COMBAT SHOULDER TITLES
1960-1999

The new Combat Uniform introduced into Canadian service in the 1960s was distinct in that all insignia was of cloth manufacture, and was subdued in colour.  The only precedent for these two characteristics were the early Battledress period of 1939-40, where the drab "slip-ons" were worn.

Shoulder flashes as worn on earlier uniforms were discarded in favour of combat titles, worn on slip-ons over the shoulder straps.   The small size of these titles led to the adoption of short titles or abbreviations for units.  In some cases, the "combat short title" matched the brass shoulder titles approved by General Order and worn on Service Dress after the reorganization of the land forces in the 1920s.  Others did not; for example the Calgary Highlanders wore a brass oak leaf with "CH" on Service Dress, but had to adopt the combat short title CALG HIGHRS to avoid confusion with "Canadian Hussars" (or so the story goes - the original brass title of the Calgary Highlanders before the oakleaf was adopted was simply "C.H.").  Some Calgary Highlanders took the stitching out of the R C H A title when the regiment was unable to obtain proper combat titles of their own, leaving "C H".1

This is only a partial list of known titles; the webmaster as always encourages assistance from others.  Images are only a guide; photos of the actual badges will appear on individual unit pages in the insignia section of the site.

Corps, Services, Branches, Miscellaneous Units

A D M
ADM Administration Branch

AUMONIER
AUMONIER Chaplain Branch (French)

C A N A D A

CANADA

 General Service, General List, for soldiers in training, not otherwise assigned to a unit, or unable to procure correct unit badges

 
Canadian Intelligence Corps

C F D S
CFDS Canadian Forces Dental Service

C F M S
CFMS Canadian Forces Medical Service

C M E

CME Canadian Military Engineers

C  PRO   C
C PRO C Canadian Provost Corps

C   Proc  C
C Proc C Canadian Provost Corps - mis-spelled variant.2

 
Canadian Women's Army Corps

CHAPLAIN
CHAPLAIN Chaplain Branch

R C E M E
RCEME Corps of Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

R C E
RCE Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers

E M E
EME Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

G E M
GEM Genie Electrical Mechanique

L O G
LOG Logistics Branch

L O R E
LORE

 
Physical Training Corps

R C A C
RCAC Royal Canadian Armoured Corps

R C A Ch C
RCAChC Royal Canadian Army Chaplain Corps

 
Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps

R C A P C
RCAPC Royal Canadian Army Pay Corps

R C A S C
RCASC Royal Canadian Army Service Corps

R C    S I G S
RC SIGS Royal Canadian Corps of Signals

R C D C
RCDC Royal Canadian Dental Corps

R C O C
RCOC Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps

 
Royal Canadian Postal Corps

R C A
RCA Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery

Artillery  Units

R C H A
RCHA Royal Canadian Horse Artillery

Engineer Units

1  C E R
1 CER 1 Combat Engineer Regiment

2  C E R
2 CER 2 Combat Engineer Regiment

4  C E R
2 CER 4 Combat Engineer Regiment

3 3   F E S
33 FES 33rd Field Engineer Squadron

M C E
MCE Mapping and Charting Establishment

Armoured Regiments/Units

B C D
BCD The British Columbia Dragoons

B C R
BCR The British Columbia Regiment

V I I I    C H
VIII CH 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's)

8  C H
8 CH 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's) (Militia)

8    C H  (M)
8 CH (M) 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's) (Militia)

ELGIN  R
ELGIN R The Elgin Regiment

12e   R B C
12e RBC 12 Regiment de Blinde

12e   R B C
12e RBC 12 Regiment de Blinde

12e   R B C (M)
12e RBC (M) 12 Regiment de Blinde (Milice) 3

1 H
1 H 1st Hussars

F G H
FGH Fort Garry Horse

 
14th Canadian Hussars

 
4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards

G G H G
GGHG Governor General's Horse Guards

 
The Grey and Simcoe Foresters

 
The Halifax Rifles

KO CALG R

KO CALG R The King's Own Calgary Regiment

 
LdSH (RC) Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians)

 
19th Alberta Dragoons

ONT    R
ONT R Ontario Regiment

P E I R
PEIR Prince Edward Island Regiment

QY  RANG
QY RANG Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment)

 
Le Regiment de Hull

R C D
RCD Royal Canadian Dragoons

R C H
RCH Royal Canadian Hussars

SASK  D
SASK D Saskatchewan Dragoons

 
7th/11th Hussars

 
Sherbrooke Hussars

 
Sherbrooke Regiment

S A L H
SALH South Alberta Light Horse

 
12th Manitoba Dragoons

WINDSOR   R
WINDSOR R The Windsor Regiment

Infantry Regiments/Units

ALG    R
ALG R The Algonquin Regiment

 
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's)

R H C

RHC The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada (popularly known as the Royal Highlanders of Canada)

 
The Brockville Rifles

CALG HIGHRS
CALG HIGHRS The Calgary Highlanders

R C H A
CH When unable to obtain the proper pattern title, some Calgary Highlanders apparently picked out the "R" and "A" from the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery titles.1

 
The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa

wings over
CANADA

 CANADA The Canadian Airborne Regiment

 
The Canadian Grenadier Guards

CDN  GDS
CDN GDS The Canadian Guards

C  SCOT   R
C SCOT R The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's)

 
The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment

48   HIGHRS
48 HIGHRS 48th Highlanders of Canada

 
Les Fusilier Mont Royal

 
Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke

 
Les Fusiliers de St. Laurent

G G F G

GGFG The Governor General's Foot Guards

 
The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment

 
The Highland Fusiliers of Canada

 
The Highland Light Infantry of Canada

 
The Irish Fusiliers of Canada (Vancouver Regiment)

 
The Irish Regiment of Canada

 
The Lake Superior Scottish Regiment

 
The Lanark and Renfrew Scottish Regiment

 
The Lincoln and Welland Regiment

 
The Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment)

 
The Loyal Edmonton Regiment

N   SASK  R
N SASK R The North Saskatchewan Regiment

 
The Nova Scotia Highlanders

 
The Perth Regiment

 
The Princess Louise Fusiliers

 
The Princess of Wales' Own Regiment

P P C L I

PPCLI Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

 
The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada

Q O R

QOR The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada

 
Regiment de Joliette

 
Le Regiment de la Chaudiere

 
Regiment de Maisonneuve

 
Regiment du Saguenay

 
Regina Rifle Regiment

 
Rocky Mountain Rangers

R C R
RCR The Royal Canadian Regiment

 
The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment)

 
The Royal Montreal Regiment

 
The Royal New Brunswick Regiment

 
The Royal Newfoundland Regiment

 
The Royal Regina Rifles

R  REGT   C
R REGT C The Royal Regiment of Canada

 
The Royal Rifles of Canada

R   22e  R
R 22e R Royal 22e Regiment

 
The Royal Westminster Regiment

 
The Royal Winnipeg Rifles

 
The Scots Fusiliers of Canada

 
The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada

 
The South Saskatchewan Regiment

 
The Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders

 
The Toronto Scottish Regiment

 
The Victoria Rifles of Canada

 
Les Voltigeurs de Quebec

 
The Westminster Regiment

 
The West Nova Scotia Regiment

 
The Winnipeg Grenadiers

 
The Yukon Regiment

Support Units

1 MP PL
1 MP PL 1 Military Police Platoon

1 SVC BN
1 SVC BN 1 Service Battalion

14 SVC BN
14 SVC BN 14 (Calgary) Service Battalion

1.  Comment based on an interview and an original item in the collection of Lieutenant Colonel (ret) H.V. O'Connor, CD, Commanding Officer of the Calgary Highlanders and now in possession of the webmaster.
2.  Comment based on original item in possession of John Cameron, curator, Canadian Military Police Virtual Museum.
3.  Comment based on original item in possession of Geoff Middleton.