Trust me, I know objectively the way we do business is stupid and desperately needs to be changed. The BCR itself lives in a decrepit old building completely unsuitable for its purpose, and its nowhere near large enough. Half our vehicles and most of our POL are off site. But that place is a second home to me, and I don't want to give it up.
Reliving former glory I guess, giving up the name and the traditions to me, feels like letting the men who went before wearing that same cap badge and carrying those traditions down. Same reason we keep the building we have come hell or high water. A large number of men walked out those doors and never came home. I've been a member of the BCR for more than a decade and walked the battlefields of our predecessor units in Europe, and no amount of reason is going to change my mind. I'm completely aware that's not a practical reason.
Do you think that changing it to the British Columbia Regiment dishonoured the men who served in the British Columbia Rifles? Or were any others other regiments dishonoured in the amalgamation heavy history of the BCRs?
The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) originated in Victoria, British Columbia on 12 October 1883, when the
British Columbia Provisional Regiment of Garrison Artillery was formed. It was redesignated as the
British Columbia Brigade of Garrison Artillery on 7 May 1886, as the
British Columbia Battalion of Garrison Artilleryon 1 January 1893, as the
5th British Columbia Battalion of Garrison Artillery on 1 January 1895 and the
5th British Columbia Regiment, Canadian Artillery on 28 December 1895. The regiment was reorganized and split into two battalions on 1 July 1896, designated the
1st Battalion(now the
5th (British Columbia) Field Artillery Regiment, RCA) and
2nd Battalion, which was detached and converted to infantry and redesignated the
6th Battalion Rifles on 1 August 1899, with headquarters in Vancouver. It was redesignated the
6th Regiment The Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles on 1 May 1900.
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Following the Great War on 12 March 1920, the
6th Regiment The Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles was amalgamated with the
104th Regiment (Westminster Fusiliers of Canada), now
The Royal Westminster Regiment, and redesignated as the
1st British Columbia Regiment. It was redesignated the
1st British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) on 1 November 1920. On 15 May 1924 it was reorganized into three separate regiments, designated
The Vancouver Regiment,
The Westminster Regiment and the
1st British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own). The 1st British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) was redesignated
The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles) on 15 January 1930 and the
2nd (Reserve) Battalion, The British Columbia Regiment, (Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles) on 7 November 1940. The regiment was converted to armour and redesignated the
13th Armoured Regiment (The British Columbia Regiment), RCAC, on 1 April 1946,
The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) (13th Armoured Regiment) on 4 February 1949,
The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) (RCAC), on 19 May 1958 and finally The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) on 7 October 1985. On 13 June 2002, it was amalgamated with
The Irish Fusiliers of Canada (The Vancouver Regiment).
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If we were to stay armour and actually be a practical, worthwhile expenditure of limited Army funds? We need a new site with a hanger, classrooms, maintenance facility and a track we can use to train drivers. Oh, and actual armoured vehicles suited to our role, but that's a stretch. There's plenty of land for such a facility at 39 Svc in Richmond, or the Aldergrove lands. Last I heard though the RCAF was not at all willing to share out in Aldergrove.
The next 5-10 years sees the army deploying formed platoons mixed armour and infantry mounted in TAPVs. I think that is the most likely deployment of any formed reserve body. Essentially motorized infantry in the TAPV. To paraphrase
@FJAG it’s not great but we have it and need to use it.
If I ran the army and money was no object? The BCR drill hall would be renovated and seismically updated, and the BCR would receive driver and turret trainers for Abrams. Our two troops of Abrams would be located in the US at Yakima, and our actual fleet of vehicles would be blue fleets to go down to the US. The army as a whole would transition to US systems exclusively, the only Canadianization being our shade of green and some black maple leafs. I'm not nearly smart enough to figure out what the rest of the Army would look like, but it would generally follow the "heavy in the west, medium and light in the east" template that's been talked about ad nauseum elsewhere on this site.
I’d rather see those heavy armoured reservists close by usable training areas. But I’m also not expecting to see reserve recruitment quadruple any time soon.
@FJAG is again correct that cap badges are secondary, what matters is employing people in a logical manner. It’ll probably piss some people off, that’s a price worth paying most of the time.
