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The Governor General's Horse Guards
was a regiment of cavalry formed in the Canadian Army as
part of the Militia. The unit later converted to armour, and
continued its service into the 21st Century as an armoured
reconnaissance regiment.
Lineage
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27
December 1885 1st and 2nd Troops of Volunteer Militia
Cavalry of the County of York authorized
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1st Troop
redesignated The Governor General's Body Guard for
Upper Canada on 27 April 1866
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Redesignated The Governor General's Body Guard for
Ontario 1 July 1867, reorganized as two troop
squadron on 5 May 1876, and again as regiment on 17 May
1889 by amalgamation with 1st Troop, 2nd Regiment of
Cavalry and 2nd Troop, 2nd Regiment of Cavalry.
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Redesignated The Governor General's Body Guard on
13 July 1895
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Amalgamated with The Mississauga Horse on 15 December
1936 to become The Governor General's Horse Guards
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Converted
to armour and redesignated 3rd (Reserve) Armoured
Regiment (The Governor General's Horse Guards) on 1
April 1941
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Redesignated The Governor General's Horse Guards (3rd
Armoured Regiment) on 4 February 1949
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Redesignated The Governor General's Horse Guards
on 19 May 1958
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The
Governor General's Horse Guards |
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Headquarters:
Downsview, ON
Perpetuates: 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles
Battalion; 7th Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles;
and the 216th Battalion, CEF
Authorized: 17 May 1889 (seniority to 27
December 1855)
Status as of 31 December 1999: Active Militia
Regiment |
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History
The Governor General's Body
Guard for Ontario served as a unit in the North West
Rebellion in 1885, guarding General Middleton's lines of
communication. The Governor General's Body Guard also
contributed individual volunteers to Canadian contingents
serving overseas in the Second Boer War 1899-1902.
The Governor General's Body
Guard and the 9th Mississauga Horse both contributed
volunteers for the 3rd and 2nd Battalions of the Canadian
Expeditionary Force, respectively, at the beginning of the
First World War, and later recruited for the 4th Regiment,
Canadian Mounted Rifles, CEF. The 9th Mississauga Horse also
recruited for the 7th Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles, CEF.
The 4th Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles served overseas
with the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles Brigade until
reorganization in January 1916, when it became the 4th
Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion, CEF and served as a
regular infantry battalion and component of the 8th Infantry
Brigade of the 3rd Canadian Division. Private T.W. Holmes
was awarded the Victoria Cross for actions performed while
serving with this battalion. The 7th Regiment, Canadian
Mounted Rifles (less its "A" Squadron, which was reorganized
in Canada as a divisional cavalry squadron) was reformed as
the Canadian Mounted Rifles Depot in the United Kingdo.
Details of The Governor
General's Horse Guards were placed on active service on 1
September 1939 for local protective duty. On 24 May 1940,
the regiment mobilized the 2nd Canadian Motorcycle Regiment,
Canadian Active Service Force (Governor General's Horse
Guards). On 9 February 1941, the unit reverted to its former
designation of The Governor General's Horse Guards and two
days later officially became the 3rd Armoured Regiment (The
Governor General's Horse Guards). The active unit embarked
for the United Kingdom on 9 October 1941, and was
redesignated the 3rd Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment (The
Governor General's Horse Guards) on 1 January 1943. It moved
to Italy on 19 December 1943 and served as the armoured
reconnaissance regiment of the 5th Canadian (Armoured)
Division. In actual practice, the two Canadian armoured
reconnaissance regiments were outfitted and equipped almost
identically to standard armoured regiments, with three
squadrons of Sherman tanks, though their role in action may
have been different. The regiment moved to North-West Europe
on 16 February 1945 and disbanded on 31 January 1946. A 3rd
(Reserve) Armoured Regiment (The Governor General's Horse
Guards) remained in Canada as part of the Reserve Army.
Traditions
Regimental Quick Marches:
Men of Harlech
Motto: Nulli Secundus (Latin: Second to None)
Battle Honours
North West Canada, 1885
Mount Sorrel
Flers-Courcelette
Arras, 1917, '18
Hill 70
Passchendaele
Scarpe, 1918
Canal du Nord
Valenciennes
France and Flanders, 1915-18
Melfa Crossing
Lamone Crossing
Fosso Munio
Ijsselmeer |
South Africa,
1900
Somme, 1916
Ancre Heights
Vimy, 1917
Ypres, 1917
Amiens
Hindenburg Line
Cambrai, 1918
Sambre
Liri Valley
Gothic Line
Misano Ridge
Italy, 1944-45
North-West Europe, 1945 |
Insignia
Regiments and Corps describes
the regimental badge as
The Garter and motto "HONI
SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE" surmounted by the Crown;
within the Garter a unicorn, rampant, gorged with a
coronet composed of crosses patee and fleur-de-lis, a
chain affixed thereto; below, a scroll inscribed "NULLI
SECUNDUS".1
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