History
The history of the regiment dates back to 1796 with the formation of the 1st Battalion Leeds Militia at Elizabethtown. At its peak Leeds county had raised a total of nine battalions to combat enemy forces. With the appointment of Maj. General Sir Isaac Brock, the ranking British General at the time, as the temporary administrator of the province of Upper Canada during the War of 1812 that citizens of Elizabethtown proposed the name of Brockville, which was later accepted as the official name by the provincial bureaucrats. During the War of 1812 the regiment was involved with the capturing of Ogdensburg and as well the Battle of Chrysler's Farm. In 1856 the regiment's name became even closer to that of its current one as it became the Brockville Volunteer Rifle Company.
In the year 1861, a major development also occurred when which a second unit, The Brockville Infantry Company, came into existence. Despite being similar in some respects the Rifles wore the traditional dark green of a rifle company and the infantry wore the scarlet red, common of all line infantry. Five years later the units were reorganized into the 41st Brockville Battalion of Rifles. This battalion had six companies spread across immediate area. The organization was as follows: 1 Coy was in Brockville, 2 Coy was in Gananoque, 3 Coy was in Perth, 4 Coy was in Merrickville, 5 Coy was in Carleton Place, and finally 6 Coy was in Pakenham. At the same time the 42nd Battalion of Infantry came into existence, however they became the Lanark and Renfrew Scottish Regiment. Later during the Fenian Raids, the regiment was successful in combating and fending off the Fenian Brotherhood in the raids of 1866 and 1870. The regiment also contributed troops to the Boer War in 1899.
During the First World War, in December 1915, the unit was reorganized to become the 156th Leeds & Grenville Battalion. The unit moved to England as part of the proposed 5th Division, however pressing needs for troops and reinforcements on the front caused the disbanding of the unit and the men were transferred to other units including the 2nd, the 21st, the 38th, and Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. The men of the unit served valiantly with the other units, and many awards and decorations were given to men including one Victoria Cross to Major Thain MacDowell, whose picture currently hangs in the units' Officers' Mess. A total of 10 officers and 95 men were killed or died of wounds during the First World War.
Following World War I, the unit was reorganized into The Brockville Rifles. In April 1926, the Colonel Commandant of the King's Royal Rifle Corps invited the unit to ally with them. Today the King's Royal Rifle Corps, the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and the Rifle Brigade have been amalgamated to form the Royal Green Jackets, this is the unit with which The Brockville Rifles has an alliance.
During the Second World War, the unit mobilized to from B Coy of the Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Highlanders. Another unit that became part of the SD&G was the Princess of Wales' Own Regiment. This all came together to help create the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders that was deployed overseas to fight as a part of the 9th Highland Brigade, 3rd Canadian Division. As a part of the SD&G, soldiers from the regiment landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, and were the first Allied force to enter Caen. The "Brocks" as part of the SD&G reached the center of the city by 1300, 9 July 1944.
On April 1, 1946, the Brocks were converted and re-designated the 60th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (Brockville Rifles) RCA. On 1 September 1954, following another amalgamation, the Brocks were yet again converted, this time to the 32nd Locating Battery (Brockville Rifles) RCA. In December 1959, the regiment once again returned to the Colours and adopted its current designation as The Brockville Rifles, readopting the role of Infantry.
==Battle honours==
War of 1812
- Niagara
- Defence of Canada – 1812–1815
World War I
- Amiens, 1918
- Arras, 1918
- Hindenburg Line, 1918
- Pursuit to Mons, 1918
World War II
- Honorary distinction: the badge of the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders on the drums
Read more about this topic: The Brockville Rifles
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