1.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
2.
Canadian Army
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The Canadian Army is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canadian Armed Forces. As of September 2013 the Army has 21,600 regular soldiers, about 24,000 reserve soldiers, the Army is supported by 5,600 civilian employees. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is responsible for the Army Reserve. The Commander of the Canadian Army and Chief of the Army Staff is Lieutenant-General Paul Wynnyk, the name Canadian Army only came into official use beginning in 1940, from before Confederation until the Second World War the official designation was Canadian Militia. On 1 April 1966, as a precursor to the unification of Canadas armed services, Mobile Command was renamed Land Force Command in the 1993 reorganization of the Canadian Armed Forces. In August 2011, Land Force Command reverted to the title of the Canadian Army. Some current regiments of the Canadian Army trace their origins to these pre-Confederation militia, Regular Canadian troops participated in the North West Rebellion in 1885, the South African War in 1899, and, in much larger numbers, constituted the Canadian Expeditionary Force in First World War. In 1940, during Second World War, the Permanent Active Militia was renamed the Canadian Army, supplemented by the non-permanent militia, the Army participated in the Korean War and formed part of the NATO presence in West Germany during the Cold War. Despite Canadas usual support of British and American initiatives, Canadas land forces did not directly participate in the Vietnam War or the Iraq War, Command of the Army is exercised by the Commander of the Canadian Army within National Defence Headquarters located in Ottawa. It serves as a headquarters to command a divisional-level deployment of Canadian or allied forces on operations. It includes a number of schools and training organizations, such as the Combat Training Centre at CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick, the position was renamed Chief of the Land Staff in 1993. Following the reversion of Land Forces to the Canadian Army in 2011, officers are selected in several ways, The Regular Officer Training Plan, where candidates are educated at the Royal Military College of Canada or at civilian Canadian universities. Direct Entry officer Plan, for those who hold a university degree or technology diploma. Candidates complete their degrees while serving in the Army, university Training Plan, designed to develop selected serving non-commissioned members for service as career officers in the Regular Force. Normally, candidates selected for this plan will attend RMC or a university in Canada. Special Requirements Commissioning Plan, is designed to meet the needs of the officer occupations, subsidized special education, which includes the Medical Officer Training Plan or Dental Officer Training Plan. In addition there were other commissioning plans such as the Officer Candidate Training Plan, Canadian infantry and armoured regimental traditions are strongly rooted in the traditions and history of the British Army. Many regiments were patterned after regiments of the British Army, other regiments developed independently, resulting in a mixture of both colourful and historically familiar names
3.
Line infantry
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Line infantry is the type of infantry that composed the basis of European land armies from the middle of the 17th century to the middle of the 19th century. For both battle and parade drill it consisted of 2 to 4 ranks of soldiers drawn up side by side in rigid alignment. By extension, the term came to be applied to the regiments of the line as opposed to skirmishers, foot guards, militia. Line infantry mainly used three formations in its battles, the line, the square and the column, a line consisted of 2,3 or 4 ranks of soldiers. During the time period that line infantry were prevalent, the object was to cause the formation to rout, which was done by breaking it. The line was considered as the battle formation as it allowed for the largest deployment of firepower. Troops in skirmish formation, though able to cover and use initiative, were highly vulnerable to cavalry. Line infantry provided an anchor for skirmishers and cavalry to retreat to if threatened, against surrounding enemy cavalry, line infantry could swiftly adopt square formations to provide protection. Such squares were hollow, unlike the pikemen and old-style musketeers square, movement in line formation was very slow, and unless the battalion was superbly trained, a breakdown in cohesion was virtually assured, especially in any kind of uneven or wooded terrain. As a result, line was used as a stationary formation, with troops moving in column formations. Usually, columns would be adopted for movement and melee attacks, line infantry was trained in the manual of arms evolutions, the main objectives of which were fast deployment of a line, rapid shooting and manoeuvre. Line tactics required a strict discipline and simple movements, practiced to the point where they became second-nature, during training, the drill and corporal punishments were widely used. Line infantry quickly became the most common type of infantry in European countries, musketeers and grenadiers, formerly elite troops, gradually became part of the line infantry, switching to linear tactics. In the middle of the 17th century, the muskets of some line infantry were equipped with bayonets. Bayonets were attached to the muzzles of muskets and were used when line troops entered melee combat and they also helped to defend against cavalry. In many countries, the new fusils retained the name musket, both muskets and fusils were smoothbore, which lessened their accuracy and range, but made for faster loading, lesser amount of bore fouling and more robust, less complicated firearms. The bulk of the infantry had no protective equipment, as armor that could provide protection from musket fire were considered too expensive. Only the former elite troops could keep by tradition some elements of protection, for example, initially, soldiers equipped with firearms formed only a small part of the infantry branch of most armies, because of their vulnerability to hostile cavalry
4.
Light infantry
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Light infantry are soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry, heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight formations that were the core of large battles. Heavy infantry originally had heavier arms and more armour than light infantry, as with so called light infantry of later periods, the term more adequately describes the role of such infantry rather than the actual weight of their equipment. Peltast equipment, for example, grew steadily heavier at the time as hoplite equipment grew lighter. It was the fact that peltasts fought in order as skirmishers that made them light infantry. Early regular armies of the era frequently relied on irregulars to perform the duties of light infantry skirmishers. In the 18th and 19th centuries most infantry regiments or battalions had a company as an integral part of its composition. Its members were often smaller, more men with high shooting ability and capability of using initiative. They did not usually fight in disciplined ranks as did the infantry but often in widely dispersed groups. They were expected to avoid melee engagements unless necessary, and would fight ahead of the line to harass the enemy before falling back to the main position. Light infantry sometimes carried lighter muskets than ordinary infantrymen while others carried rifles and these became designated as rifle regiments in Britain and Jäger regiments in German speaking Europe. In France, during the Napoleonic Wars, light infantry were called voltigeurs and chasseurs, the Austrian army had Grenzer regiments from the middle of the 18th century, who originally served as irregular militia skirmishers recruited from mountainous frontier areas. Light infantry officers sometimes carried muskets or rifles, rather than pistols, orders were sent by bugle or whistle instead of drum. Some armies, including the British and French, recruited whole regiments of light infantry, by the late 19th century the concept of fighting in formation was on the wane due to advancements in weaponry and the distinctions between light and heavy infantry began to disappear. Essentially, all infantry became light infantry in operational practice, some regiments retained the name and customs, but there was in effect little difference between them and other infantry regiments. On the eve of World War I the British Army included seven light infantry regiments, today the term light denotes, in the United States table of organization and equipment, units lacking heavy weapons and armor or with a reduced vehicle footprint. At its height, this included the 6th Infantry Division, 7th Infantry Division, 10th Mountain Division, 25th Infantry Division, operation Just Cause is often cited as proof of concept. Almost 30,000 U. S. Forces, mostly light, during the 1990s, the concept of purely light forces in the US military came under scrutiny due to their decreased lethality and survivability
5.
Battalion
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A battalion is a military unit. The use of the term varies by nationality and branch of service. Typically a battalion consists of 300 to 800 soldiers and is divided into a number of companies, a battalion is typically commanded by a lieutenant colonel. In some countries the word battalion is associated with the infantry, the term was first used in Italian as battaglione no later than the 16th century. It derived from the Italian word for battle, battaglia, the first use of battalion in English was in the 1580s, and the first use to mean part of a regiment is from 1708. The battalion must, of course, have a source of re-supply to enable it to sustain operations for more than a few days, the battalion is usually part of a regiment, brigade, or group, depending on the organizational model used by that service. The bulk of a battalions companies are often homogeneous with respect to type, a battalion includes a headquarters company and some sort of combat service support, typically organized within a combat support company. The term battalion is used in the British Army Infantry and some including the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. It was formerly used in the Royal Engineers, and was used in the now defunct Royal Army Ordnance Corps. Other corps usually use the term regiment instead, an infantry battalion is numbered ordinarily within its regiment. It normally has a company, support company, and three rifle companies. Each company is commanded by a major, the officer commanding, the HQ company contains signals, quartermaster, catering, intelligence, administration, pay, training, operations and medical elements. The support company usually contains anti-tank, machine gun, mortar, pioneer, mechanised units usually have an attached light aid detachment of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers to perform field repairs on vehicles and equipment. A British battalion in theatre during World War II had around 845 men in it, and, as of 2012, with successive rounds of cutbacks after the war, many infantry regiments were reduced to a single battalion. A battalion group or battlegroup consists of a battalion or armoured regiment with sub-units detached from other military units acting under the command of the battalion commander. In the Canadian Forces, most battalions are reserve units of between 100–200 soldiers that include an operationally ready, field-deployable component of approximately a half-company apiece, the nine regular force infantry battalions each contain three or four rifle companies and one or two support companies. Canadian battalions are generally commanded by lieutenant-colonels, though smaller reserve battalions may be commanded by majors, with the Dutch artillery units, the equivalent of a battalion is called an afdeling. Combat companies consist of infantry, combat engineers, or tanks, in the latter case, the unit is called an eskadron, which translates roughly to squadron
6.
Royal Canadian Infantry Corps
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The Royal Canadian Infantry Corps is the infantry corps of the Canadian Army and includes regular and reserve force regiments. Originally formed as the Canadian Infantry Corps on 2 September 1942 to encompass all existing infantry regiments, including regiments of foot guards, in the Canadian Army. The three maple leaves conjoined on one stem, taken from the Royal Arms of Canada, represent service to Canada, the crossed rifles denote infantry and have been used in badges of infantry units as well as of the officer cadet programme. Red and white are the colours of Canada. INFANTRY and INFANTERIE are a form of the bilingual branch title, in 1968, with the unification of the Canadian Army into the Canadian Armed Forces, the name of the Royal Canadian Infantry Corps was changed to simply the Infantry Branch. As of April 2013, the traditional designation Royal Canadian Infantry Corps has been officially restored, to close with and destroy the enemy. Well armed individuals with fighting spirit and dogged determination constitute the backbone of the infantry battalion, all the rest - vehicles, stores and equipment - merely exist to assist the infantry soldier to carry out the mission. It is by determination and the use of weapons and ground that the battalion succeeds in battle. List of civilian organizations with the prefix Royal prepared by the Department of Canadian Heritage
7.
Semper fidelis
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Semper fidelis is a Latin phrase that means always faithful or always loyal. It is a motto for Western towns, families, schools. In the United States, it is best known as the motto of the United States Marine Corps, the earliest definitively recorded use of semper fidelis is as the motto of the French town of Abbeville since 1369. It has also used by other towns, and is recorded as the motto of various European families since the 16th century. Records show many families in England, France and Ireland using this motto, the earliest recorded use of semper fidelis by a military unit is by the Duke of Beauforts Regiment of Foot, raised in south-western England in 1685. This is apparently linked to its use as a motto by the city of Exeter since no later than 1660, subsequently, a variety of military organizations adopted the motto. This phrase was used in Europe, at least in Great Britain, Ireland and France, a more recent adoption is by Senator Joe Doyle, in arms granted by the Chief Herald of Ireland in 1999. Bernard Burke in 1884 listed many notable families in Great Britain and they include, Lynch family, Semper Fidelis is the family motto of the Lynch family. Members of the Tribes were considered Old English gentry, Semper Fidelis appears on the Lynch Family coat of arms. Frith family, The family of John Frith, Protestant martyr, is thought to have used the motto as far back as the 16th century, John Frith is the earliest entry in Burkes list of the Frith family. The Friths settled in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, after John Friths execution, the family fought at the Battle of the Boyne. Edge family, The Edge family of Strelley, Nottinghamshire, were using the motto Semper fidelis by 1814 at the latest, the arms were granted in 1709, but it is not recorded whether the motto formed part of the initial grant. Onslow family, the family of the Earls of Onslow uses the motto Semper fidelis, Stewart family, Semper Fidelis is the family motto of the Stewart family of Ballechin in Perthshire. J. Burke records that the family back to an illegitimate son of James II of Scotland. However they do not report the date of its first use, a large portion of these families were Irish or Scottish. This would make it the earliest recorded user of the motto among cities, in 1658, Pope Alexander VII declared the city to be Semper fidelis, in recognition of the its key role in defending Europe and Roman Catholicism from Muslim invasion. In Ukraine, the phrase is used less, and refers to the survival of the Ukrainian Church through the period of Soviet persecution. The City of Exeter, in Devon, England, has used the motto since at least 1660, Izacke claimed that the motto was adopted in 1588 to signify the citys loyalty to the English Crown
8.
Military history of Nova Scotia
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Nova Scotia is a Canadian province located in Canadas Maritimes. The region was occupied by Mikmaq. During the first 150 years of European settlement, the colony was made up of Catholic Acadians, Maliseet. During the latter years of this time period, there were six colonial wars that took place in Nova Scotia. During these wars, Acadians, Mikmaq and Maliseet from the region fought to protect the border of Acadia from New England and they fought the war on two fronts, the southern border of Acadia, which New France defined as the Kennebec River in southern Maine. The other front was in Nova Scotia and involved preventing New Englanders from taking the capital of Acadia, Port Royal, during the French and Indian War, Halifax was established as the British Headquarters of the North American Station. As a result, Nova Scotia was active throughout the American Revolution, during the Victorian Era, Nova Scotians also played prominent roles in the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny. The province also participated in the Northwest Rebellion and the Second Boer War, during the twentieth century the province produced numerous heroes who fought in World War I and World War II. There was a number of Nova Scotians who also participated in the Spanish Civil War, the Korean War. The first European settlement in Nova Scotia was established in 1605, the French, led by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts established the first capital for the colony Acadia at Port Royal, Nova Scotia. Other than a few trading posts around the province, for the next seventy-five years, Port Royal remained the capital of Acadia and later Nova Scotia for almost 150 years, prior to the founding of Halifax in 1749. The English made six attempts to conquer the capital of Acadia which they finally did in the Siege of Port Royal in 1710, over the following fifty years, the French and their allies made six unsuccessful military attempts to regain the capital. From 1629 to 1632, Nova Scotia briefly became a Scottish colony, Sir William Alexander of Menstrie Castle, Scotland claimed mainland Nova Scotia and settled at Port Royal, while Ochiltree claimed Ile Royale and settled at Baleine, Nova Scotia. There were three battles between the Scottish and the French, the Raid on St. John, the Siege of Baleine as well as Siege of Cap de Sable, Nova Scotia was returned to France via the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The French quickly defeated the Scottish at Baleine and established settlements on Ile Royale at present day Englishtown and these two settlements remained the only settlements on the island until they were abandoned by Nicolas Denys in 1659. Ile Royale then remained vacant for more than fifty years until the communities were re-established when Louisbourg was established in 1713, Acadia was plunged into what some historians have described as a civil war between 1640 and 1645. The war was between Port Royal, where Governor of Acadia Charles de Menou dAulnay de Charnisay was stationed, and present-day Saint John, New Brunswick, Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour was stationed. In the war, there were four major battles, La Tour attacked dAulnay at Port Royal in 1640
9.
Citadel Hill (Fort George)
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The first two and the fourth and current fort, were simply called the Halifax Citadel. The Citadel is the summit of Citadel Hill, a National Historic Site of Canada in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The hill was first fortified in 1749, the year the town of Halifax was founded and those fortifications on the hill were successively rebuilt to defend the town from various enemies. A series of four different defensive fortifications have occupied the summit of Citadel Hill, the construction and levelling resulting in the summit of the hill being dropped by ten to twelve metres. Whilst never attacked, the Citadel was long the keystone to the defence of the strategically important Halifax Harbour, today the fort is operated by Parks Canada as the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site of Canada and is restored to the Victorian period. The war began shortly after Edward Cornwallis arrived on June 21,1749 to establish Halifax with 13 transports, the Mikmaq felt that the British settlement at Halifax violated earlier treaties which were signed after Father Rales War in 1726. On 11 September 1749, Cornwallis wrote to the Board of Trade and these squares are done with double picquets, each picquet ten foot long and six inches thick. They likewise clear a Space of 30 feet without the Line, when this work is compleated I shall think the Town as secure against Indians as if it was regularly fortifyd. The first fort was simply a small redoubt which stood near the summit with a flagstaff and it was part of the western perimeter wall for the old city which was protected by five stockaded forts. The others were Horsemans Fort, Cornwallis Fort, Fort Lutrell, during Father Le Loutres War, the soldiers guarding Halifax were in a constant state of alert. The Mikmaq and Acadians raided the capital region 12 times, the worst of these raids was the Dartmouth Massacre. Four of these raids were against Halifax, the first raid was in July 1750, in the woods on peninsular Halifax, the Mikmaq scalped Cornwallis gardener, his son, and four others. They buried the son, left the body exposed. In 1751, there were two attacks on blockhouses surrounding Halifax, Mikmaq attacked the North Blockhouse and killed the men on guard. They also attacked near the South Blockhouse, at a saw-mill on a stream flowing out of Chocolate Lake into the Northwest Arm. In 1753, when Lawrence became governor, the Mikmaq attacked again upon the sawmills near the South Blockhouse on the Northwest Arm, the Mikmaq made three attempts to retrieve the bodies for their scalps. Prominent Halifax business person Michael Francklin was captured by a Mikmaw raiding party in 1754, the stockaded forts were also instrumental to the British during the French and Indian War. The Fort was used to help faciltate the Expulsion of the Acadians, during the war, the Mikmaq and Acadians resisted the British throughout the province
10.
Halifax, Nova Scotia
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Halifax, legally known as the Halifax Regional Municipality, is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The municipality had a population of 403,131 in 2016, the regional municipality consists of four former municipalities that were amalgamated in 1996, Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, and the Municipality of Halifax County. Halifax is an economic centre in Atlantic Canada with a large concentration of government services. Agriculture, fishing, mining, forestry and natural gas extraction are major resource found in the rural areas of the municipality. Additionally, Halifax has consistently placed in the top 10 for business friendliness of North and South American cities, the first permanent European settlement in the region was on the Halifax Peninsula. The establishment of the Town of Halifax, named after the 2nd Earl of Halifax, the establishment of Halifax marked the beginning of Father Le Loutres War. The war began when Edward Cornwallis arrived to establish Halifax with 13 transports, by unilaterally establishing Halifax the British were violating earlier treaties with the Mikmaq, which were signed after Father Rales War. Cornwallis brought along 1,176 settlers and their families, St. Margarets Bay was first settled by French-speaking Foreign Protestants at French Village, Nova Scotia who migrated from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia during the American Revolution. The resulting explosion, the Halifax Explosion, devastated the Richmond District of Halifax, killing approximately 2,000 people, the blast was the largest artificial explosion before the development of nuclear weapons. Significant aid came from Boston, strengthening the bond between the two coastal cities, the municipal boundary thus now includes all of Halifax County except for several First Nation reserves. Since amalgamation, the region has officially been known as the Halifax Regional Municipality, on April 15,2014, the regional council approved the implementation of a new branding campaign for the region developed by the local firm Revolve Marketing. The campaign would see the region referred to in promotional materials simply as Halifax, mayor Mike Savage defended the decision, stating, Im a Westphal guy, Im a Dartmouth man, but Halifax is my city, we’re all part of Halifax. Because when I go and travel on behalf of this municipality, metropolitan Halifax is a term used to describe the urban concentration surrounding Halifax Harbour, including the Halifax Peninsula, the core of Dartmouth, and the Bedford-Sackville areas. It is the Statistics Canada population centre of Halifax, the dense urban core is centred on the Halifax Peninsula and the area of Dartmouth inside of the Circumferential Highway. The suburban area stretches into areas known as Mainland Halifax to the west, Cole Harbour to the east and this urban area is the most populous on Canadas Atlantic coast, and the second largest coastal population centre in the country after Vancouver, British Columbia. Halifax currently accounts for 40% of Nova Scotias population, and 15% of that of Atlantic Canada, Halifaxs urban core is home to a number of regional landmark buildings and retains significant historic buildings and districts. The downtowns office towers are overlooked by the fortress of Citadel Hill with its iconic Halifax Town Clock, Dalhousie Universitys campus is often featured in films and documentaries. Dartmouth also has its share of historic neighbourhoods and this has resulted in some modern high rises being built at unusual angles or locations
Canada
Canadian Army
Canadian Army infantry regiments in order of precedence
