Royal Canadian Dragoons (Special Service Force)
| The Royal Canadian Dragoons | |
|---|---|
Cap badge of The Royal Canadian Dragoons
|
|
| Active | 1883–present |
| Country |
 Canada |
| Branch |
 Canadian Army
|
| Type | Line cavalry |
| Role |
Armoured Armoured reconnaissance |
| Size | One regiment |
| Part of | 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group |
| Garrison/HQ | Petawawa |
| Motto(s) | Audax et celer (Bold and swift) |
| March | "Monsieur Beaucaire" "Light of Foot" (Dismounted) |
| Mascot(s) | Springbok |
| Anniversaries |
Leeuwarden Leliefontein |
| Equipment | See equipment (below) |
| Engagements | Leliefontein |
| Battle honours | See Battle honours (below) |
| Commanders | |
| Colonel-in-chief | Charles, Prince of Wales |
| Colonel of the regiment | Major-General M. Macdonald, OMM, MBE, CD |
| 56th Commanding officer | Lieutenant-Colonel Fraser Auld, CD |
| Regiment sergeant major | Chief Warrant Officer James Hebert, MMM, CD |
The Royal Canadian Dragoons (RCD) is an armoured regiment of the Canadian Army. It is one of three armoured regiments in the Regular Force and forms part of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps.
The colonel-in-chief of the RCD is Charles, Prince of Wales. The current Commanding Officer is Lieutenant-Colonel Auld, and the current Regimental Sergeant Major is Chief Warrant Officer Hebert.
The regiment is made up of Headquarters, "A", "B", "C" and "D" Squadrons. "A", "B" and "D" Squadrons, based at CFB Petawawa, are reconnaissance squadrons. Each have Coyote Reconnaissance Vehicles. "C" Squadron, based at CFB Gagetown, is equipped with 21 Leopard 2 tanks (A4's, A4M's and A6M's) and the squadron consists of both Dragoons and members of 12e Régiment blindé du Canada.
Lineage of the Royal Canadian Dragoons:
The Cavalry School Corps mobilized A Troop on 10 April 1885 for active service. It served with the Alberta Column of the North-West Field Force until it was removed from active service on 18 September 1885.
The Canadian Mounted Rifles were authorized on 20 December 1899. On 28 December 1899 it was reorganized as two separate battalions, designated as the 1st and 2nd Battalions, Canadian Mounted Rifles. The 1st Battalion was redesignated as The Royal Canadian Dragoons (Special Service Force) on 1 August 1900. The battalion embarked for South Africa on 21 February 1900, where it fought as part of the 1st Brigade, 1st Mounted Infantry Corps and as part of Maj.-Gen. Smith-Dorrien's column until its departure from the theatre of operations on 13 December 1900. The overseas regiment was disbanded on 21 January 1901.
The regiment was placed on active service on 6 August 1914 for instructional and camp administration duties. On 14 September 1914 the regiment mobilized The Royal Canadian Dragoons, CEF, which embarked for England on 3 October 1914. On 5 May 1915 it disembarked in France, where it fought dismounted in an infantry role as part of Seely's Detachment (really the Canadian Cavalry Brigade), 1st Canadian Division. On 24 January 1916, it remounted and resumed its cavalry role as part of the 1st Canadian Cavalry Brigade with whom it continued to fight in France and Flanders until the end of the war. The overseas regiment disbanded on 6 November 1920.
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Wikipedia