The Essex Scottish was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

of the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also res ...

until 1954.

History

Founded in 1885 as the 21st Essex Battalion of Infantry, it went through several name changes including: 1887 - 21st Battalion, Essex Fusiliers; 1900 - 21st Regiment, Essex Fusiliers; 1920 - The Essex Fusiliers, acquiring its present title in 1927. During World War II the regiment was among the first Canadian units to see combat in the European theatre during the invasion of Dieppe. By the end of The Dieppe Raid, the Essex Scottish Regiment had suffered 121 fatal casualties, with many others wounded and captured. The Essex Scottish later participated in

Operation Atlantic Operation Atlantic (18–21 July 1944) was a Canadian offensive during the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War. The offensive, launched in conjunction with Operation Goodwood by the Second Army, was part of operations to seize the French c ...

and was slaughtered attempting to take

Verrières Ridge Verrières is the name or part of the name of several communes in France: * Verrières, Ardennes * Verrières, Aube * Verrières, Aveyron * Verrières, Charente * Verrières, Marne * Verrières, Orne * Verrières, Puy-de-Dôme * Verrières, ...

on July 21. By the war's end, the Essex Scottish Regiment had suffered over 550 war dead; its 2,500 casualties were the most of any unit in the Canadian army during the Second World War. In 1954, as a result of the Kennedy Report on the Reserve Army, this regiment was amalgamated with

The Kent Regiment The Kent Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. In 1954 it was amalgamated with The Essex Scottish Regiment to form The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment. Lineage The Kent Regiment * Originated on 1 January 1901, in Chatha ...

to form

The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment The Essex and Kent Scottish is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. The regiment was formed in 1954 by the amalgamation of The Essex Scottish Regiment and The Kent Regiment. Its colonel-in-chief is Prince Michael of Kent ...

. The Essex Scottish before amalgamation held its final order of precedence as 40.

Alliances and uniform

The Essex Scottish were allied to

The Essex Regiment The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. ...

and were kitted with a balmoral with red and white diced border, scarlet doublet, white sporran with two black points, red and black hose, spats with black buttons, blue shoulder straps with white cross stripes and piping with full dress only for pipers and drummers, who also wore a feather bonnet with white hackle. They wore the red and green tartan of

Clan Gregor Clan Gregor, also known as Clan MacGregor, () is a Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan that claims an origin in the early 9th century. The clan's most famous member is Rob Roy MacGregor of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The Clan ...

Perpetuations

The regiment perpetuated the following units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force:

Great War

18th Battalion (Western Ontario), CEF The 18th Battalion (Western Ontario), CEF, was an infantry battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the Great War. History The battalion was authorized on 7 November 1914 and embarked for Great Britain on 18 April 1915. It disembarked ...

99th Battalion (Essex), CEF The 99th Battalion (Essex), CEF, was an infantry battalion of the World War I, Great War Canadian Expeditionary Force. The 99th Battalion was authorized on 22 December 1915 and embarked for Great Britain on 31 May 1916, where, on 6 July 1916, its pe ...

241st (Canadian Scottish Borderers) Battalion, CEF The 241st (Canadian Scottish Borderers) Battalion, CEF was a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. Based in Windsor, Ontario, the unit began recruiting in the spring of 1916 in Essex County. After sailing to Engla ...

Battle honours

First World War

Ypres, 1915 During the First World War, the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from for control of the tactically important high ground to the east and south of the Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The First Battle of Ypres had been fought the pre ...

, '17 *

Festubert, 1915 The Battle of Festubert (15–25 May 1915) was an attack by the British army in the Artois region of France on the western front during World War I. The offensive formed part of a series of attacks by the French Tenth Army and the British ...

* Mount Sorrel *

Somme, 1916 The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place be ...

, '18 * Flers-Courcelette *

Thiepval Thiepval (; pcd, Tièbvo) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Thiepval is located north of Albert at the crossroads of the D73 and D151 and approximately northeast of Amiens. Population First Wo ...

Ancre Heights The Ancre (; ) is a river of Picardy, France. Rising at Miraumont, a hamlet near the town of Albert, it flows into the Somme at Corbie. It is long. For most of its length it flows through the department of Somme. For a short stretch near P ...

Arras, 1917 The Battle of Arras (also known as the Second Battle of Arras) was a British offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. From 9 April to 16 May 1917, British troops attacked German defences near the French city of Arras on the ...

, '18 *

Vimy, 1917 The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions o ...

Hill 70 The Battle of Hill 70 took place in the First World War between the Canadian Corps and five divisions of the German 6th Army. The battle took place along the Western Front on the outskirts of Lens in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France ...

* Passchendaele *

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

* Scarpe, 1918 *

Hindenburg Line The Hindenburg Line (German: , Siegfried Position) was a German defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to Laffaux, near Soissons on the Aisne. In 1916 ...

* Canal du Nord *

Cambrai, 1918 The Battle of Cambrai, 1918 (also known as the Second Battle of Cambrai) was a battle between troops of the British First, Third and Fourth Armies and German Empire forces during the Hundred Days Offensive of the First World War. The battle ...

Pursuit to Mons Pursuit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''Pursuit'' (1935 film), a 1935 American action film * ''Pursuit'' (1972 American film), a made-for-TV film directed by Michael Crichton * ''Pursuit'' (1972 Hong Kong film), a Shaw Brot ...

* France and Flanders 1915–18

Second World War

* Dieppe Raid (1942) *

Battle of Verrières Ridge The Battle of Verrières Ridge was a series of engagements fought as part of the Battle of Normandy, in Calvados, during the Second World War. The main combatants were two Canadian infantry divisions—with additional support from the Canadian ...

(1944) * liberation of Dieppe (1944) *

Battle of the Scheldt The Battle of the Scheldt in World War II was a series of military operations led by the First Canadian Army, with Polish and British units attached, to open up the shipping route to Antwerp so that its port could be used to supply the Alli ...

(1944) *The Rhine (1944–1945) *Northwestern Europe

Victoria Cross and George Cross recipients

* Major Frederick Albert Tilston VC,

Gazetted A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

on 22 May 1945.

References

{{Reflist *Barnes, RM, ''The Uniforms and History of the Scottish Regiments'', London, Sphere Books Limited, 1972.

External links

Veteran Affairs Canada
Essex Scottish Regiment Highland & Scottish regiments of Canada Military units and formations of Ontario Infantry regiments of Canada in World War II Military units and formations established in 1885 Military units and formations disestablished in 1954