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The 95th
Saskatchewan Rifles was an infantry regiment of the
Canadian Army formed in the period before the First World
War.
Lineage
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5 July 1905 eight companies
raised in Assiniboia and Saskatchewan Districts,
Northwest Territories (Saskatchewan did not join
Confederation until 1 September 1905.)
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1 April 1907 95th Regiment
authorized
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1 May 1908 redesignated 95th
Rifles
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1 June 1909 redesignated 95th
Saskatchewan Rifles
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1 April 1912 redesignated 95th
Regiment
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16 September 1913 redesignated
95th Saskatchewan Rifles
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Amalgamated 15 March 1920 to
become The South Saskatchewan Regiment
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95th
Saskatchewan Rifles |
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Headquarters:
See article
Authorized: 1 April 1907
Amalgamated: 15 March 1920 to become The
South Saskatchewan Regiment
Followed by:
The Regina Rifle
Regiment
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History
Earlier units in Saskatchewan included
the Regina Home Guard, organized in March 1885 (redesignated the
Regina Volunteer Corps on 25 March 1885) which disbanded on 1
October 1885.
The regiment originally raised 8 companies on 5 July 1905; according
to regiments.org they were:
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A Company at Moose Jaw; moved 1 June
1910 to Prince Albert
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B Company at Moose Jaw; moved 15 May
1913 to Regina
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C Company at Regina; moved 15 May
1913 to Moose Jaw
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D Company at Regina
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E Company at Wolseley; moved 1 June
1909 to Regina
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F Company at Saskatoon; moved 1909
to Wolseley
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G Company at Prince Albert; moved 13
May 1908 to Saskatoon
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H Company at Prince Albert; moved
1909 to Saskatoon
After Saskatchewan's admission into
Confederation, the unit was officially authorized and titled the
95th Regiment; the unit was uniformed and equipped as a Rifle
regiment on 1 April 1908. The unit headquartered at Regina, with HQ
moving to Saskatoon on 7 August 1911.
On 1 April 1912, after being redesignated 95th Regiment once more,
headquarters transferred back to Regina, with F and G company
forming a new 105th Regiment headquarters in Saskatoon.
On 2 January 1913, A and B Companies also separated, to form the
60th Rifles and H Company separated to form the 52nd Regiment Prince
Albert Volunteers.
The 95th Regiment reorganized on 1 October 1915 to a four-company
establishment.
On 15 March 1920 the regiment was amalgamated as part of the Otter
Committee reorganizations with the 60th Rifles of Canada, to form
The South Saskatchewan Regiment.
On 15 May 1924, The Regina Rifle Regiment was reformed at Regina as
a reorganization of The South Saskatchewan Regiment.
Detailed
Pre-war History
The genesis of the
reformed regiment was in the reorganization of the Militia by Lord
Dundonald, the last General Officer Commanding the Forces (Canada).
After the entry of Saskatchewan into Confederation in 1905, an
Ontario lawyer named Frank Ford was appointed Deputy Attorney
General of the new province. As a captain in the 20th Regiment (The
Lorne Rifles), Ford was offered command of a new militia unit in
Saskatchewan with the rank of Major. The new regiment was gazetted
on 2 April 1907 and General Order No. 67 placed regimental
headquarters at Regina, with outlying companies as listed above.
Regimental badges were influenced by his family's coat of arms.
Throughout 1907, Ford
enlisted personnel for the regiment, though history has not recorded
the date of the first parade or name of the first soldiers to
enlist. It is believed the first regular parades occurred in the
spring of 1908.
The regiment adopted
Rifle regiment traditions (though it maintained a pipe band rather
than a bugle band), and was officially gazetted as the 95th
Saskatchewan Rifles in 1910. At the time of the change, companies
were located as follows:
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'A' and H Companies at Prince
Albert
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'B' Company at Moose Jaw
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Regimental Headquarters, 'C', 'D'
and 'E' Companies at Regina
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'F' and 'G' Companies at Saskatoon.
The Regiment grew in
1910 and 1911, "partly attributed to the sabre rattling of Kaiser
William of Germany" according to Scott-Calder's history, who also
attributes the general growth in population of Saskatchewan's cities
and a visit by Sir John French with the expansion.1
Field Force
Contributions
First World War
In September 1914,
the 95th Regiment provided provided drafts for the 10th Battalion,
CEF and 11th Battalion, CEF. According to regiments.org, volunteers
were also provided for other battalions
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1 November 1914
contributed volunteers to 28th Battalion, CEF
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6 July 1915
contributed volunteers to 68th Battalion, CEF
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31 January 1916
contributed volunteers to 195th Battalion, CEF
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September 1916
contributed volunteers to 249th Battalion, CEF
Notable
Personalities
Uniform Insignia
The word "EXCITAT" in
Latin is variously translated as "to rise", "to initiate" or "to
excite". The word on its own would normally be used in combination
with others to provide a more contextual meaning, such as Parva
scintilla saepe magnam flamam excitat ("The small sparkle often
initiates a large flame".)
Robert Lindsay (whose
grandfather served with the Regiment) describes the badges and motto
as such:
The
original badges of the 95th Regiment were of the conventional
type employed by many of the militia units of the era. The
badges for Officers were in silver and those worn by other ranks
in the same pattern but of dark metal. The figures '95' with a
circle of leaves surmounted by the Crown were prominent on the
cap badge. The motto 'Excitat' appeared at the base of a Demi-Lion
Rampant on the collar badges. This was the Ford Family Crest and
Motto. The larger crossbelt badge was shaped in the form of the
Rifles' Cross surmounted by the Crown. In the centre was the
Demi-Lion Rampant with the motto 'Excitat' underneath, the whole
circled with the designation 'Saskatchewan Rifles' and with
laurel and oak leaves. At the base was the word 'CANADA' and
underneath in roman numerals the figures 'XCV'. A complete set
of these badges is retained in the archives of the perpetuating
unit The Regina Rifle Regiment at Headquarters in Regina.2
Cap Badges
Collar Badges
Mazeas shows two
similar patterns of
collar badge, one for the 95th Regiment, the other for the 95th
Saskatchewan Rifles.
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Collar badges
for the 95th Regiment are illustrated as being issued in
left and right pairs. The badges measured 1-1/4" at the
widest point by by 1-1/4" tall according to Mazeas
(reference MM.256). They differ from MM.257 in that the mane
of the lion is shorter and tidier, the tail is curved
differently, and the wreath visible on the later pattern is
absent here. The scroll is also slightly longer in the later
pattern. |
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Collar badges
for the 95th Saskatchewan Rifles are illustrated as being
issued in left and right pairs. The badges measured 1-1/4"
at the widest point by by 1-1/4" tall according to Mazeas
(reference MM.257). The badges were approved by General
Order 67/1910. |
Metal Shoulder
Titles
Possibly a "95"
numeral.
Buttons
Smylie does not
list a distinctive button for this regiment.
Notes
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Major Donald George Scott-Calder, ED. The
History of the 28th (Northwest) Battalion, CEF (October 1914 -
June 1919), reproduced at the
NW Battalion website
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NW Battalion website accessed 22 Jun 2006.
Other References
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The Regiments and Corps of the Canadian Army (Queen's
Printer, Ottawa, ON, 1964)
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Love, David W. A
Call To Arms: The Organization and Administration of Canada's
Military in World War One (Bunker to Bunker Books,
Winnipeg, 1999.) ISBN 1894255038
