British Columbia Dragoons Memorial

[front/devant]

[left crest/insigne de gauche]

2nd
C.M.R.B.C.H.
CANADA

[centre crest/insigne du centre]

THE BRITISH COLUMBIA DRAGOONS
QUANSEM ILEP

[right crest/insigne de droite]

BRITISH COLUMBIA HORSE
QUANSEM ILEP

[front - bottom/devant - en bas]

HOME OF THE BRITISH COLUMBIA DRAGOONS

[front buttom plaque/devant plaque du bas]

THIS MONUMENT IS DEDICATED TO ALL RANKS OF
"THE BRITISH COLUMBIA DRAGOONS"
AND ITS FOREBEARS WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED
IN SERVICE AND SACRIFICE WITH THIS
OKANAGAN'S OWN REGIMENT SINCE 1908.

JUNE 9TH, 1996

[back/arrière]

SERVING
CANADA
SINCE
1908

[back - left plaque/arrière - plaque de gauche]

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH COLUMBIA DRAGOONS

BETWEEN 1884 AND 1908, SEVERAL ATTEMPTS WERE MADE TO ORGANIZE A
MILITIA CAVALRY UNIT IN THE INTERIOR OF THE PROVINCE. THE MEMORY
OF THE RIEL REBELLION WAS STILL FRESH, AND THE ALASKA BOUNDARY DISPUTE OF 1903 HIGHLIGHTEDTHE FACT THAT AN INVASION BY THE U.S.A.
WAS STILL A POSSIBILITY. IN EARLY 1908, A PETITION TO FORM A CAVALRY
UNIT WAS SUBMITTED TO MILITIA AUTHORITIES. ON 1 APRIL 1908,
PERMISSION WS GRANTED. ON 9 MAY 1908, AN ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
WAS HELD IN VERNON, B.C., WHERE THE NAME "THE OKANAGAN MOUNTED
RIFLES" WAS ANNOUNCED AND THAT MAJOR H.A. PERRY WOULD ASSUME
COMMAND. THE SQUADRON HELD ITS FIRST MOUNTED PARADE ON 10
OCTOBER 1908. ALTHOUGH MOST MEN HAD UNIFORMS AND RIFLES, THEY HAD
TO PROVIDE THIER OWN MOUNTS AND SADDLES. ON 12 JUNE 1909, THE
SQUADRON ESTABLISHED THE FIRST CAVALRY CAMP ON THE SHORE OF
OKANAGAN LAKE AT WHAT IS NOW KINSMEN PARK NEAR VERNON, B.C. IN
THE NEXT TWO YEARS, SQUADRONS WERE ESTABLISHED IN COLDSTREAM,
LUMBY, KELOWNA, AND ARMSTRONG. ON 1 APRIL 1911, ALL WERE GROUPED
INTO A SINGLE REGIMENT, "THE 1ST B.C. HORSE". FIVE MONTS LATER IT
BECAME "THE 30TH B.C. HORSE", WITH HEADQUARTERS IN VERNON. THE
REGIMENT QUICKLY STTLED IN TO A TRANINING PATTERN IN THE SUMMER,
AND ORGANIZED SOCIAL EVENTS IN THE WINTER. ON 3 DECEMBER 1913 THE
NEW VERNON ARMOURY OPENED AT A COST OF $18,000.00. THE RIGIMENT
HAD A PERMANENT HOME AND TOTALLY INTEGRATED INTO THE COMMUNITY.

CANADA ENTERED WW1, 4 AUGUST 1914. BY 20 AUGUST THE REGIMENT WAS
CONCENTRATED IN VERNON READY TO GO TO WAR. ON 7 NOVEMBER
AUTHORITY WAS GIVEN TO ORGANIZE "THE 2ND CANADIAN MOUNTED RIFLES"
AND MOST MEMBERS OF "THE B.C. HORSE" JOINED THIS REGIMENT. AFTER
INTENSIVE TRAINING IN VICTORIA, B.C., THEY WERE SHIPPED OVERSEAS 4
JUNE 1915. AFTER FURTHER TRAINNG IN SHORNCLIFFE, ENGLAND, THEY
EMBARKED ON 4 OCTOBER FOR ACTIVE DUTY IN FRANCE. THE REGIMENT
FOGHT MAJOR BATTLES WITH THE CANADIAN CORPS IN FRANCE AND
FLANDERS, YPRES, THE SOMMES, VIMY RIDGE AND PASSCHENDAELE - THESE,
AND OTHER BATTLE HONORS WERE EMBLAZED UPON THEIR GUIDON MARKING
A SILENT TRIBUTE TO THE SACRIFICES MADE IN WW1. THE 2ND CMRs
RETURNED FROM OVERSEAS SERVICE AND OFFICIALLY DISBANDED ON 9 APRIL
1919.

THE REGIMENT AGAIN GEGAN TRAINING AS A MILITIA UNIT, AND ON 15
MARCH 1920, THE REMNANTS OF THE "OLD" B.C. HORSE PLUS VETERANS OF
THE 2ND AND THE 11TH CMRs WERE REORGANIZED INTO THE "BRITISH
COLUMBIA MOUNTED RIFLES". DUE TO GENERAL CONCERNS THAT THE TERM
"MOUNTED RIFLES" EQUALLED INFANTRY, THE REGIMENT BECAME "THE
BRITISH COLUMBIA DRAGOONS"

ON THE OUTBREAK OF WWII, THE DRAGOONS AGAIN OFFERED THEIR
SERVICES, SERVING FIRST AS MOTORCYCLE, AND THEN ULTIMATELY AS AN
ARMOURED UNIT. ON 24 MAY 1944, THE B.C.Ds WENT INTO ACTION IN ITALY.
DURING THE LIRI VALLEY OPERATION THE REGIMENT CARRIED OUT A MAJOR
ROLE IN BREAKING OUT OF THE HITLER LINE AND EXPLOITING NORTHWARD.
BREAKING THROUGH THE GOTHIC LINE FORTHER NORTH, IT FOUGHT
MAGNIFICE TLY IN SPITE OF HEAVY CASUALTIES IN MEN AND TANKS. IN
LATER BATTLES FORM CORIANO RIDGE TO THE CAMACCHIO LAGOON, AND
DELFZIJL, THE B.C.Ds CARRIED OUT THE TASKS ASSIGNED TO THEM WITH
SKILL AND DARING, ADDING MORE BATTLE HONORS TO THEIR GUIDON WHEN
WW11 ENDED ON 5 MAY 1945. THE REGIMENT, AFTER A SHORT STAY IN
VEENDAM, HOLLAND, RETURNED HOME ON 19 JANUARY 1946 AND
DEMOBILIZED.

"THE - BRITISH COLUMBIA DRAGOONS" WERE AGAIN MOBILIZED ON 1 APRIL
1946 AND CONTINUES SERVING AS A MILITIA UNIT TODAY.

[back - right plaque/arrière - plaque de droite]

BATTLE HONORS

MOUNT SORREL
SOMME, 1916
FLERS-COURCELETTE
PASSCHENDAELE
AMIENS
HINDENBURG LINE
CAMBRAI, 1918
PURSUIT TO MONS
FRANCE AND FLANDERS 1915-18
LIRI VALLEY
GOTHIC LINE
MELFA CROSSING
POZZO ALTO RIDGE
ITALY, 1944-45
CONVENTELLO-COMACCHIO
IJSSELMEER
DELFZIJL POCKET
NORTH-WEST EUROPE, 1945