSH(RC) along with the Royal Canadian Dragoons, were mobilized as the 1st Canadian Motorcycle Regiment. Later that year, the Strathcona's became 2nd Armoured Regiment, Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians). The Regiment trained in England for two years with Canadian built Ram tanks and saw its first action in an armoured role in Italy.

One of the regiment's most noteworthy battles in Italy was the Melfa River Crossing. During this desperate battle the Strathcona RHQ reconnaissance troop established a bridgehead in conjunction with "A" Company, The Westminster Regiment (Motor) on the Melfa River and held it against determined German tank and infantry attacks until reinforcements could arrive. The action resulted in a Victoria Cross being awarded to the OC "A" Company, Major Jack Mahony and forged a long-standing association between the two regiments.

The advance up the boot of Italy bloodied the regiment but also forged their identity as a Canadian tank unit, second to none. The regiment left Italy in February 1945, and fought in the North West Europe campaign to liberate Holland and the Lowlands. In 1946, the regiment returned to Canada and except for two operational tours in Germany, called Calgary its home garrison.

During the Cold War, the regiment was deployed on several rotations to West Germany, and three squadrons fought in rotation in the Korean War as part of the 1st Commonwealth Division. Originally intended to be equipped with M-10 tank destroyers, the Strathconas in Korea went into action with M4A3E8 Sherman tanks.

Other deployments include two six-month missions in Bosnia: 1994 with the United Nations and 1997 with NATO. In 2002 the Reconnaissance Squadron participated as part of the Canadian battle group during the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan. The squadron returned to Kabul, Afghanistan for a six-month rotation in 2004 as part of Canada's ongoing commitment to the International Security Assistance Force. Since September 2006, various squadrons of Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) have served continuously in Afghanistan, forming the basis of every tank squadron to serve as part of Task Force Kandahar.

In 2000, to commemorate the centenary of its original foundation, a mounted detachment of eighteen members from Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) was invited to London, where, in ceremonial full-dress, they mounted the Queen's Life Guard at the Horse Guards on seven days between 8 and 23 September. This was a very great honour, as they were the first overseas unit ever to have mounted the Queen's Life Guard at the Horse Guards.