8th Reconnaissance Regiment ( 14th Canadian Hussars ) The 8th Canadian Reconnaissance Regiment ( 14th Canadian Hussars ) , commonly abbreviated to 8 Recce , VIII Recce or ( within the British Army ) 8 Canadian Recce , was the reconnaissance arm of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division during World War II . Formation and structure . 8 Recce was formed at Guillemont Barracks , near Aldershot in southern England , on March 11 , 1941 , by merging three existing squadrons within the division . Its first commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel Churchill C . Mann . Mann was succeeded as commanding officer on September 26 , 1941 , by Lieutenant Colonel P . A . Vokes , who was in turn followed on February 18 , 1944 , by Lieutenant Colonel M . A . Alway . The last commanding officer was Major " Butch " J . F . Merner , appointed to replace Alway a couple of months before the end of the fighting in Europe . 8 Recce had its roots in the 14th Canadian Light Horse , a militia unit formed in 1920 . One source claims the unit was the union of the 27th Light Horse and the 14th Canadian Mounted Rifles , but the official lineage shows no amalgamation in 1920 , just a renaming of the 27th Light Horse . Authoritative lists of units in the Active Militia and the Canadian Expeditionary Force show no record of a " 14th Canadian Mounted Rifles " – there were only 13 regiments of mounted rifles organized in the CEF . In any event , the 14th Canadian Light Horse in the 1920s was headquartered in Swift Current , Saskatchewan . It comprised ' A ' , ' B ' and ' C ' Squadrons based at Swift Current , Swift Current and Shuanavon , respectively . In 1937 the regiment was designated a mechanized unit , and in 1940 the regiment was renamed the 14th Canadian Hussars . In 1941 the regiment was mobilized , and its members joined with other reconnaissance personnel in England to form 8 Recce . Following the pattern used in the Reconnaissance Corps of the British Army , 8 Recce was composed of a regimental headquarters ( officially 26 men of all ranks at full strength ) , one headquarters squadron ( 222 men of all ranks ) and three reconnaissance squadrons identified by the letters ' A ' , ' B ' and ' C ' ( 191 men each of all ranks ) . The Headquarters Squadron contained a squadron headquarters ( 6 men ) , an administrative troop ( 44 men ) , a signal troop ( 40 men ) , an anti - aircraft troop ( 9 men ) , an anti - tank troop ( 79 men ) and a mortar troop ( 44 men ) . Each of the three reconnaissance squadrons was composed of a squadron headquarters ( 36 men ) , three scout troops ( 38 men each ) and one assault troop ( 41 men ) . The 12 troops in the reconnaissance squadrons were numbered , with Troops 1 to 4 in ' A ' Squadron , Troops 5 to 8 in ' B ' Squadron , and Troops 9 to 12 in ' C ' Squadron . Troops 4 , 8 and 12 were the assault troops . A reconnaissance squadron was commanded by a major assisted by a captain . A scout troop comprised one reconnaissance section and two carrier sections . Each scout troop ( 38 men of all ranks ) would usually be commanded by a lieutenant assisted by a second lieutenant . An assault troop ( about 41 men of all ranks ) contained four assault sections ( 8 men each ) . Each assault troop was commanded by a lieutenant assisted by a sergeant . The nominal strength of the regiment was 42 officers , 71 non - commissioned officers and 708 other ranks for a total of 821 men of all ranks . Primary mission , weapons and equipment . The primary mission of 8 Recce was to provide reconnaissance capabilities for the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division . Reconnaissance involves determining the location and capabilities of enemy units , and providing current information concerning the state of the theatre of operations ( e . g . , road and bridge conditions , alternative lines of advance ) . Weak enemy positions might be attacked if the opportunity arose , but strong - points are generally bypassed and left for assault units to tackle . Nevertheless , determining the position and strength of the rear guard of a retreating enemy , or the location and strength of newly established defence lines , will frequently draw fire and provoke combat situations . Unless the enemy is retreating in especially disorganized fashion , a lightly armoured reconnaissance unit is vulnerable to land mines and ambushes . Consequently 8 Recce , along with other reconnaissance battalions , had significant assault capabilities to allow it to rescue pinned down scout units . After its formation in England , 8 Recce was equipped initially with BSA M2 motorcycles , 15 - cwt and 3 - ton CMP trucks , light armoured cars , automatic weapons and radio communication equipment . The equipment was upgraded progressively during the three years of training in England to include more heavily armed armoured cars and a variety of weapons systems in response to the combat experience of other reconnaissance regiments in the Reconnaissance Corps . During the campaign to liberate northern France , Belgium and the Netherlands , the primary scouting vehicles of 8 Recce were the Humber Mark IIIA as well as the ( from October 1944 onward ) Daimler armoured cars . Although the ruggedness and speed of these lightly armoured wheeled vehicles was ideal for the reconnaissance role during the campaign across Northwest Europe , they were vulnerable to German antitank weapons , such as the 75 - mm and 88 - mm guns . Other major weapons deployed by 8 Recce included the Universal Gun Carrier , the M5 half - track , 2 - inch light mortars , 3 - inch mortars , 6 - pounder anti - tank guns , PIAT portable anti - tank weapons , and heavy machine gun s . Toward the end of the war each scout troop was equipped with five armoured cars ( three Daimlers and two Humbers ) and seven Universal Gun Carriers ( each mounted with one American . 50 - calibre heavy machine gun , replacing the original . 303 - calibre Bren gun ) . Each assault troop was equipped with five half - tracks , each carrying one . 50 - calibre heavy machine gun . In accordance with the system of vehicle markings used by the British Army , the vehicles of 8 Recce were identified as belonging to a reconnaissance unit by the presence of a square " unit mark " containing the number 41 in white on top of a two - tone , green above blue background . Action during World War II . 8 Recce spent the first three years of its existence involved in training and coastal defence duties in southern England . It was not involved in the ill - fated Dieppe Raid on August 19 , 1942 , and thus avoided the heavy losses suffered that day by many other units of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division . The regiment landed with its division in Normandy on July 6 , 1944 , one month after D - Day , and first entered combat as infantry in the on - going Battle of Normandy . The regiment ' s first two combat deaths occurred on July 13 , when a shell struck a slit trench sheltering two men near Le Mesnil . Following the near - destruction of the German Seventh Army and Fifth Panzer Army in the Falaise Pocket in August 1944 , the remaining German forces were compelled into a rapid fighting retreat out of Northern France and much of Belgium . 8 Recce provided the reconnaissance function for its division during the advance of the First Canadian Army eastward out of Normandy , up to and across the Seine River , and then along the coastal regions of northern France and Belgium . The regiment was involved in spearheading the liberation of the port cities of Dieppe and Antwerp ; it was also involved in the investment of Dunkirk , which was then left under German occupation until the end of war . 8 Recce saw heavy action through to the end of the war including the costly Battle of the Scheldt , the liberation of the Netherlands and the invasion of Germany . An early demonstration of the mobility and power of the armoured cars of 8 Recce occurred during the liberation of Orbec in Normandy . Over August 21 to 23 , the infantry of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division had succeeded in pushing eastward up to the west bank of the River Tourques , but they were unable to expand an initial bridgehead across the river because of the presence of enemy positions in Orbec on the east bank . Humbers of 8 Recce had meanwhile scouted out possible river crossings northwest of the town . They succeeded in crossing the Tourques , then circled back to Orbec and attacked the German defenders unexpectedly from the north and east . Enemy resistance in the town was rapidly overcome and the division ' s advance towards the Seine could resume . The reconnaissance role of 8 Recce often put its members well ahead of the main body of the division , especially during the pursuit of the retreating German army across northern France and Belgium in late August and September 1944 . For example , elements of 8 Recce entered Dieppe on the morning of September 1 , 1944 , scene of the disastrous Dieppe Raid of 1942 , a full 12 hours before the arrival of truck - borne Canadian infantry . The liberation of Dieppe was facilitated by the withdrawal of the German occupying forces on the previous day . The unexpectedly early liberation allowed a planned and likely devastating Allied bombing raid on the city to be called off . 8 Recce was responsible for liberating many other towns in the campaign across Northwest Europe . During the Battle of the Scheldt , 8 Recce advanced westwards and cleared the southern bank of the West Scheldt river . In one notable action , armoured cars of ' A ' Squadron were ferried across the river ; on the other side the cars then proceeded to liberate the island of North Beveland by November 2 , 1944 . Bluff played an important role in this operation . The German defenders had been warned that they would be attacked by ground support aircraft on their second low - level pass if they did not surrender immediately . Shortly thereafter 450 Germans surrendered after their positions were buzzed by 18 Typhoons . Unbeknownst to the Germans , the Typhoons would not have been able to fire on their positions since the aircraft ' s munitions were already committed to another operation . On April 12 , 1945 , No . 7 Troop of ' B ' Squadron liberated Camp Westerbork , a transit camp built to accommodate Jews , Roma people and other people arrested by the Nazi authorities prior to their being sent into the concentration camp system . Bedum , entered on April 17 , 1945 , was just one of many Dutch towns liberated by elements of 8 Recce in the final month of the war . 8 Recce ' s last two major engagements were the Battle of Groningen over April 13 – 16 and the Battle of Oldenburg , in Germany , over April 27 to May 4 . Three members of 8 Recce were killed on May 4 , just four days before VE Day , when their armoured car was struck by a shell . During the war 79 men were killed outright in action while serving in 8 Recce , and a further 27 men died of wounds . Battle honours . The battle honours of 8 Recce are as follows . The capitalized honours appear on the regimental guidon . Postwar history . 8 Recce was deactivated in Swift Current on December 15 , 1945 , but after the war it continued to function as a militia regiment . The regiment was redesignated the 8th Armoured Car Regiment ( 14th Canadian Hussars ) in 1947 , and renamed again the 14th Canadian Hussars in 1958 . In 1968 the militia regiment was essentially disbanded when it was moved to the Supplementary Order of Battle as part of a major reorganization of the Canadian Forces . Lineage of the 14th Canadian Hussars :