Royal Canadian Infantry Corps

The Royal Canadian Infantry Corps (French: Corps d'infanterie royal canadien) is the infantry corps of the Canadian Army and includes regular and reserve force regiments.

Royal Canadian Infantry Corps
Badge of the Royal Canadian Infantry Corps
Active	1942–present
Country	Canada
Branch	Canadian Army
Type	Personnel branch
Role	Infantry
Size	9 Regular Force battalions, 51 Reserve Force battalions
Motto(s)	Latin: Ducimus, lit. 'We lead'
Colours	Red and white
March	"The Canadian Infantryman"
Anniversaries	Founded 2 September 1942

Originally formed as the Canadian Infantry Corps on 2 September 1942 to encompass all existing infantry regiments, including regiments of foot guards, in the Canadian Army. The corps was granted its "royal" designation in 1947 and was designated Royal Canadian Infantry Corps 30 April 1947, to be redesignated The Royal Canadian Infantry Corps 22 March 1948, and revert to Royal Canadian Infantry Corps 17 February 1964.^[1]

The badge of the Royal Canadian Infantry Corps consists of Argent three maple leaves conjoined on one stem within an annulus Gules fimbriated and inscribed INFANTRY • INFANTERIE in letters Or, the whole ensigned by the Royal Crown proper set above a scroll Or inscribed with the Motto in letters Sable and surmounted by two rifles in saltire Or. The three maple leaves conjoined on one stem, taken from the Royal Arms of Canada, represent service to Canada, and the Crown, service to the sovereign. The crossed rifles denote infantry and have been used in badges of infantry units as well as of the officer cadet programme. Red and white are the national colours of Canada. "INFANTRY" and "INFANTERIE" are a form of the bilingual branch title and "DUCIMUS" is the motto of the corps.

In 1968, with the unification of the Canadian Army into the Canadian Armed Forces, the name of the Royal Canadian Infantry Corps was changed to simply the "Infantry Branch". As of April 2013, the traditional designation "Royal Canadian Infantry Corps" has been officially restored. Today, the administration and training of both the regular and reserve infantry that form part of the Canadian Army is the responsibility of the Infantry School (French: Ecole d'infanterie), which runs officer classification courses as well as NCO and Warrant Officer trades training at CFB Gagetown.

Tasks

• To destroy the enemy in close combat
• To defend a position by the holding of ground
• To fight as covering force troops
• To act as all or part of a reserve to counter-attack or block
• To participate in airmobile, airborne and amphibious operations
• To establish surveillance and conduct patrols
• To conduct security tasks, including rear area security
• To exploit the effects of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons

 

The camp flag of the Infantry Corps.

Regular Force

The 3rd Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment is the sole airmobile battalion of the Regular Force. The two other regular force regiments both retain a parachute company in their respective 3rd battalions.

Order of Precedence	Regiment	Sub-Units	Headquarters	Role
1	The Royal Canadian Regiment	1st Battalion	CFB Petawawa	mechanized infantry
		2nd Battalion	CFB Gagetown	mechanized infantry
		3rd Battalion	CFB Petawawa	light infantry/airmobile (two parachute companies, air assault company, mountain operations company)
2	Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry	1st Battalion	CFB Edmonton	mechanized infantry
		2nd Battalion	CFB Shilo	mechanized infantry
		3rd Battalion	CFB Edmonton	light infantry (parachute company, air assault company, mountain operations company)
3	Royal 22^e Régiment	1st Battalion	CFB Valcartier	mechanized infantry
		2nd Battalion	Quebec City	mechanized infantry
		3rd Battalion	CFB Valcartier	light infantry (parachute company, air assault company, mountain operations company)

After the Second World War the infantry was expanded to meet Canada's global responsibilities as part of NATO. Initially, the militia regiments provided men to a number of composite battalions:

Battalion	Formed	Disbanded
1st Canadian Infantry Battalion	1951	1953
2nd Canadian Infantry Battalion	1952	1953
1st Canadian Rifle Battalion	1951	1953
2nd Canadian Rifle Battalion	1952	1953
1st Canadian Highland Battalion	1951	1953
2nd Canadian Highland Battalion	1952	1953

In 1953 it was decided that the composite battalions would be regimented. The two Canadian Infantry battalions were amalgamated with the 3rd Battalions of both The Royal Canadian Regiment and Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry to form a new, four battalion regiment of foot guards, The Canadian Guards. The Rifle and Highland battalions were regimented by forming Regular Force units of the senior rifle and highland regiments of the Militia, The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada and The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada.

Regiment	Sub-Units	Formed	Disbanded	Former Unit
The Canadian Guards	1st Battalion	1953	1968	3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment
	2nd Battalion	1953	1970	3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
	3rd Battalion	1953	1957	1st Canadian Infantry Battalion
	4th Battalion	1953	1957	2nd Canadian Infantry Battalion
The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada	1st Battalion	1953	1970	1st Canadian Rifle Battalion
	2nd Battalion	1953	1968	2nd Canadian Rifle Battalion
The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada	1st Battalion	1953	1970	1st Canadian Highland Battalion
	2nd Battalion	1953	1970	2nd Canadian Highland Battalion
The Canadian Airborne Regiment	1st Commando	1968	1995	N/A
	2nd Commando	1968	1995
	3rd Commando	1979	1995

Reserve

Order of Precedence	Regiment	Headquarters	Role
1	The Governor General's Foot Guards	Ottawa, ON	Light Infantry
2	The Canadian Grenadier Guards	Montreal, QC	Light Infantry
3	The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada	Toronto, ON	Light Infantry
4	The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada	Montreal, QC	Light Infantry
5	Les Voltigeurs de Québec	Quebec City, QC	Light Infantry
6	The Royal Regiment of Canada	Toronto, ON	Light Infantry
7	The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment)	Hamilton, ON	Light Infantry
8	The Princess of Wales' Own Regiment	Kingston, ON	Light Infantry
9	The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment	Belleville, ON	Light Infantry
10	The Lincoln and Welland Regiment	St. Catharines, ON	Light Infantry
11	4th Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment	London, ON	Light Infantry
12	The Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada	Cambridge and Kitchener, ON	Light Infantry
13	The Grey and Simcoe Foresters	Barrie, ON	Light Infantry
14	The Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment)	Brampton, ON	Light Infantry
15	The Brockville Rifles	Brockville, ON	Light Infantry
16	The Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders	Cornwall, ON	Light Infantry
17	Les Fusiliers du S^t-Laurent	Rimouski, QC	Light Infantry
18	Le Régiment de la Chaudière	Lévis, QC	Light Infantry
19	4th Battalion, Royal 22^e Régiment (Châteauguay)	Laval, QC	Light Infantry
	6th Battalion, Royal 22^e Régiment	Saint-Hyacinthe, QC	Light Infantry
20	Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal	Montreal, QC	Light Infantry
21	The Princess Louise Fusiliers	Halifax, NS	Light Infantry
22	1st Battalion, The Royal New Brunswick Regiment	Fredericton, NB	Light Infantry
23	The West Nova Scotia Regiment	Aldershot, NS	Light Infantry
24	The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment	Bathurst, NB	Light Infantry
25	1st Battalion, The Nova Scotia Highlanders (North)	Truro, NS	Light Infantry
26	Le Régiment de Maisonneuve	Montreal, Quebec	Light Infantry
27	The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (Duke of Edinburgh's Own)	Ottawa, ON	Light Infantry
28	The Royal Winnipeg Rifles	Winnipeg, MB	Light Infantry
29	The Essex and Kent Scottish	Windsor, ON	Light Infantry
30	48th Highlanders of Canada	Toronto, ON	Light Infantry
31	Le Régiment du Saguenay	Saguenay, QC	Light Infantry
32	The Cape Breton Highlanders	Sydney, NS	Light Infantry
33	The Algonquin Regiment (Northern Pioneers)	North Bay, ON	Light Infantry
34	The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's)	Hamilton, ON	Light Infantry
35	The Lake Superior Scottish Regiment	Thunder Bay, ON	Light Infantry
36	The North Saskatchewan Regiment	Saskatoon, SK	Light Infantry
37	The Royal Regina Rifles	Regina, SK	Light Infantry
38	The Rocky Mountain Rangers	Kamloops, BC	Light Infantry
39	The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4th Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry)	Edmonton, AB	Light Infantry
40	The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada	Winnipeg, MB	Light Infantry
41	The Royal Westminster Regiment	New Westminster, BC	Light Infantry
42	The Calgary Highlanders	Calgary, AB	Light Infantry
43	Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke	Sherbrooke, QC	Light Infantry
44	The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada	Vancouver, BC	Light Infantry
45	The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's)	Victoria, BC	Light Infantry
46	The Royal Montreal Regiment	Westmount, Quebec	Light Infantry
47	2nd Battalion, The Irish Regiment of Canada^[2]	Sudbury, ON	Light Infantry
48	The Toronto Scottish Regiment (Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's Own)	Toronto, ON	Light Infantry
49	1st Battalion, The Royal Newfoundland Regiment	St. John's, NL	Light Infantry
	2nd Battalion, The Royal Newfoundland Regiment	Corner Brook, NL

Supplementary Order of Battle

Regiments on the Supplementary Order of Battle legally exist but have no personnel or materiel.

Regiment	Formed	To SOB	Headquarters
The Canadian Guards	1951	1970	Camp Petawawa
Victoria Rifles of Canada	1862	1965	Montreal, QC
The Royal Rifles of Canada	1862	1966	Quebec City, QC
Le Régiment de Joliette	1871	1964	Joliette, QC
The Perth Regiment	1886	1965	Stratford, ON
The South Saskatchewan Regiment	1905	1968	Estevan, SK
The Winnipeg Grenadiers	1908	1965	Winnipeg, MB
1st Battalion, The Irish Regiment of Canada	1915	1965	Toronto, ON
The Yukon Regiment	1962	1968	Whitehorse, YT

Order of precedence

Preceded by Communications and Electronics Branch

Royal Canadian Infantry Corps

Succeeded by Air Operations Branch

See also

•  Canada portal

• Royal Australian Infantry Corps
• Monarchy of Canada
• List of infantry weapons and equipment of the Canadian military
• List of equipment of the Canadian Army
• Supplementary Order of Battle

External links

• Canadian Forces and Department of National Defence
• List of Canadian organizations with royal patronage
• Monarchy of Canada
• List of Civilian organizations with prefix "Royal" - Heritage Canada.
• List of civilian organizations with the prefix "royal" prepared by the Department of Canadian Heritage

References

1. The Regiments and Corps of the Canadian Army. Ottawa: Queen's Printer. 1964.^{[page needed]}
2. The 1st Battalion was disbanded and added to the Supplementary Order of Battle on 31 March 1965; the 2nd Battalion was formed the same year by the conversion of the 58th Field Regiment, RCA, to infantry. The 1st Battalion has never been reformed.(canadiansoldiers.com 1965 Unit Listing)

 

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