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Canadian Expeditionary
Force Study Group
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| Component: |
4th Canadian Mounted Rifles |
| Active Dates: |
March 15, 1915 - November 15,
1920 |
| Theatre of Operations: |
France |
| Major Battles/ Battle Honours: |
Mount Sorrel; Somme 1916;
Flers-Courcelette; Ancre Heights; Arras 1917, 1918; Vimy 1917;
Hill 70; Ypres 1917; Passchendaele; Amiens, Scarpe 1918;
Hindenburg Line; Canal du Nord; Cambrai 1918; Valenciennes. |
| Location of War Diaries: |
- Library and Archives Canada (WD
Link)
- CEFSG War Diary Transcription
(in progress = IP)
|
Background:
Love reports the 4th Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles was raised in
Toronto from the Governor General's Body Guard and the 9th Mississauga
Horse.
Stewart reports they served with the 2nd Mounted Rifle Brigade from
September 21, 1915 until January 1, 1916 when it was reorganized and
redesignated the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifle Battalion of the 8th
Brigade.
Library and Archives
Canada:
The 4th
Canadian Mounted Rifle Battalion was first organized as the 4th
Canadian Mounted Rifle Regiment in November 1914, under authorization
published in General Order 36 of 15 March 1915. The regiment was under
the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Vaux Chadwick. It was mobilized in
Toronto and recruited from the Governor Generals Foot Guards (GGFG),
2nd Dragoons, 9th Mississauga Horse and 25th Brant Dragoons.
The regiment embarked at Quebec on 18 July 1915 aboard HESPERIAN,
disembarking in England on 27 July 1915. Its strength was 31 officers
and 602 other ranks. The regiment arrived in France on 22 September
1915, becoming part of the 2nd Brigade, Canadian Mounted Rifles. Its
designation was changed from regiment to battalion on the formation of
the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade on 1 January 1916. The battalion
returned to Canada on 17 March 1919, was demobilized on 19 March 1919,
and was disbanded by General Order 207 of 15 November 1920.
The battalion supported a brass and pipe band.
The 4th Canadian Mounted Rifle Battalion was perpetuated by The
Mississauga Horse which, in 1936, amalgamated with The Governor
General's Body Guard forming The Governor General's Horse Guards.
Nicholson reports on the 1st Infantry Battalion on
the following pages (see the Matrix
Nicholson Transcriptions):
 | Mount Sorrel 149 |
| Somme 171, 182 |
| Bois de la Folie 254, 256 |
| Passchendaele 318-319 |
| Amiens 413 |
Adapted by rlaughton from Bennett:
| The 4th CMR became a CEF unit in September 1914
with drafts from four cavalry militia units in Ontario (Governor
General's Body Guard, 2nd Dragoons, 9th Mississauga Horse and
25th Brant Dragoons). At inception the unit was 28
officers and 577 NCOs and men.
The 4th CMR (orig. Ontario Mounted Rifles) was not called up
with the First Contingent but continued on their own to
organize and train, with 200 privately purchased horses.
Soon authority came to organize officially and the unit was
billeted at the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition grounds in
Toronto).
Shortly 500 new horses arrived, sadly without bridles and saddles,
so training continued bareback with rope bits.
First thought to be heading to Egypt, the 4th CMR soon learnt
that they would be called upon to supply horses as
"Chargers" for the officers of the 2nd Canadian
Division. Man and horse were to be split apart after all
this time training together.
In May 1915 the unit was asked to volunteer for overseas duty
as a dismounted unit. Although sad to lose their horses,
the men accepted the offer. They trained at
Niagara-on-the-Lake and then again at Valcartier in June
1915. At Valcartier they joined the 5th and 6th CMR to
form the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles Brigade.
After 8 months training in Canada, the first group of one officer
and 40 men sailed for England with the horses. The S.S.
Hesperian sailed with the rest of the 4th and 5th CMRs on July 17,
1915. They disembarked in Plymouth England on July 29th,
1915 where they were billeted at Dibgate Hill. After 2
months they move to Caesar's Camp on September 23, 1915, where
they received their equipment.
On October 24th, 1915 the men paraded to Folkestone from
where they disembarked for France, landing in Bolougne.
The troops went "up the line" on October 26th,
1915. By this time the 1st Canadian Division had been in
France a year, the 2nd Canadian Division only a month, however
the 3rd Canadian Division had still not formed. It would
shortly, with the addition of the Princess Patricia's Canadian
Light Infantry, The Royal Canadian Regiment, the 42nd Battalion (Royal
Highlanders of Canada) and the 49th Battalion.
From Marc Leroux: (Canadian
Great War Project)
4th Canadian Mounted Rifles, 8th Brigade
Area of Recruitment: Central Ontario/Toronto
S/N Block 19101 - 110000 (formerly 4001 - 5000)
Raised March 15, 1915
Disbanded Nov. 15, 1920
Absorbed the 6th CMR
Regimental History: 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles by Captain S. G.
Bennett M.C. (Royal Engineers) 1926
Initial draft from GGBD, 2nd Dragoons, 9th Mississauga Horse, 25th Brant Dragoons.
Originally commanded by Lieut.-Col. Vaux Chadwick (12-11-1914 to
23-6-1915)
Lieut. Col Sandford F. Smith D.S.O. (23-6-1915 to 7-3-1916)
Lieut. Col J. F. H. Ussher (6-3-1916 to 2-6-1916 - POW at Mount Sorrel
Lieut. Col H. D. Lockhart Gordon D.S.O. (7-6-1916 to 25-5-1916)
Lieut. Col W. R, Patterson D.S.O. (28-5-1917 to end of war)
Arrived in France 24-10-1915
Major Engagements: Mount Sorrel (Sanctuary Woods), The Somme, Vimy Ridge,
Passchendale, Hundred days.
Ended the war marching into Mons on 12 November 1918
The war diaries from the 4th CMR are reputed to be some of the best written. The
Adjutant responsible was Captain Gregory Clark,
who became one of Canada's best known writers, and whose columns I
remember looking forward to in the Weekend Magazine from the Montreal Star.
Page Editor: bearpaw
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Sub-Components:
Primary References:
| Bennett, S.G., Cpt. M.C. 1926. The
4th Canadian Mounted Rifles, 1914-1919. Murray Print Co.,
Toronto (Regimental Histories Canada- Internet Archives - McMaster
University - 408 pages PDF of DjVu).
|
| Nicholson, G. W. L. 1962. Official
History of the Canadian Army in the First World War: Canadian
Expeditionary Force 1914-1919. Queens Printer and Controller
of Stationary, Ottawa, Canada.
|
| Stewart, C. H. 1970. "Overseas" The
Lineages and Insignia of the Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914
-1919. Little & Stewart, Mission Press, Toronto, Canada.
|
| Love, D. W. 1999. "A Call to Arms"
The Organization and Administration of Canada's Military in World
War One. Bunker to Bunker Books, Winnipeg & Calgary,
Canada.
|
| Livesay, J. F. B. 1919. Canada's Hundred
Days: With the Canadian Corps from Amiens to Mons, Aug. 8 - Nov. 11,
1918. Thomas Allen, Toronto. (Available
on the Internet as an Archive Download) |
Secondary References:
Internet References:
| This Page Last
Updated On: |
Tuesday October 21, 2008 05:09:45 PM -0400
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