The Royal Canadian Regiment

Royal Canadian Regiment
Cap badge of the Royal Canadian Regiment.
Active	21 December 1883 – Present
Country	Canada
Branch	Canadian Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Mechanized infantry (two battalions) light role/paratroop (one battalion) light role/primary reserve (one battalion)
Size	Regiment
Part of	Royal Canadian Infantry Corps
Garrison/HQ	RHQ – Petawawa 1st Battalion – Petawawa 2nd Battalion – Gagetown 3rd Battalion – Petawawa 4th Battalion – London
Nickname(s)	Royals
Motto(s)	Pro Patria (For Country)
March	Quick – "The Royal Canadian Regiment" (aka "St. Catharines") Slow – "Pro Patria"
Anniversaries	Regimental birthday – 21 December Paardeberg Day – 27 February Pachino Day – 10 July Mons Day – 10 November Kowang-San Day – 23 October
Decorations	Commander-in-Chief Unit Commendation – 1st Battalion: Afghanistan, Operation ARCHER, 2006.
Commanders
Colonel-in-Chief	HRH the Duke of Edinburgh
Colonel of the regiment	Major-General -Retired- J. Ivan Fenton, OMM, CD
Patrons	Judith Irving, Mike Holmes
Insignia
Tartan	Maple Leaf (2nd Bn pipes and drums)
Abbreviation	The RCR

The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. The regiment consists of four battalions, three in the Regular Force and one in the Primary Reserve (militia). The RCR is the senior infantry regiment in the Regular Force, but its 4th Battalion (formerly the London and Oxford Fusiliers) is ranked 11th in the order of precedence among infantry regiments in the Primary Reserve.

The RCR was originally authorized as the Infantry School Corps on 21 December 1883, and established its first three company stations at Fredericton, New Brunswick; St Jean, Quebec; and Toronto, Ontario. In 1887 a fourth Company was authorized and the next year was established at London, Ontario. Now consisting of three Regular Force battalions and one Reserve Force battalion, the regiment's four battalions are now stationed in Ontario and New Brunswick. With many of its soldiers drawn from Ontario and the Atlantic Provinces in recent decades, the regiment maintains a general connection as the "local" infantry regiment for eastern Canada.

The RCR maintains a Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) in Petawawa, Ontario, which has no operational command role but handles regimental affairs outside the responsibility of the individual Battalions. The Royal Canadian Regiment Museum is located within historic Wolseley Hall in London, Ontario. Wolseley Barracks in London has been continuously occupied by some element of the regiment since construction of Wolseley Hall was completed in 1888. At various times Wolseley Barracks has been the home of the Regimental Headquarters, the 1st and 2nd Battalions, and remains the home of the 4th Battalion today.

Lineage of the Royal Canadian Regiment:

The regiment contributed personnel to the various Task Forces and the Regular Force battalions served as the basis for several of the Task Forces that operated in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2014.