4th CANADIAN CAVALRY (AIR) (4 CAN CAV)

BADGE

Description: A Scottish Clan belt in blue trimmed in gold, emblazoned with the motto NE OBLIVISCARIS in gold in the top loop, the belt surrounding the Roman number IV in gold on a black field, all topped by the Royal Crown. The belt is set atop a Scottish wreath of green thistles entwined with pink roses. Underneath the belt is a blue scroll trimmed in gold with the words CANADIAN CAVALRY REGT. in gold.

Symbolism: The clan belt indicates this is a traditional Highland unit. The Roman number "IV" indicates the place of the regiment in the original order of units in the Canadian Air Cavalry Corps. That combined with the words on the scroll at the base of the badge forms one way of addressing the regiment's name.

SHOULDER TITLES

Metal Title
The Roman number IV over crossed Model 1840 Light Cavalry Sabres in gold.

Cloth Title
4 CAN CAV

MOTTO
Ne Obliviscaris ("Never Forget")

MARCH PAST

Quick March
The Campbells Are Coming

Slow March
The Red Hackle

Lament
The Sun In The Stream

ALLIANCES AND BONDS OF FRIENDSHIP

British Army
The Royal Regiment of Scotland

Royal Air Force
602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron RAuxAF
603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron RAuxAF

United States Army
4th Cavalry Regiment (Bond of Friendship)

AFFILIATION

Royal Canadian Navy
HMCS Halifax
HMCS Charlottetown

Canadian Army
The Annapolis Regiment (RCCAC)
The Newfoundland Cavalry Rangers (Air)
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's)

Royal Canadian Air Force
403 Squadron RCAF

BATTLE HONOURS

The First World War
Mount Sorrel, Somme 1916 & 1918, Flers-Courcellette, Theipval, Ancre Heights, Arras 1917 & 1918, Vimy 1917, Hill 70, Ypres 1917, Passchendaele, Amiens, Scarpe 1918, Drocourt-Quéant Line, Hindenburg Line, Canal du Nord, Cambrai 1918, Pursuit to Mons, France and Flanders 1916-18

The Second World War
English Channel and North Sea 1940-44, Dieppe, Verrieres Ridge — Tilly-la-Campagne, Falaise, Falaise Road, Clair Tizon, Saint-Lambert-sur-Dives, Forêt de la Londe, The Seine 1944, Moerbrugge, The Scheldt, Woensdrecht, Breskens Pocket, South Beveland, The Lower Maas, Kapelsche Veer, The Rhineland, Goch-Calcar Road, The Hochwald, Xanten, Veen, Twente Canal, Groningen, Friesoythe, Küsten Canal, Bad Zwischenahn, Oldenburg, Northwest Europe 1940-45

HOME STATION
Gagetown, New Brunswick

LINEAGE

This Regular Force regiment originated on 1 May 1954 in Soest, Federal Republic of Germany as "1st/4th Canadian Cavalry (Air)" by the re-designation of "27th Canadian Cavalry (Air)," which had been formed on 1 September 1950 by the amalgamation of the "B" Squadrons of "1st/10th Canadian Cavalry (Air)" (today "10th Saskatchewan Cavalry Regiment of Canada [Air]"), "1st/7th Canadian Cavalry (Air)" (today "The Royal London Rifles [1st Canadian Regiment] [RCCAC]") and "1st/20th Canadian Cavalry (Air)" (today "le 20e Fusiliers [du Quebec-Nord] du Canada [CCRCA]") to serve as a separate regiment. The regiment was re-designated "4th Canadian Cavalry (Air)" on 1 May 1958. The regiment was reduced to nil strength and placed on the Supplementary Order of Battle on 1 May 1970, transferred at the same time to The Royal Canadian Armoured Corps. The regiment was restored from the Supplementary Order of Battle on 1 January 2011 as an active service element of The Royal Canadian Corps of Air Cavalry and reformed from the re-designation of "403 Helicopter Operational Training Squadron" of the Canadian Armed Forces.

PERPETUATION
4th Air Reconnaissance Battalion, CEF
4th Canadian Cavalry (Air) (1920)

OPERATIONAL HISTORY

The First World War
The "4th Air Reconnaissance Battalion, CEF" was formed at Valcartier, Québec as an active service element of the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 2 February 1915 from volunteer drafts recruited by the "14th King's Canadian Hussars" (today part of "1st [Halifax-Dartmouth] Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery"), the "36th Prince Edward Island Light Horse" (today part of "The Prince Edward Island Regiment [RCAC]"), the "63rd Regiment (Halifax Rifles)" (today part of "The Halifax Rifles [RCAC]"), the "66th Regiment (Princess Louise Fusiliers)" (today known as "The Princess Louise Fusiliers"), and the "69th Annapolis Regiment" (today part of "The West Nova Scotia Regiment"). On deployment overseas, the battalion was made a fighting element of the 4th Canadian Brigade, a formation of the 2nd Canadian Division of the Canadian Corps. The battalion fought in France and Flanders until the cessation of hostilities. The battalion was disbanded on 31 January 1919.

Between The Wars
The "40th Mounted Rifles" was formed as an element of the Non-Permanent Active Militia on 1 February 1919 at Kentville, Nova Scotia by personnel of the former "4th Air Reconnaissance Battalion, CEF." The regiment was transferred to the Canadian Air Cavalry Corps on 1 May 1920 and re-designated "4th Canadian Cavalry (Air)."

The Second World War
The regiment formed "4th Canadian Cavalry (Air) CASF" as an active service element of the Canadian Army Service Force on 1 October 1939. The regiment was assigned as a fighting element of the 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade, a formation of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. Personnel remaining behind in Canada formed "10th Air Cavalry Training Regiment (4th Canadian Cavalry)" to provide replacement pilots. The active service regiment was broken apart into two separate regiments on 1 July 1940, forming "1st/4th Canadian Cavalry (Air) CASF" and "2nd/4th Canadian Cavalry (Air) CASF." The former regiment was re-designated "The Annapolis Regiment (1st/4th Canadian Cavalry) CASF" on 10 September 1940. The latter regiment was re-designated "The Northumberland Regiment (2nd/4th Canadian Cavalry) CASF" the same day. "10th Air Cavalry Training Regiment (4th Canadian Cavalry)" was disbanded on 1 April 1946 and "4th Canadian Cavalry (Air)" was removed from the regimental rolls.

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Operations - Germany
"27th Canadian Cavalry (Air)" was formed on 1 September 1950 as a fighting element of the 27th Canadian Infantry Brigade Group for service in West Germany. The regiment was re-designated "1st/4th Canadian Cavalry (Air)" on 1 May 1954 and repatriated to Canada by May 1955, reassigned to the 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade Group.

REGIMENT CAMP FLAG

Description: A flag divided diagonally from top fly to base hoist black over dark blue by a buff gold stripe, the Roman number IV in gold on the black field in the canton and crossed Model 1840 Light Cavalry Sabres in natural colours sheathed in scabbards in the dark blue field near the base fly.

Significance: The diagonal stripe echoes the traditional military map symbol for a cavalry unit. Dark blue and black are the regiment's colours. The Roman number "IV" and the cavalry sabres are a visual way of speaking the regiment's name.

TARTAN
Campbell/Black Watch "Government Number One" pattern

HEADDRESS
Buff gold Glengarry bonnet with black toorie and black-blue-and-green dicing

To be continued…

WRITER'S NOTES

1) Highland regiments are those regiments in the British Commonwealth that honour a spiritual link to the Highland clans of old Scotland. As a normal rule, all Highland regiments wear kilts in lieu of pants with their dress uniforms, have bagpipes in their marching bands and wear forms of headdress that reflect common hats worn in Scotland in the days before the Act of Union in 1707 saw that nation become part of the modern United Kingdom. In reflection of the high number of Scots who helped settle modern Canada, the Canadian Army has fifteen active Highland regiments based across the country, including one air defence artillery regiment (the 1st Air Defence Regiment [Lanark and Refrew Scottish], R.C.A. [1 AD REGT] in Pembroke, located northeast of Ottawa; this regiment was converted from a line infantry regiment in the mid-1990s).

2) The motto of the regiment, Ne Obliviscaris ("Never Forget"), is directly taken from the motto of the Clan Campbell, one of the larger Scottish Highland clans. The clan hails from the Argyll district on the Atlantic Ocean coast of Scotland close to Glasgow. The regiment's badge itself is based on the clan crest of the Campbells. The clan is also the source of the regiment's tartan pattern and the quick march, The Campbells Are Coming.

3) The regiment's slow march, The Red Hackle, is also the slow march of Canada's senior Highland regiment, The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada (RHC). The regimental lament, The Sun In The Stream, is a modern tune composed by Irish singer/songwriter Enya (born Eithne Ní Bhraonáin in 1961); it was first released in 1986 for the soundtrack of the BBC series The Celts.

4) The Royal Regiment of Scotland (SCOTS) was formed in 2006 from the amalgamation of several Scottish units in the British Army. One of them was The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment), which became the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Another is the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, which became the 5th Battalion.

5) The two Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadrons listed here are reserve units based in Scotland's two largest cities. Both squadrons were involved in the Battle of Britain.

6) The American 4th Cavalry Regiment was first formed in 1855 at Fort Riley in Kansas. One of its more well-known early commanders was General Robert E. Lee (1807-70), who commanded the famous Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War. Atop its work in the Civil War and the Indian Wars that followed, the 4th Cavalry were also involved in the European theatre in World War Two (they led the American invasion at Normandy's Utah Beach on D-Day [6 July 1944]), the Vietnam War, the first Persian Gulf War, the Yugoslav wars of the mid-1990s and both the Iraq and Afghanistan theatres of the War on Terror.

7) Royal Canadian Navy notes: HMCS Halifax (pendant FFH-330) and HMCS Charlottetown (FFH-339) are Halifax-class patrol frigates built in the late 1980s. Both ships are named after the capital cities of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island respectively. They are both based at Halifax.

8) The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's) (ASH OF C) was first formed in 1903 in Hamilton, Ontario. The regiment helped mobilise the 19th Battalion (Central Ontario), CEF for service overseas in World War One. The 19th Battalion was assigned to the 4th Canadian Brigade of the 2nd Canadian Division…the same formation the 4th Air Reconnaissance Battalion, CEF was a part of. Because of that, the original 4th Canadian Cavalry (Air) adopted the same tartan pattern as the Canadian Argylls did over the years.

9) 403 (Red Wolf) Helicopter Operational Training Squadron (403 HOTS) was formed in 1941 as a fighter unit, flying tactical missions until war's end. Reformed in 1948 as an auxiliary squadron and adopted by the city of Calgary, the squadron was a reserve fighter unit until 1968, when it was returned to full-time service, converted to helicopters and moved to Petawawa to be the Operational Training Unit for tactical aviation services. It was shifted to its current base in Gagetown in 1972. In the universe of my stories, after the 4th Canadian Cavalry is reformed, 403 Squadron would be returned to air reserve status and reformed in Calgary.

10) Due to the fact that both The Annapolis Regiment (RCCAC) (ANNAPOLIS R) and The Newfoundland Cavalry Rangers (Air) (NFLD CAV RANG) were formed from the original 4th Canadian Cavalry in 1940, all three regiments share the same battle honours won by 4 ARB in the First World War and both the Annapolis and Northumberland Regiments in the Second World War.