Chapter XII: The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada

As members of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada were fighting from early in 1915 till the end of hostilities, perhaps the centre of the war history between the more or less evenly contested portion of the struggle and the beginning of the end would be a suitable place to insert a short chapter describing who and what this regiment was and is, for no war history of the Buffs would be complete without reference to their allied regiment of Canadian Militia.

This was an existing corps long before August, 1914, and so could hardly be referred to in our third chapter, which dealt chiefly with the raising of new units. On reference to the official Army List it will be seen that, under the headings of certain of our regiments, such for example as the Somerset Light Infantry, the Suffolk Regiment, the Black Watch and our own, are entered the words:--

Allied regiment of Dominion of New Zealand.
Allied regiment of Australian Commonwealth, or
Allied regiment of Canadian Militia.

The idea is a very pretty one, naturally induces the very best of cordial good feeling, and emphasises in a pleasant and soldierly way the idea of blood brotherhood which exists between warrior Englishmen and their soldier cousins over the seas.

The regiment is an old one and belongs to Toronto, Ontario. The foundation of the Canadian Militia was practically laid by the gallant band of loyalists who, in spite of ill-treatment on the part of old England to her colonists, stuck manfully to their King during the American upheaval of the year 1776. This militia turned out again in the war between England and the United States in 1812, in which struggle the Canadians saw some great fighting and succeeded in keeping their country safe and intact in spite of their powerful neighbour.

The actual formation of the Toronto regiment was in 1860, and it first paraded on Queen Victoria’s birthday of that year. More active service was experienced during the Fenian raids of 1864, 65 and 66, and in the Red River rebellion of 1870; but it is not of course possible, nor even desirable in this place, to give the regimental history as a whole, and reference is merely made to these campaigns in order to show the reader that our allied regiment is of no new growth.

As regards recent history, however, it is interesting to note that when a military contingent was sent to represent Canada at Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, one of the units was made up of the Rifle Regiments of Canada and commanded by Major H. M. Pellatt, for this is a well-known regimental name. The regiment was also represented in the Boer War.

In 1902 Pellatt, now Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the regiment, headed the Canadian contingent which attended the coronation of King Edward VII, and on the occasion took with him, at his own expense, the regiment’s famous bugle band.

In the summer of 1910 a provisional battalion of six hundred and fifty men, drawn from the regiment, sailed for England to take part in the army manœuvres. This was made possible by the generosity and patriotism of Colonel Sir Henry Pellatt, who bore the entire expense. It is almost superfluous to add that a hearty welcome awaited these soldiers both on landing in England and on arrival at Aldershot.

On September 3rd the Canadians performed a thirteen-mile route march with the Buffs, and in connection with this exercise the following words were written by a distinguished officer of the Corps: “There had been a friendly feeling existing between all ranks of these two regiments since the arrival of the Queen’s Own in England, due to the fact that they both used the same regimental march. Permission for the Queen’s Own to use this march had been given by the Buffs over forty years ago. The friendly feeling between the two units was greatly strengthened that day, and during the whole of the stay in England the Queen’s Own were indebted to the Buffs for many acts of kindness and thoughtfulness.”

Immediately after the return of the battalion to Toronto steps were taken to bring about an affiliation with the Buffs, but it was not until 1914 that this was finally accomplished, when the following appeared in Militia orders: “His Majesty has been graciously pleased to approve of the 2nd Regiment, Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, being made an allied regiment of the Buffs (East Kent Regiment).” The annual mess dinner of the Queen’s Own was held on the 23rd April, 1914, at the Military Institute, Toronto, and the 1st Battalion dining at the same time at Fermoy, an all-British cable communication between the two places was arranged to permit an exchange of messages; the first time direct cables were sent between Toronto and Ireland. This was made possible at the request of Sir Henry Pellatt. Cordial interchange of greetings resulted.

As regards the Great War, which, after all, is what the readers of this book are primarily interested in: immediately upon the news of the declaration of war reaching Canada, Lt.-Colonel M. S. Mercer,[26] Commandant of the Queen’s Own Rifles, offered to his government a battalion of his regiment for immediate service abroad. Upon the acceptance by the British Government of one complete division from Canada with reinforcements for the same, Lt.-Colonel Mercer was notified that the battalion offered by the Queen’s Own could not be accepted and that the regiment, with the others, could only be allowed to furnish 250 volunteers per battalion in accordance with instructions already issued to all infantry units of the Canadian Militia. At this time few, if any, in the country foresaw the extent of Canada’s ultimate effort, and many believed that one division, which represented the first contingent, would probably be all that would ever sail for the war. This being the case, and the authorities desiring that all units of the militia, of which there were 110 battalions of infantry, should be represented and have an opportunity of furnishing their quota, it came about that battalions were not raised upon the regimental system, as was done in Great Britain, but composite battalions, as forming part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, were made up from drafts contributed from the various militia corps throughout the whole country.

From this it may be seen that the Queen’s Own Rifles did not serve in the war as a single unit, but as parts of many, and so it may be easily conceived that portions of the regiment fought in each and all of the many great battles in which Canada so gloriously distinguished itself. This fact makes it impossible in this short history to follow their doings in the detailed manner which is attempted in the cases of the English battalions. Nevertheless we are able to trace the Queen’s Own to a certain extent, and we know that about eight hundred of the regiment were formed at once on the declaration of war into a service battalion and that very strong representations were made to the Canadian government to allow this unit to proceed overseas in its entirety, but that permission was refused.

On the 31st August, 1914, orders were issued that the infantry of the first contingent would consist of seventeen battalions numbering from one onward, that twelve of these would be selected for the fighting division and that the remaining five would form a Canadian reserve in England. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Battalions were brigaded together, with Colonel M. S. Mercer as brigadier. The service battalion of the Queen’s Own was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, together with detachments from other corps. The contingent spent five months on Salisbury Plain, was inspected by H.M. The King, accompanied by Lord Kitchener, on the 5th February, 1915, and embarked for France three days later, landing at St. Nazaire.

The 3rd battalion soon afterwards was at Armentieres and in the trenches, to learn the life and duties under the tuition of the Sherwood Foresters. It was this 1st Canadian Division which fought so gallantly at the Second Battle of Ypres in April, 1915, only two months after landing in France, and these were the men that Geddes’ detachment were so intimately associated with and to whose assistance Captain Tomlinson’s ill-fated company was sent on the 24th April. The 3rd Battalion, which included, as we have seen, in its ranks the Queen’s Own, were very much in the thick of this terrible fight, and two of its companies, A and B, were fighting actually alongside Tomlinson’s company, engaged in the same and identical enterprise.

How many of those men who route-marched with the Buffs at Aldershot in 1910 ever dreamed that in less than four years they would be fighting desperately alongside the old regiment (though, of course, a different battalion of it) in one of the greatest battles ever contested?

Sixty-one officers and nearly four thousand N.C.O.’s and men of the Queen’s Own served with this 3rd Battalion during the war, and it was always commanded by one of the regiment’s own officers.

In October, 1914, it was decided that Canada should furnish a second division, and one complete company of the 19th Battalion, serving with this, was furnished by the Buffs’ Allied Corps. This division reached France in September, 1915.

On the 14th November twelve extra mounted rifle battalions were authorized for war, and one of them was raised in Toronto and subsequently fed with drafts from our regiment. These were originally intended for mounted troops, but were transformed into ordinary infantry when it was found that that arm was the one most in request.

The men generally went to France as drafts for existing units, but the 4th and 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles became two battalions of the 3rd Canadian Division which was formed in France in the spring of 1916 and placed under the command of Major-General M. S. Mercer, C.B.

The 35th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force was raised in 1915 and it also contained a company of the Queen’s Own Rifles, and indeed in course of time 17 officers and 650 men of the regiment passed through this particular unit.

Then, again, it was strongly represented in the 58th, 74th, 75th, 83rd, 95th, 166th and 255th Battalions, some of which were draft-finding units, and others served complete in the war.

In fact, officers and men of the Queen’s Own Rifles found their way into all units and services of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, which fought in nearly all the considerable battles on the Western front from the Second Battle of Ypres up to the armistice; and wherever it fought it is safe to affirm that some, at any rate, of the Queen’s Own fought too.

It seems, therefore, almost as impossible to give a list of engagements the men were present at as it always has been in the case of the Royal Artillery, which corps, it is well known, is obliged to fall back on the single word “Ubique” instead of a battle-roll.

The following is a summary of the work done by our Canadian Allied Regiment and the honours its members won:--

Total enlistments for service overseas 9,104
Killed or died of wounds or disease 1,324
Wounded 3,198
Prisoners of war 117
Granted commissions in the field 257[27]
Number of officers who served in theatre of war 205[28]
Number of officers killed or died of wounds 47

DECORATIONS

Victoria Cross 1
Commander of the Bath 2
Companion St. Michael and St. George 2
Distinguished Service Order 12
Bar to D.S.O. 5
Military Cross 51
Bar to M.C. 11
Commander British Empire 1
Order British Empire 6
Member British Empire 2
Croix de Guerre (French) 10
Croix de Guerre (Belgium) 5
Legion of Honour 2
Médaille Militaire 1
Distinguished Conduct Medal 29
Bar to D.C.M. 6
Military Medal 175
Bar to M.M. 14
2nd Bar to M.M. 3
Meritorious Service Medal 13
Distinguished Flying Cross 2

Besides the battalions alluded to above there was another in which we are interested, though not connected with the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, except that several of the latter’s officers assisted in the raising and organization of it: the 198th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force was raised in Toronto by men of Kent.

We in England are inclined affectionately to term the Queen’s Own “The Canadian Buffs,” but this is not its name.

The 198th War Battalion was, like our 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th, a war unit only, but during its existence it was called by the name of “Canadian Buffs,” though never formally or officially allied to the old regiment.

It was commanded by Lt.-Colonel J. A. Cooper and had colours presented to it on the 1st November, 1916, by Sir John Hendrie, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Ontario, who in his speech on the occasion laid stress on the honour granted to the battalion by His Majesty The King, in allowing it to be called by the name of such an historic regiment.

The Canadian Buffs lost seven officers and ninety-nine other ranks killed.