The British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) The British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) is a Primary Reserve armoured reconnaissance ( recce ) regiment of the Canadian Forces ; the regiment is subordinate to 39 Canadian Brigade Group of 3rd Canadian Division . Established in 1883 , it is the oldest military unit in Vancouver , British Columbia . It parades at the Beatty Street Drill Hall at the corner of Dunsmuir and Beatty in Downtown Vancouver . The regiment has been variously designated as garrison artillery , rifles , infantry , and armoured , but has been reconnaissance since 1965 . It has received 41 battle honour s in its history , and has been a unit of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps since 1942 . Lineage . The British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) originated in Victoria , British Columbia on 12 October 1883 , when the British Columbia Provisional Regiment of Garrison Artillery was formed . It was redesignated as the British Columbia Brigade of Garrison Artillery on 7 May 1886 , as the British Columbia Battalion of Garrison Artillery on 1 January 1893 , as the 5th British Columbia Battalion of Garrison Artillery on 1 January 1895 and the 5th British Columbia Regiment , Canadian Artillery on 28 December 1895 . The regiment was reorganized and split into two battalions on 1 July 1896 , designated the 1st Battalion ( now the 5th ( British Columbia ) Field Artillery Regiment , RCA ) and 2nd Battalion , which was detached and converted to infantry and redesignated the 6th Battalion Rifles on 1 August 1899 , with headquarters in Vancouver . It was redesignated the 6th Regiment The Duke of Connaught ' s Own Rifles on 1 May 1900 . Following the Great War on 12 March 1920 , the 6th Regiment The Duke of Connaught ' s Own Rifles was amalgamated with the 104th Regiment ( Westminster Fusiliers of Canada ) , now The Royal Westminster Regiment , and redesignated as the 1st British Columbia Regiment . It was redesignated the 1st British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) on 1 November 1920 . On 15 May 1924 it was reorganized into three separate regiments , designated The Vancouver Regiment , The Westminster Regiment and the 1st British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) . The 1st British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) was redesignated The British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own Rifles ) on 15 January 1930 and the 2nd ( Reserve ) Battalion , The British Columbia Regiment , ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own Rifles ) on 7 November 1940 . The regiment was converted to armour and redesignated the 13th Armoured Regiment ( The British Columbia Regiment ) , RCAC , on 1 April 1946 , The British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) ( 13th Armoured Regiment ) on 4 February 1949 , The British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) ( RCAC ) , on 19 May 1958 and finally The British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) on 7 October 1985 . On 13 June 2002 , it was amalgamated with The Irish Fusiliers of Canada ( The Vancouver Regiment ) . The Irish Fusiliers of Canada ( Vancouver Regiment ) originated in Vancouver , British Columbia on 15 August 1913 as the 11th Regiment Irish Fusiliers of Canada . It was redesignated The Irish Fusiliers of Canada following the Great War on 12 March 1920 . On 1 June 1936 , it was amalgamated with The Vancouver Regiment and redesignated the Irish Fusiliers ( Vancouver Regiment ) . It was redesignated the 2nd ( Reserve ) Battalion , Irish Fusiliers ( Vancouver Regiment ) on 1 January 1941 , and the Irish Fusiliers ( Vancouver Regiment ) on 1 June 1945 . The regiment was converted to artillery and redesignated the 65th Light Anti - Aircraft Regiment ( Irish Fusiliers ) , RCA on 1 April 1946 . On 1 September 1958 , it was amalgamated with the 120th Independent Field Battery , RCA , converted to infantry and redesignated the Irish Fusiliers of Canada ( The Vancouver Regiment ) . It was reduced to nil strength and transferred to the Supplementary Order of Battle on 19 March 1965 . On 13 June 2002 , it was removed from the Supplementary Order of Battle and amalgamated with The British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) . The 120th Independent Field Battery , RCA originated in Prince Rupert , British Columbia on 1 May 1914 as the Earl Grey ' s Own Rifles . It was redesignated the 68th Regiment ( Earl Grey ' s Own Rifles ) on 2 November 1914 and The North British Columbia Regiment following the Great War on 12 March 1920 . On 15 December 1936 , it was converted to artillery and redesignated the 102nd ( North British Columbia ) Heavy Battery , RCA the 102nd ( Reserve ) ( North British Columbia ) Heavy Battery , RCA on 1 January 1941 , the 120th Coast Battery , RCA on 1 April 1946 , the 120th Heavy Anti Aircraft Battery , RCA on 5 February 1948 , the 120th Harbour Defence Troop , RCA on 17 October 1954 and the 120th Independent Field Battery , RCA on 25 October 1956 . On 1 September 1958 , it was amalgamated with the 65th Light Anti - Aircraft Regiment ( Irish Fusiliers ) , RCA . The Vancouver Regiment originated in Vancouver , British Columbia on 15 May 1924 when the 1st British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) was reorganized into three separate regiments designated the 1st British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) , The Westminster Regiment and The Vancouver Regiment . On 1 June 1936 , it was amalgamated with The Irish Fusiliers of Canada ' . Lineage of the British Columbia Regt ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) : History . South African War . The 6th Battalion Rifles contributed volunteers for the Canadian Contingents during the South African War . The Great War . The 6th Regiment The Duke of Connaught ' s Own Rifles and the 11th Regiment Irish Fusiliers of Canada were placed on active service on 6 August 1914 for local protection duties . The 7th Battalion ( 1st British Columbia ) , CEF was authorized on 10 August 1914 and sailed for Britain on 28 September 1914 . The 7th Battalion disembarked in France on 15 February 1915 , where it fought as part of the 2nd Infantry Brigade , 1st Canadian Division in France and Flanders until the end of the war . The battalion was disbanded on 30 August 1920 . The 29th Battalion ( Vancouver ) , CEF , known as " Tobin ' s Tigers , " was authorized on 7 November 1914 and embarked for Britain on 20 May 1915 . It arrived in France on 17 September 1915 , where it fought as part of the 6th Infantry Brigade , 2nd Canadian Division in France and Flanders until the end of the war . The battalion was disbanded on 30 August 1920 . The 102nd Battalion , CEF , was authorized on 22 December 1915 and embarked for Britain on 18 June 1916 , arriving in France on 12 August 1916 , where it fought as part of the 11th Infantry Brigade , 4th Canadian Division in France and Flanders until the end of the war . The battalion was disbanded on 30 August 1920 . The 30th Battalion , CEF , was authorized on 27 October 1914 and embarked for Britain on 23 February 1915 . It was redesignated the 30th Reserve Battalion , CEF , on 18 April 1915 to provide reinforcements for units in the field . On 4 January 1917 its personnel were absorbed by the 1st Reserve Battalion , CEF . The 62nd Battalion ( British Columbia ) , CEF , was authorized on 20 April 1915 and embarked for Britain on 20 March 1916 , where it provided reinforcements for the Canadian Corps in the field until 6 July 1916 when its personnel were absorbed by the 30th Reserve Battalion , CEF . The 121st Battalion ( Western Irish ) , CEF , was authorized on 22 December 1915 and embarked for Britain on 14 November 1916 , where it provided reinforcements for Canadian units in the field until 10 January 1917 when its personnel were absorbed by the 16th Reserve Battalion , CEF . The 158th Battalion ( The Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) , CEF , was authorized on 22 December 1915 and embarked for Britain on 14 November 1916 where it provided reinforcements for the units in the field until 4 January 1917 when its personnel were absorbed by the 1st Reserve Battalion , CEF . The Second World War . The British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own Rifles ) was called out on service on 26 August 1939 and details of the regiment were placed on active service on 1 September 1939 for local protection duties under the designation The British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own Rifles ) , CASF ( Details ) . Details from the Irish Fusiliers were called out on service on 26 August 1939 and then on active service on 1 September 1939 , as the Irish Fusiliers ( Vancouver Regiment ) , CASF ( Details ) , for local protection duties . The 102nd Battery was called out on service on 26 August 1939 and details of the battery were placed on active service on 1 September 1939 as the 102nd ( North British Columbia ) Heavy Battery , RCA , CASF ( Details ) , for local protection duties . The details of the three units called out on active service were disbanded on 31 December 1940 . The British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own Rifles ) , CASF , mobilized for active service on 24 May 1940 . It was redesignated as the 1st Battalion , The British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own Rifles ) , CASF , on 7 November 1940 . It was converted to armour and redesignated the 28th Armoured Regiment ( The British Columbia Regiment ) , CAC , CASF , on 26 January 1942 ; and then the 28th Armoured Regiment ( The British Columbia Regiment ) , RCAC , CASF , on 2 August 1945 . On 21 August 1942 it embarked for Britain . The regiment landed in France on 28 July 1944 as part of the 4th Armoured Brigade , 4th Canadian Armoured Division and continued to serve in North West Europe until the end of the war . The overseas regiment was disbanded on 15 February 1946 . The 1st Battalion , Irish Fusiliers ( Vancouver Regiment ) , CASF , mobilized for active service on 1 January 1941 . The battalion served in Canada in a home defence role as part of the 18th Infantry Brigade , 6th Canadian Division ; and in Jamaica on garrison duty from 18 May 1943 to 6 August 1944 . On 10 January 1945 it embarked for Britain , where it was disbanded on 19 January 1945 to provide reinforcements to the Canadian Army in the field . The 3rd Battalion , Irish Fusiliers ( Vancouver Regiment ) , CASF , mobilized for active service on 12 May 1942 . This unit served in Canada in a home defence role as part of the 19th Infantry Brigade of Pacific Command . The 3rd Battalion was disbanded on 15 August 1943 . The 102nd ( North British Columbia ) Heavy Battery , RCA , CASF , mobilized for active service on 1 January 1941 . It was redesignated as the 102nd Coast Battery , RCA , CASF , on 1 May 1942 . This unit served in Canada in a home defence role with the 17th ( North British Columbia ) Coast Regiment , RCA , CASF , as part of Pacific Command . The battery was disbanded on 31 October 1945 . The British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own Rifles ) was called out at 4 : 15 a . m . on August 26 , 1939 , two weeks prior to the official declaration of war by the Canadian governor general . Soldiers were dispatched to various vulnerable areas in the city , largely as a precautionary measure in response to Adolf Hitler ' s increasing aggression towards Poland . The British Columbia Regiment trained in Canada until January 1942 , when it was announced that the 4th Division would become an armoured division . As a result , the unit was re - designated as the 28th Armoured Regiment ( The British Columbia Regiment ) , and its officers and men were sent to England for training . In August 1943 , Lieutenant - Colonel D . G . Worthington became the commanding officer of the regiment . In October , the regiment began to receive the M4 Sherman tanks , gradually replacing the Canadian - made Ram tank s , which had been in use for training . Following the Allied invasion of Europe on D - Day , the regiment landed in France on July 23 . The regiment saw its first action in the Second World War during Operation Totalize , on August 8 , 1944 . The operation was launched under the cover of darkness . To aid in navigation at night , searchlights had been pointed at the cloud cover to provide some illumination . 40 mm Bofors guns were also firing tracers along the line of advance to aid the attack . Despite these precations , the 28th , accompanied by The Algonquin Regiment , became disoriented and navigated away from Hill 195 , which was its objective , and steered instead towards Hill 140 , but did not reach the hill before daybreak . As a result , when daylight came , the unit was located in an exposed valley with units of the 12th SS Panzer Division concealed in the high ground . The two Canadian regiments were attacked by the 12th SS , who were equipped with 88 mm flak gun s and Tiger tank s , among other heavy weapons . Lieutenant - Colonel Worthington was killed during the battle , and the survivors of the regiment managed to break contact with the 12th SS , after suffering 133 casualties and losing 48 out of 52 tanks . The 28th would return to action only a week later , contributing to the closing of the Falaise Pocket during Operation Tractable , which saw the destruction of the German Seventh Army and the capture of a great number of enemy soldiers and equipment . After the closing of the Falaise Pocket , the regiment participated in the pursuit of retreating German forces into Belgium , as part of the 1st Canadian Army . A main objective of the Allied armies in Europe was the capture of major ports in order to ease the considerable logistical burden caused by the stretched supply lines , some of which extended hundreds of miles back to the invasion beaches in Normandy . The capture of a major port facility would allow the Allied armies to regain their momentum for the push into Germany . The port of Antwerp was selected as the target of the 21st Army Group for this reason . In October , as part of the Battle of the Scheldt , the regiment , as part of the 1st Canadian Army , took part in the essential task of clearing out the Scheldt Estuary to make the approach to the port of Antwerp safe for operation . On November 4 , units from the Lake Superior Regiment ( LSR ) entered the village of St . Phillipsland and were informed by the civilian population that there were four small Kriegsmarine vessels docked at the harbour . The following day , a troop of tanks from C Squadron , together with units from the LSR opened fire while the vessels were docked and unable to escape . The vessels were attacked by the guns from the C Squadron tanks as well as 6 - pounder antitank gun s and mortars from the LSR . Three vessels were sunk and a fourth was severely damaged . Captain R . Styffe from the LSR later removed the log from one of the vessels and wrote as a final entry : " Gesunken by Lake Superior Regiment and British Columbia Regiment – Canadian Army . " A member of the British Columbia Regiment recovered the ship ' s bell from one of the sunken vessels , and it now resides in the Officer ' s Mess at the Beatty St . Armoury . ( Records have not been kept as to the type of vessels sunk in Zijpe Harbour , although it is probable that the four vessels were E - boats . The plaque on the bell in the Officer ' s Mess describes the vessel as an " escort " . ) The regiment finished the war in Germany , after crossing the Rhine in April 1945 . The regiment captured the town of Neuenhaus and administered it for a brief period . The final action of the war involved crossing the Kusten Canal on April 17 , 1945 . At the close of the war , the regiment had lost 108 officers and men killed , and 213 wounded . 105 Sherman tanks , 14 Stuart tank s , and one Crusader tank had been lost during the course of the war . These losses were the highest suffered by any regiment in the 4th or 5th Armoured Divisions . 14 new battle honours were added to the regiment ' s guidon as a result of its service during the Second World War . On February 1 , 1946 , the British Columbia Regiment returned to Vancouver , marching to the Beatty St . Armoury under the command of Lieutenant - Colonel J . W . Toogood . Post - war to modern day . In April 1946 , Duke of Connaught ' s Own Rifles and the 28th Armoured amalgamated into the 13th Armoured Regiment ( The British Columbia Regiment ) , RCAC . Later , in 1949 the name was again changed , to The British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) ( 13th Armoured Regiment ) . The regiment continued to train on the M4A2E8 Sherman tank , winning the Wallace Trophy for most efficient Militia unit in 1954 , 1955 and 1956 . Although the unit did not deploy to Korea as part of the Korean War , it did contribute volunteers to augment Lord Strathcona ' s Horse ( Royal Canadians ) and the Royal Canadian Dragoons , whose regiments were sent . Soldiers of the regiment also served in deployments to Germany during the Cold War . On May 19 , 1958 , the regiment was redesignated again , becoming The British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) ( RCAC ) ; the regiment ' s title dropped " ( RCAC ) " in 1985 , but it remains part of the corps . On February 28 , 1965 , the regiment ' s role changed , and it became an armoured reconnaissance unit . The long - serving Sherman tanks were retired , and the unit converted to the M38 A1 CDN Jeep . The Lynx reconnaissance vehicle entered service in the Canadian Army in 1968 , to replace the Ferret armoured car currently serving in the reconnaissance role . The regiment cross - trained its soldiers to use the Lynx so that they could supplement regular army units overseas if necessary . In the 1987 , the regiment received the Bombardier Iltis Jeep to replace the CJ7 , itself a stopgap replacement for the aging M38A1 , and the unit continued to train in the light reconnaissance role . The Canadian Army began to change the Reserve concept in the late 1990s , into the year 2000 . Reservists would now be trained to the equivalent levels of their Regular force counterparts to ensure that a reserve augmentee could better serve in a given role . Under this concept , the regiment continues to train its soldiers to support and augment regular force units whenever required , in addition to being ready to serve locally whenever required . Soldiers of the regiment have served overseas in Canadian United Nations missions , especially the former Yugoslavia . The regiment continues to contribute soldiers to the NATO mission in Afghanistan , usually attached to Lord Strathcona ' s Horse or the Royal Canadian Dragoons , operating the Leopard C2 , Leopard 2A6 or Coyote Reconnaissance Vehicle . In 2004 , the regiment retired its Iltis Jeeps , receiving the Mercedes - Benz G - Wagon Light Utility Vehicle , Wheeled , in the C & R ( command and reconnaissance ) version . The G - Wagons are built to accept a lightweight applique armour kit , and are usually armed with either the C9A1 Light Machine Gun or C6 General Purpose Machine Gun in a manually operated turret . Recognition . On 10 November 1983 Canada Post issued ' The Royal Canadian Regiment , The British Columbia Regiment ' as part of the Canadian Forces , Regiments , 1883 - 1983 series . The stamps were designed by Ralph Tibbles , based on a painting by William Southern . The 32¢ stamps are perforated 13 . 5 x 13 and were printed by Canadian Bank Note Company , Limited . The Freedom of the City was exercised by the British Columbia Regiment in Vancouver , British Columbia on October 13 , 2008 . Perpetuations . The British Columbia Regiment ( Duke of Connaughts ' Own ) perpetuates the 7th Battalion ( 1st British Columbia ) , CEF , the 29th ( Vancouver ) Battalion , CEF , the 30th Battalion , CEF , the 62nd Battalion ( British Columbia ) , CEF , the 102nd Battalion CEF , the 121st Battalion ( Western Irish ) , CEF , and the 158th Battalion ( The Duke of Connaught ' s Own ) , CEF . Battle honours . Those battle honours in bold type are emblazoned on the regiment ' s guidon . Bands . The regiment is also home to two volunteer bands . The British Columbia Regiment Band is a brass and reed band that performs at regimental mess dinners and events , as well as public performances at community events . The British Columbia Regiment Irish Pipes and Drums are a volunteer pipe and drum band representing the regiment . The band preserves the Irish heritage of the regiment , and the former Irish Fusiliers of Canada , which merged to become part of the British Columbia Regiment in 2002 . Cadet Corps . There are several Royal Canadian Army Cadets corps spread across British Columbia that are affiliated to the British Columbia Regiment ( DCO ) . Cadet units affiliated to the BCR ( DCO ) receive support and also are entitled to wear traditional regimental accoutrements on their uniforms .