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The Royal Canadian Armoured Corps (RCAC; french: links=no, Corps blindé royal canadien) is the armoured corps within the Canadian Army, including 3 Regular and 18 Reserve Force regimentsThe Regiments and Corps of the Canadian Army (Queen's Printer, 1964) as well as the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps School. The corps was formed as the Canadian Armoured Corps in 1940, within the Canadian Army (Active). In August 1945, it was given its "royal" designation, and following the Second World War, several Reserve Force units were incorporated into the corps. From 1968 until 2013 it was officially named the Armoured Branch.


History


Pre-1940

Originally formed as the Canadian Cavalry Corps in 1910, Canada's first tank units were not raised until late in 1918. Initially these units were considered to be part of the Machine Gun Corps and the 1st Canadian Tank Battalion, 2nd Canadian Tank Battalion and the 3e Bataillon de chars d'assaut were all too late to join the fighting in the First World War. However, the 1st Canadian Tank Battalion was still training in
Mark V tank The British Mark V tank was an upgraded version of the Mark IV tank. The tank was improved in several aspects over the Mark IV, chiefly the new steering system, transmission and 150  bhp engine, but it fell short in other areas, particular ...
s in the U.K. when the Canadian Tank Corps was finally authorized two days after the armistice. It seems like tanks were forgotten by the Cavalry after the war. Although, in the 1930s there were some small attempts at mechanization with motorcycles, experimental armoured cars and the purchase of a few tracked Carden-Loyd machine gun carriers for training. However, the first tanks since the First World War did not arrive until a few machine gun armed Vickers Mark VI light tanks appeared just one year before Canada went to war with Germany again.


Regimental Heritage

Canadian armoured regiments split their heritage between two primary sources. The first being the
cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in ...
corps, from which many armoured regiments were created and in fact the first "armoured" regiments were titled "mechanized cavalry" regiments, and the second being the tank corps (which formerly belonged to first the infantry and then the machine gun corps). This began in 1936 with the creation of tank battalions and continued on from 1940 when many other types of regiment were mobilized as armoured units for the Second World War.


The Second World War

From these modest beginnings the modern Canadian Armoured Corps began on 13 August 1940 with Major-General (then Colonel)
F. F. Worthington Major-General Frederic Franklin Worthington MC, MM, CD (September 17, 1889 – December 8, 1967), nicknamed "Worthy" and "Fighting Frank", was a senior Canadian Army officer. He is considered the father of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps ...
as its first colonel-commandant. Over the course of the war from 1939 to 1944, the Armoured Corps gradually took over responsibilities from other Corps, such as Tank Regiments all being converted to Armoured Regiments, the transition of infantry reconnaissance battalions to the Armoured Corps, as well as anti-armour responsibilities from the Artillery Corps. Towards the close of the Second World War, the Corps was subsequently bestowed the honour of the 'Royal' designation by King George VI in 1945. Initially its equipment was 219 US
M1917 tank The M1917 was the United States' first mass-produced tank, entering production shortly before the end of World War I.Zaloga (Armored Thunderbolt) p. 2 It was a license-built near-copy of the French Renault FT, and was intended to arm the Americ ...
s – a First World War design – obtained at scrap prices. They were sufficient for some training and familiarisation, but otherwise of very limited combat use. To form the 1st Army Tank Brigade, Valentine tanks were ordered. This British design was to be built in Canada. Aside from the necessary adjustments to the design to incorporate local engineering standards and available components, the Canadian Valentines used a GMC engine. This engine, being an improvement over the original, was later applied to British production. In practice, Canada never used most of the 1,400 Valentines they built as they were supplied under lend-lease to the Soviet Union. In early 1941 the 1st Tank Brigade was sent to Britain and equipped with the
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infantry tank. For the formation of two armoured divisions it was expected that 1,200 cruiser tanks were needed. The United Kingdom was not in a position to supply them, as it had shortfalls in supply for its own needs. This meant that Canada had to develop its own production. To this end a tank arsenal was set up under the management of a subsidiary of a US firm engaged in tank production in order to build the Ram and
Grizzly The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...
tanks and their variants in Canada. Events of the Second World War would thrust Canada into large scale tank production with thousands of Valentine, Ram, and Grizzly (Sherman) tanks and their armoured variants being produced. Canada would also go on to build modern armoured fighting vehicles that served during the Cold War, the War in Afghanistan and global peacekeeping operations.


Post-War

In 1968, with the unification of the Canadian Army into the
Canadian Armed Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...
, the name of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps was changed to simply the Armour Branch. Despite the change however, the Corps continued to use its traditional title. In 2003, Canada planned to replace all its tanks with lightweight Mobile Gun Systems. In 2007, due to experience gained during
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, Leopard tanks were purchased.



As of April 2013, the traditional designation of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps has been restored for official use.


Training


Royal Canadian Armoured Corps School

The Royal Canadian Armoured Corps School at
CFB Gagetown 5th Canadian Division Support Base (5 CDSB) Gagetown, formerly known as and commonly referred to as CFB Gagetown, is a large Canadian Forces Base covering an area over , located in southwestern New Brunswick. Construction of the base At the ...
, New Brunswick, designs and conducts tactical and technical training for armoured crewmen and officers, in addition to maintaining specialized qualifications on behalf of the Canadian Army. Crewmen and officers are trained on the Leopard 2A4 MBT, Coyote Reconnaissance Vehicle, LAV-6, and Textron Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle.http://www.rockymountainrangers.ca/?p=eductraining Canadian Forces Schools


Tactics School

The Tactics School at CFB Gagetown develops, conducts and monitors combined-arms operations. Within a battle group context, the Tactics School focusses on tactics, techniques, and procedures at the combat team level. The Tactics School's mission is to educate and train army junior officers in the integration of combat functions at the combat team level on the tactical battlefield.


Regular Force

A doctrinal Canadian armoured regiment consists of four squadrons of medium to heavy tanks, as well as a close reconnaissance troop equipped with light tanks and/or
armoured cars Armored (or armoured) car or vehicle may refer to: Wheeled armored vehicles * Armoured fighting vehicle, any armed combat vehicle protected by armor ** Armored car (military), a military wheeled armored vehicle * Armored car (valuables), an arm ...
. When required an armoured regiment will be tasked to provide an armoured squadron to its higher formation to provide it with a formation mounted reconnaissance capability.


Primary Reserve


Supplementary Order of Battle

Units on the Supplementary Order of Battle legally exist, but have no personnel or matériel.


Equipment

List of current vehicles operated by the RCAC include:


List of Canadian tanks and combat vehicles of the First and Second World War to present


Order of precedence

RCHA on parade without guns: (See note below) RCHA on parade with guns: (See note below) ''Note:'' The honour of "The Right of the Line" (precedence over other units), on an army parade, is held by the units of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery when on parade with their guns. On dismounted parades, RCHA units take precedence over all other land force units except formed bodies of Officer Cadets of the Royal Military College representing their college. RCA units parade to the left of units of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps.


See also

*
Monarchy of Canada The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional federal structure and Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The monarchy is the founda ...
* Royal Armoured Corps *
Royal Australian Armoured Corps The Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC) is a corps of the Australian Army which provides the Australian Defence Force's armour capability. Armour combines firepower, mobility, protection and networked situational awareness to generate shock ...
*
Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps The Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps (RNZAC) is the overall umbrella grouping of Regular Force and Territorial Force units equipped with armoured vehicles in the New Zealand Army. The corps was formed in 1942 as the New Zealand Armoured Corps, ...
* : Armoured regiments of Canada * Supplementary Order of Battle *
Tanks of Canada The history and development of tanks in the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps can be broken down into smaller categories: their origin during World War I; the interwar period; World War II; the Cold War; and the modern era. Overview Originally ...
* List of modern Canadian Army equipment * List of infantry weapons and equipment of the Canadian military


References


External links


The Royal Canadian Armoured Corps Association

List of Civilian organizations with prefix "Royal" - Heritage Canada.
* List of civilian organizations with the prefix "Royal" prepared by th
Department of Canadian HeritageCanadian Forces RecruitingCanadian Forces and Department of National Defence


Media

* John Marteinson & Michael R. McNorgan "The Royal Canadian Armoured Corps - An Illustrated History" The Royal Canadian Armoured Corps Association 2000 {{Worthington Trophy Administrative corps of the Canadian Army Canadian Armed Forces personnel branches Nationstate armoured warfare branches Military units and formations established in 1940 Organizations based in Canada with royal patronage Military units and formations of Canada in World War II