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THE ROYAL NEWFOUNDLAND REGIMENT
AN OVERVIEW MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED YEARS WHICH ALL NEWFOUNDLANDER'S CAN BE PROUD TO HAVE AS THEIR HERTIAGE
PRESENTED BY: Sgt Jason Hann
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This is a brief overview of the history of The Royal Newfoundland Regiment. I have been a member of this regiment for approximately seven years. During this time I have progressed to become an instructor in the Reserves and I have studied much of its history, in my own time, because of personal history. The outline, which I will follow, will be based on a chronological overview of the Regiment from its early days to its present status. The information from the past has been accumulated through various resources which will be identified in the works cited section of this essay. The sections on the current status have also come from these sources, but as well much of this information comes from my own personal experience.
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The Newfoundland Regiment was formed as a British Imperial Force on 21 August, 1914, and it was reformed as a part of Canada's forces on October, 1949. Although one might think that this was the beginning of the Regiment, this is far from true. Traces of the volunteer forces for the defense of Newfoundland date back as far as the early 1700 hundreds. These early forces , an informal militia, were first formed for local defense which dealt primarily with raids or attacks on the communities, but by the late 17th century Newfoundland had begun its commitments beyond our shores in response to Britain's call. During the American's invasion of Canada there was much concern for Newfoundland's defense and in 1779 Captain Robert Pringle was authorized to form the Newfoundland Volunteers, but this force was disbanded only several months later. The official Royal Proclamation for the Regiment to bear its name came on 25 April 1795, but for some reason which I was unable to discover we take 29 April as our birth date (I assume maybe that was when soldiers were recruited). The Regiment spent from this time up until the beginning of World War I being formed when threat occurred and again disbanded when not required. The American invasion between 1812-1815 would probably be the Regiments greatest accomplishments before the first world war. Major battles were the capture of Detroit in 1812, Ogdensburg in 1813, and the capture of Fort Prairie du Chien in 1814. Out of a total of 540 men who served with the Regiment during this war, 400 were killed, wounded, or captured.
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On the outbreak of the Great War, many men were called upon to come and join in the fight. Newfoundland was no different and on 21 August a proclamation was issued to send the Newfoundland Regiment (note not yet entitled Royal) overseas. Having been reinstated the regiment enlisted 275 people in the first week of recruiting. These troops marched into camp at Pleasantville beside Quidi Vidi Lake at the east side of St. John's on 2 September. There was no suitable uniforms available for the regiment so their fatigues were made locally from a khaki drill material and knitted woolen caps. Not having enough of this khaki material available puttees (material covering the bottom of the pants and top of the boots) were made from a blue woolen material. This was so distinctive that the regiment members were known as the "Blue Puttees". Another name that marks the first troops to sail from St. John's is "The First 500" The troops did not go straight to battle. They stayed for a short while on Salisbury Plain and in December they moved to Fort George. In February of that year they moved to Edinburgh where they were greeted by Pipes and Drums from The Royal Scots Regiment and they paraded through the streets to the castle. The Newfoundland troops were the first colonial troops to be stationed in Edinburgh, and are still the only non-Scottish troops to ever garrison Edinburgh Castle. The first battle that the Newfoundland Regiment was involved in was Gallipoli (Egypt) in 1915. The Regiment then spent the remainder of the war travelling from battle to battle, making a proud name for themselves at every encounter. The major battles that they fought can be found as battle honours on the regimental colors. A list of these battle honours are included in the appendix. There were too many battles to talk about them all in a report, you would need to write a book. So I will discuss briefly the main or most rememberable three. These would be Gallipoli, Beaumont Hamel, and Cambria. As stated earlier Gallipoli was the first battle in which the Newfoundland Regiment was involved. This is where the troops were first shelled and introduced to trench warfare. The first fatal casualty from the regiment was 902 Pte. Walter Mcwhirter, killed in action on 22 September, 1915. In all, 43 members of the Newfoundland Regiment were killed and buried at Gallipoli and more died as a result of wounds and were buried in cemeteries at various locations depending on where they were when they drew their last breaths.
4 Another interesting point besides it being Newfoundland's first battle is that Newfoundland was the only regiment in Canada to be involved in the battle of Gallipoli. The battle of Beaumont Hamel, 1916. This is remembered as a tragic event. This is the historic battle where 790 men went over the top to advance towards the Germans. Out of these 710 were killed, wounded, or missing. Only 68 men answered the roll call the following day. Many of these reached as far as "The Danger Tree" in no man's land and the others were slaughtered on the German wire. It was said that the Newfoundlander's displayed the greatest courage ever and the only reason why the advanced did not continue was because "dead men can advance no further". Major General D.E. Cayley, Commander of the 88th. Brigade stated "It was a magnificent display of trained and disciplined valour and only failed because dead men can advance no further." Also it was at this time that the Regiment received it's unofficial motto "Better Than The Best" from Lieutenant General Sir Aylmer Hunter Weston in his now famous letter. An insert from this letter can be found in the appendix. The other battle which I have decided to mention was Cambria, 1917. The major importance of this battle is that it was for this battle that the unit was given royal approval to be entitled "Royal". Thus the name changed from the Newfoundland Regiment to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. This was a great honour to the Regiment and the members were very proud. There are two important people that I will include who brought much pride to the regiment during World War I for their accomplishments. The first is Dr. Cluny MacPherson. He was a Major and the chief medical officer with the Regiment. MacPherson is best remembered as the inventor of the gas mask which saved many lives. The second person is Pte. Tommy Ricketts. He was the youngest ever and the only member of the regiment to ever receive the Victoria Cross. This is the most highly esteemed medal which can be awarded. Pictures and information on these two people are included in the appendix. After the war had ended, the Newfoundland troops went home as well as everyone else. Although they left, they also left their mark with memorials all across Europe. A picture of one of these memorials can be found in the appendix as well as a poem engraved on another.
5 THE REGIMENT SINCE WORLD WAR I
First of all as you can see on the colours the Royal Newfoundland Regiment does not have any battle honours for World War II. This is because the regiment did not form as a unit to fight in this war. Instead, Newfoundlander's formed an Artillery unit and many Newfoundlander's fought in various battalions across Canada and Britain. After World War II things seemed fairly calm and the units were not needed. It was not until 1974 that the regiment reformed as a reserve unit. This is the formation that we currently know it as today. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment consists of two Battalions. The Headquarters (HQ) for the first Battalion (1RNFLDR) is located in St. John's and the HQ for the second battalion (2RNFLDR) is located in my home town of Corner Brook. More information about this can be found in the location section. The regiments train on Thursday nights and on weekends part time here in their own training areas, but during the summers we train full time at various bases across Canada. More information on training is located in the training section. We have had major involvement's in the defense of Canada and in overseas activities. The two major involvement's in Canada were the Royal visit of Queen Elizabeth II, and the Oka incident a few years ago. Some components of the regiment were also involved with the Ice Storm in 1998 in Ontario and Quebec. The unit was employed as security and set-up for the 1999 Canada Winter Games. As for overseas Newfoundland has been sending members to supplement the regular forces on United Nations taskings. Some of these places that members have served were Cyprus, Bosnia, and Yugoslavia. Other activities which the regiment have been involved in were the celebration of the Two Hundredth Anniversary in 1995 and the celebration of V-E Day on 7th May, 1995. Also other yearly events such as Remembrance Day are taken very seriously. Some items from the 200th anniversary can be found in the appendix.
6 In this report there has been a brief overview of over 200 years of history of The Royal Newfoundland Regiment. You can look through the appendix in which I have included various propaganda to join the war and other items of interest. To conserve space these items are mostly links which you can click on to view. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment has a strong history which all Newfoundlander's should be proud of, The Royal Newfoundland Regiment is truly "Better Than The Best".
7 Better Than The Best Edited by Dr. David Facey-Crowther; Copyright The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Advisory Council, 1995. Newfoundland Encyclopedia I was unable to locate again the exact book, but information was taken from it. Pilgrimage A Guide to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in World War One W. David Parsons; Creative Publishers St. John's, Newfoundland 1994. The Trail of the Caribou Newfoundland in the First World War, 1914-18 Tony Murphy and Paul Kenney; Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. St. John's, Newfoundland 1991. Verdun Editions Mage France; Copyright Editorial Escudo De Oro, S.A Spain, 6th Edition April 1989.
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Click on the topic you would like to view: These items have not all been entered yet but will be shortly so please come back. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Poem Remembrance Day Poem For King and Country I have Offered Photo's Recruiting Posters Dr. Cluny MacPherson Thomas R Ricketts Caribou Monument 200th Anniversary
Title | Contents | Intro | Pre-WWI | In WWI | Since WWI | Conclusion | Works Cited | Appendix
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