5th Medium Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery

The 5th Medium Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery, was one of six Canadian medium regiments that saw service in Britain and continental Europe in the Second World War, the others being the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 7th Medium Regiments. (There was no 6th Medium.)

The 5th Medium Regiment was formed in England from two non-permanent batteries, namely the 7th Medium Battery (Montreal, Quebec) and the 23rd Medium Battery (Toronto, Ontario), on 22 September 1941. The regiment at this time was temporarily placed under the command of Major A. Bruce Matthews, who subsequently was promoted to Lt. Colonel. Prior to the creation of the 5th Medium Regiment, the 7th Medium Battery had been paired with the 2nd Medium Battery (Charlottetown, PEI) of the 1st Medium Regiment RCA. Similarly, the 23rd Medium Battery also belonged to the 1st Medium Regiment RCA and had been paired with the 3rd Medium Battery (Kingston, Ontario). It was not uncommon for members of each Battery to identify themselves by geographic location instead of by Battery number (e.g., as an Islander if 2nd Battery, or from Kingston, if 3rd Battery). Throughout the war there was always a friendly rivalry between these Medium batteries.

After the completion of the regiment's formation in England, in a manner of questionable legality, the 5th Medium became the first fully armed medium regiment in the UK. Paraphrased from the 5th Medium unpublished diary: in an “alcoholic orgy of bargaining,” two Battery captains, Reiner and Hogarth, ‘bought’ eight new 5.5 inch guns from an officer in charge of the supply gun park for the bargain price of 300 cigarettes. All the guns arrived by the end of September 1941 making the 5th Medium the first regiment to be fully outfitted with armaments. Similarly, Lt. General AGL McNaughton was interested in conducting user trials of this new weapon. The 5th Medium conducted the user trials of the new artillery piece in January 1942 at Larkhill, England.

By October 1942, Lt. Colonel Matthews left the unit and was replaced by Lt Colonel Suttie. In this time before Christmas, the 5th Medium conducted a live fire demonstration for Lt. General AGL McNaughton and continued further training at Sennybridge. After two lively Christmas parties, the 5th Medium settled down for more training in the New Year.

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