4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards
| 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards | |
|---|---|
 Badge of the 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards | |
| Active | |
| Country |  Canada |
| Allegiance | Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada |
| Type | Army |
| Headquarters | Ottawa, Ontario |
The 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards is an inactive armoured regiment of the Canadian militia.
Lineage
The Regiment's history dates back to Ottawa in the early 1870s and its membership in Canada's militia. Its subsequent battle honours include South Africa in the early 1900s and the First World War.
History
Prewar
In 1936 the and the Princess Louise Dragoon Guards were amalgamated to form the 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards.
Second World War
The 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards was a Militia Regiment activated for Wartime Service with the Canadian Army (Active) in 1941. A former cavalry regiment with roots in the Ottawa area that dated back to the late 1800s it was assigned to the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps which itself had been activated in 1940. In 1942 it was redesignated the 4th Reconnaissance Regiment (4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards), the same year the first of its soldiers sailed for the United Kingdom where 4th PLDG joined 1st Canadian Infantry Division at Camp Aldershot.
4th Recce immediately began expanding its ranks, taking volunteers from infantry regiments serving in the United Kingdom and a steady flow of reinforcements from Canada. Four squadrons were eventually raised in addition to the Regimental HQ Squadron. A reserve squadron, based in Ottawa continued to provide reinforcements throughout the war as well.
"A" Squadron of 4th PLDG landed in Sicily on July 13, 1943, as part of the Follow Up Forces. Only "A" Squadron, commanded by Major Duck actually took part in the Sicily fighting. B and C Squadrons were not fully equipped with the requisite number of reconnaissance cars and carriers until October, while the regiment was serving on mainland Italy. D Squadron was raised that winter when heavy rains and freezing temperatures rendered the Princess Louise Dragoon Guards' vehicles all but useless. The scouts patrolled their sector on horseback instead.
One of the most notable engagements fought by 4th PLDG took place at Miglionico. A pair of scout troops used a rail tunnel to infiltrate the positions of the elite 3rd Fallschirmjager Regiment and launch an attack that killed an estimated 50 paratroopers and destroyed several trucks and a large quantity of ammunition.
All three squadrons were active by the time 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards was transferred to the Infantry Corps. The regiment was assigned to 12th Infantry Brigade of the recently arrived 5th Armoured Division on July 13, 1944. The decision was the result of 8th Army commander General Montgomery's concern that the division lacked the sufficient number of infantry battalions for operations in Italy. The regiment, having established a reputation for courage and tenacity while operating as scouts, soon distinguished itself as infantry. It was ordered to take on September 1, 1944, also known as Point 253. The hill, part of the enemy's Gothic Line was targeted by 1st Division's gunners for the better part of an hour before 4th PLDG attacked. C-Squadron began closing on the hill at 13:10. The Princess Louise ran headlong into patatroopers from 3rd Fallschirmjager Regiment, preparing to mount their own attack and there was a furious, close-quarters gun battle prior to Lord Strathcona's Horse joining 4th PLDG in the assault on the main German defences, a handful of farm buildings midway up the slope. The Shermans blasted the startled paratroopers from the buildings and the waiting Princess Louise cut them down with small arms fire. By last light Point 253 was in Canadian hands. The first battle as infantry had cost the regiment dearly: 35 men were dead and another 94 wounded.
A message penned by 8th Army's commander, General Leese, congratulated the Princess Louise for their victory, made that much more remarkable based on the unit's very brief training as infantry.
On a humorous note, members of the unit were once urged by General Simonds (GOC 1st Canadian Infantry Division) to beat a U.S. Army unit into the Sicilian village of Enna and thus take credit for its capture. A mixed bag of NCO's and troopers mounted their armoured cars and headed for the town only to be halted by a demolished culvert. Not to be denied, the soldiers commandeered a mule and continued the race arriving in the village just as troops from 1st Infantry Division did so. Though the weary Canadians were only too happy to clamber aboard one of the latter unit's jeeps and ride the rest of the way into town, the regimental history of the 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards maintains that Corporal Jackson was first to dismount in Enna's piazza rendering the Canadian Army as the rightful liberators of the town.
The regiment was returned to its reconnaissance role, and Armoured Corps status on 15 March 1945 and finished the war in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after being transferred to the theatre as part of Operation Goldflake. Fighting in a number of engagements with the heavily armoured German divisions as they fled, a role the unit had performed with some distinction in Italy, 4th PLDG suffered heavy losses. Battlefield deaths, all ranks, for the entire year of 1944 were 150. In the four months 4th Recce fought in North West Europe, a third of the time it was in Italy, it lost some 187 men (4th PLDG History Page 306).
Postwar
The 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards was moved to the Supplementary Order of Battle of the Canadian Army in 1965.
Battle honours
- South Africa
Uniform and traditions
The 4th PLDG retained the black beret of the Canadian Armoured Corps and referred to its sub-units as "squadrons" instead of "companies" the traditional infantry designation. Its motto was "For Our Altars and Our Homes".
Notable soldiers
Notes
External links
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