The 3rd Battalion (Toronto Regiment), Canadian Expeditionary Force was an infantry

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

of the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 15 August 1914, with an initial strength of one infantry division ...

that saw service in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was created on 2 September 1914 with recruits from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, primarily from the

Queen's Own Rifles of Canada ("In peace prepared") , colours = None (Rifle regiments have no colours) , march = , mascot = , battle_honours = See #Battle honours , website ...

with additional drafts from the 10th Royal Grenadiers and the Governor General's Body Guard.

History

The battalion organized and trained at

Camp Valcartier Canadian Forces Base Valcartier (CFB Valcartier), now re-designated 2 Canadian Division Support Base Valcartier (2 CDSB Valcartier), is a Canadian Forces base located in the municipality of Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, north northwest of Quebe ...

before sailing for England from

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

on board the on 25 September 1914. They arrived in England on 16 October with a strength of 42 officers and 1123 men. The battalion became part of the

1st Canadian Division The 1st Canadian Division (French: ''1re Division du Canada'' ) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very short ...

1st Canadian Infantry Brigade The 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade was a Canadian Army formation that served with the 1st Canadian Division in World Wars I and II. In 1953 it was reformed in Germany, to become the 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in 1992. William Antrobus ...

where it saw action at Ypres,

Vimy Ridge 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 of ...

and along the Western Front. It was later reinforced by the

12th Canadian Reserve Battalion The 12th Battalion, CEF was an infantry battalion of the First World War Canadian Expeditionary Force. History It was authorized on 10 August 1914 and embarked for Britain on 30 September 1914, where it was redesignated the 12th Reserve Infant ...

. In the attack on Vimy Ridge, the battalion had a relatively easy time due to very successful artillery barrages but still lost around 150 killed or wounded. 286 soldiers of the 3rd Battalion were taken prisoner during the war - all but 21 during the

2nd Battle of Ypres 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 ...

during April and May 1915.

Demobilization, re-organization and perpetuation

The battalion returned to Canada from England on the SS Olympic arriving in Halifax on 21 April 1919, then in Toronto by train and demobilizing in the afternoon of 23 April 1919. Only 40 of the original contingent from 1914 arrived back at the end of the war although others had been demobilized or taken prisoners of war. ee list below. With the re-organization of the Canadian Militia, it was recreated as The Toronto Regiment by General Order dated 1 May 1920. On 15 December 1936 it was amalgamated with the

Royal Grenadiers The Royal Grenadiers was an infantry regiment of the Non-Permanent Active Militia of the Canadian Militia (now the Canadian Army). The regiment was unique in its history as it was only one of two regiments in the Canadian Army to be designated ...

to form the Royal Regiment of Toronto Grenadiers which subsequently became the known as

The Royal Regiment of Canada , battle_honours = See #Battle honours , website = , identification_symbol = , identification_symbol_label = Tactical recognition flash , nickname = Royals , battles ...

, 11 February 1939. Today the battalion is perpetuated by

The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada ("In peace prepared") , colours = None (Rifle regiments have no colours) , march = , mascot = , battle_honours = See #Battle honours , website ...

and

The Royal Regiment of Canada , battle_honours = See #Battle honours , website = , identification_symbol = , identification_symbol_label = Tactical recognition flash , nickname = Royals , battles ...

Commanding officers

All three Commanding Officers had previously served in the Canadian Militia with

The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada ("In peace prepared") , colours = None (Rifle regiments have no colours) , march = , mascot = , battle_honours = See #Battle honours , website ...

:A Brief History of the 3rd Canadian Battalion, CEF Toronto Regiment (no author or date) * August 1914 to November 1915 - Lieutenant Colonel

Robert Rennie Major General Robert Rennie (December 15, 1862 – December 17, 1949) was the son of William Rennie, the founder of Rennie Seeds, a successful wholesaler and retailer of both vegetable and floral seeds, and Sarah Glendinning. William retired in ...

, MVOLieutenant Colonel Robert Rennie, MVO
/ref> (later Major General Rennie, CB, CMG, DSO, MVO, VD) * November 1915 to October 1916
Lieutenant Colonel William D. Allan, DSO
(He died as the results of an earlier wound.) * October 1916 to April 1919
Lieutenant Colonel Joseph B. Rogers, CMG, DSO, MC

Battle honours

The following battle honours were awarded the regiment for service in France and Belgium (those in capital letters were authorized to be shown on the Regimental Colours): *

YPRES 1915 Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

* Gravenstafel * ST JULIEN * FESTUBERT 1915 * MOUNT SORREL * SOMME 1916 *

Pozières Pozières (; ) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The commune is situated on the D929 road, northeast of Amiens between Albert and Bapaume, on the Pozières ridge. Southwest of the village on ...

* Flers-Courcelette *

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 Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of t ...

VIMY 1917 Vimy ( or ; ; Dutch: ''Wimi'') is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Located east of Vimy is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial dedicated to the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the Canadian soldiers ...

Arleux Arleux () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Geography The river Sensée joins the Canal du Nord at Arleux. Population Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes o ...

* Scarpe 1917 *

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 b ...

Ypres, 1917 The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by t ...

* 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 ...

Arras, 1918 Arras 1918 was a battle honour awarded to units of the British and Imperial Armies that took part in one or more of the following engagements in World War I: * First Battle of Arras (28 March 1918) *Second Battle of Arras The Battle of Arras (a ...

Scarpe 1918 Scarpe may refer to: *Scarpe river, in France *Battle of the Scarpe (disambiguation), four Battles of the Scarpe were fought during World War I *USS Scarpe (SP-713), a United States Navy ship *Scarpe Mountain Scarpe may refer to: * Scarpe river, i ...

* DROCOURT-QUEANT *

Hindenberg Line The Hindenburg Line (German: , Siegfried Position) was a German Defense line, defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to La ...

CANAL DU NORD The Canal du Nord (, literally ''Canal of the North'') is a long canal in northern France. The canal connects the Canal latéral à l'Oise at Pont-l'Évêque to the Sensée Canal at Arleux. The French government, in partnership with coal-min ...

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 The Western Front was one of the main Theatre (warfare), theatres of war during the First World War. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army (German Empire), German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and B ...

Honours Awarded

* 2

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

es (VC) * 1

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) * 11

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

(DSO) * 2 Bars to the

* 1 Officer of the Most Excellent

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) * 50

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

es * 11 Bars to the

* 42

Distinguished Conduct Medal The Distinguished Conduct Medal was a decoration established in 1854 by Queen Victoria for gallantry in the field by other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military decoration, ranki ...

s * 235

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award ...

s * 23 Bars to the

* 6

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: * Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Me ...

s * 9 Foreign Decorations * 44

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Transcribed War Diaries of the 3rd Battalion, CEF
19 October 1914 to 28 February 1919

003 003, O03, 0O3, OO3 may refer to: *003, fictional British 00 Agent *003, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian ambulance service (until 1986) *1990 OO3, the asteroid 6131 Towen * OO3 gauge model railway *''O03 (O2)'' and other related ...

Queen's Own Rifles of Canada Military units and formations of Ontario 1914 establishments in Ontario Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 Royal Regiment of Canada