Le Régiment de la Chaudière

Le Régiment de la Chaudière is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces.

Insignia

The regimental insignia consists of two crossed machine guns, surmounted by a beaver supporting a fleur-de-lys. Under this is a scroll inscribed with the device 'Aere perennis', with a small maple leaf on each end.

History

Le Régiment de la Chaudière was formed following the amalgamation of the Regiments of Dorchester and Beauce on 15 December, 1936.

The regiment mobilized a battalion for the Canadian Active Service Force in 1939. Initially organized as a machine gun battalion, the battalion was sent to England in August 1941. The unit was assigned to the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division as a standard rifle battalion and was designated as a reserve battalion during the D-Day landings in June 1944. Le Régiment de la Chaudière came ashore at Bernières-sur-Mer after The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, surprising the locals who hadn't expected to find francophone troops in the liberating forces. It was one of only two francophones unit to participate in Operation Overlord, along with the Commando Kieffer.

The regiment participated in the Battle for Caen, suffering several casualties in the fight at Carpiquet airfield on 4 July, 1944.

With the rest of the division, the regiment fought in the Battle of the Scheldt, notably in actions in the Breskens pocket between 6 October and 3 November 1944.

The unit wintered in the Nijmegen Salient and was again active in the Rhineland fighting in February 1945, and finished the war on German soil in May.

A 2nd Battalion served in the Reserve Army. A 3rd Battalion was raised for the Canadian Army Occupation Force.

Name

Citizens in Normandy were surprised to find that soldiers of the Chaudière spoke a dialect of French very close to that spoken in Normandy, but were puzzled by the regiment's name. In French, "chaudière" is the word for a hot water heater. In Quebec, Chaudière is a common place name from which the name of the Regiment was drawn. ["Canada in the Second World War" (Reader's Digest, 1958)]

Order of precedence

External links

* [http://www.army.dnd.ca/rdechaud/qg-hq/index-eng.asp Web site of Le Régiment de la Chaudière]
* [http://www.members.shaw.ca/junobeach/juno-4-3.htm Juno Beach - Le Régiment de la Chaudière on D-Day]