The Essex and Kent Scottish - The Forming of The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment

The Forming of The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment

On 8 July 1954 while the Essex Scottish Regiment and the Kent Regiment were on a training exercise in Niagara on the Lake the two units found out that they were going to be joined together as one unit. However it would not become official until 1 October 1954 and The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment was formed. The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment were to have two battalions. The 1st Battalions Headquarters was in Windsor, while 2nd Battalion was stationed in Chatham. In 1964, The Canadian Forces Headquarters decided to make certain reductions and amalgamations within the Canadian Military structure. Many units in the Province of Ontario were affected by this decision, including The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment. So, following new orders and protocol, the two battalions of the regiment amalgamated on March 31, 1965. This is the current structure of the regiment. When the two units first amalgamated there were several small issues which had to be resolved. First of all there were too many members in the unit by one full company. This meant that several of the officers and senior NCOs had to transfer to different units. One of the other problems was who would the commanding officer be for this new unit; however, it was soon made clear that even though the Kent Regiment had several qualified officers all of the future Commanding officers would be from Windsor because that is where the Regimental HQ would be located. One major event that happened in the first few years form the newly formed Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment which helped bring the two units together was the trooping of their first colours. This happened in Jackson Park in Windsor Ontario on 5 June 1955.