The Regina Rifle Regiment During the Second World War
Research and article by Emily Reid.
The Royal Regina Rifles, as it is known today, is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army which comes from a long and rich military history that stretches over more than a century of service and sacrifice. Through the accumulation of 39 distinguished battle honours as well as international recognition for its strength and professionalism, the regiment represents one of the most notorious global symbols of Saskatchewan. Nicknamed “the Famer Johns” for its large recruitment of local farmers and labourers, the famous “Up the Johns!” motto celebrates the past and present young men, women, Indigenous and Métis peoples who dedicated their lives to protecting Canadians and preserving the freedoms that we experience today.
Image: The Royal Regina Rifles badge
The regiment began on 3 July 1905 following the Canadian government’s reorganization of its militia command structure into five districts across the prairies, including a new militia unit known as the 95th Regiment for the North-West territories of Assiniboia and Saskatchewan districts (Coneghan, 2006). The newly formed regiment was officially called for active duty for the first time on 30 June 1912 after a large portion of Regina was destroyed by a cyclone, in which they were tasked with preventing any looting as well as protecting Regina’s population (Coneghan, 2006). But after the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, drafts from the 95th Battalion were organized into two contingents of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, the second of which mainly contained recruits from Saskatoon, Regina, Moose Jaw, and Prince Albert that were designated as the 28th (Northwest) Battalion of the Canadian infantry (Borsch, 2006). After a quick recruitment, the 28th Battalion was sent overseas to Britain in June of 1915, and by September 18th of 1915, the battalion had landed in France to serve on the front lines (Borsch, 2006).
Under the leadership of five commanding officers from 1915 to its demobilization in 1919, the 28th Battalion participated in many crucial battles and was awarded several highly prestigious battle honours. Of the 28th Battalion’s eighteen total battle honours earned throughout the First World War, some of the most notable include recognition for participation in the first and second Battle of the Somme (1916, 1918), the Battle of Arras (1917), the Battle of Vimy Ridge (1917), the Battle of Passchendaele (1917), and fighting in the Flanders Offensive (1916-1917). The Great War battle honours listed on the current Royal Regina Rifles colours are: Mount Sorrel, Flers-Courcelette, Arras (1917), Vimy (1917), Ypres (1917), Passchendaele, Amiens, Arras (1918), Cambrai (1918), Pursuit to Mons, and France and Flanders (1915-18) (The Regimental Rogue, “Battle Honours of the Canadian Army”). Notably, the last Allied soldier who was killed on the Western Front – Private George Price of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan – was a conscripted member of the 28th Battalion.
Image: George Price Headshot
He was killed in Mons, Belgium, around two minutes before the Armistice was officially signed on 11 November 1918 (Goddard, 2006). Currently, the town of Ville-sur-Haine has a memorial statue dedicated to the commemoration of Pte. Price’s service and sacrifice. The 28th Battalion suffered 922 fatal casualties in total throughout The Great War (Royal Regina Rifles Trust Fund, “Tour of Honour”).
The Royal Regina Rifles Trust Fund’s Tour of Honour group in front of the Ville-sur-Haine George Price Memorial Statue.
Following the end of The Great War, the 28th Battalion, no longer required for active service, was assigned to the Southern Saskatchewan Regiment in March of 1920, and then, in May of 1924, the 1st Battalion of the regiment that was based in Regina was renamed the Regina Rifle Regiment (Bell, 2006).
In response to the growing tension in Europe and the pressure applied by Adolf Hitler’s Nazis on their bordering countries, the regiment was called out for active service in August of 1939 and officially placed on active service on 1 September 1939 – the day Nazi Germany invaded Poland and officially began the Second World War (Government of Canada, “The Royal Regina Rifles”). By June of 1940, the Regina Rifle Regiment had recruited around 500 men from Regina, 300 from Prince Albert, and 200 from North Battleford – meaning that the regiment was at full strength in less than three weeks (Brown, 2). The men who volunteered in 1940, as described in Gordon Brown and Terry Copp’s book Look to Your Front, were aware that “there were great issues at stake” and enlisted to “serve a noble cause and they had a pretty good idea of what they were getting into” following the destruction of The Great War (Brown, 3).
A Regina Rifle Regiment recruitment advertisement from the Saskatoon Star-Pheonix newspaper
For the first men enlisted in the Regina Rifle Regiment in June of 1940, training began at Camp Dundurn (Saskatchewan’s largest military base located 35 km south of Saskatoon) with practice in route marches and parade square drills (Chaput, 2006). In the Regina Rifles War Diary, Major Stuart Tubb described the battalion as “still dressed in the denims they had brought with them” because of the Canadian Active Service Force’s lack of initial funding (Brown, 3). Later, in September of 1940, the regiment joined the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and the Canadian Scottish Regiment from Vancouver (the RRR’s sister regiments) in the new Debert military camp in Nova Scotia as part of the 7th “Western” Brigade of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division (Brown, 4). While training at the Canadian Forces Station Debert, the Regina Rifles took part in many team sports such as hockey, and enjoyed reading The Sniper newspaper (edited by Lieutenant Duncan Grosch, who would later lead the ‘A Company’ on the D-Day landings as a Major) which contained “a mixture of news and light humour emphasizing sports and the various concerts organized by and for the men” (Brown, 4 and 27). The camp life of soldiers in Camp Debert was rich and inspired many of the friendships and brotherhood dynamics that would serve the regiment well during overseas combat. Saskatchewan exceeded its recruitment objectives and raised over 2,700 men in the spring of 1940, with an additional 97 men enlisting at Debert by the summer of 1941 (Brown, 4).
A painting of the Empress of Russia ocean liner ship. Artist unknown.
On 24 August 1941, the Reginas boarded the Empress of Russia (which contained 20,000 men organized into companies of 100) in Halifax and travelled overseas to Britain for the very first time. After landing at the Ramillies Barracks at Aldershot in Southern England on the 2nd of September, the next two years consisted of further training and defending England from “possible invasion” (Brown, 5). The atmosphere and expectations of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division changed drastically after it was selected in 1943 to be one of the three “Anglo-Canadian assault divisions” for Operation ‘Overlord’ – the Allied invasion of France that began with the D-Day landings in Normandy (HISTORY, “D-Day”). Major Stuart Tubb described “the change from the defensive to the offensive spirit” experienced by the battalion during this time in his post-war history of the battalion (Brown, 8). Astoundingly, according to military recruitment information and service records, the average age of the Regina Rifles during this time was around only twenty-three! (Brown, 7).
The plan for the amphibious assault on Normandy, which was scheduled for 5 June 1944, wasn’t revealed to the entire battalion until May 30th and became “the most exclusive circle of knowledge in military history” (Brown, 9). The message of the debriefing was summarized in Brown and Copp’s Look to Your Front as “Hit the beach – hit it hard – and go like blazes” and “don’t forget to look good in the newsreels” (Brown, 10). All the soldier testimony and primary evidence from this period reveals that the men of the Regina Rifle Regiment and the wider 3rd Division knew exactly how much was at stake with Operation ‘Overlord’.
The basic landing zones and objectives of the Allied invasion of Normandy.
Lieutenant Raymond Robert Smith briefing his Regina Rifles NCOs with a sketch of their objective, Courseulles-sur-Mer. Photo credits: Library and Archives Canada / 4558334
After being postponed one day because of a heavy storm, the D-Day invasion began on 6 June 1944 on the Calvados coast of Normandy. The Regina Rifles were assigned one of the “most difficult tasks of D-Day” with the capture of the Courseulles-sur-Mer port. At 0805 hours, the Reginas landed in four companies on the NAN GREEN sector of Juno Beach: Able ‘A’ Company led by Major Duncan Grosch, Baker ‘B’ Company led by Major F.L. Peters, Charlie ‘C’ Company led by Major Stuart Tubb, and Dog ‘D’ Company led by Major J.V. Love (Brown, 26).
The Reginas’ War Diary reported: “at 1100 Hours the civilians of COURSEULLES-SUR-MER welcomed our troops with flowers. Many a bottle of wine was dug up and presented to the troops, who at the moment had a more serious task in hand” (St. Croix, “Regina Rifle Regiment on D-Day”). By the early evening of June 6th, the Regina Rifles began the advance to their final objective along the Caen-Bayeux ‘Objective Line Elm’ railway line, and the 3rd Division had successfully broken through the Atlantic Wall and helped begin the liberation of France (Brown, 30).
That single day resulted in the death of 45 Regina Riflemen and 63 wounded out of the roughly 520 members of the battalion who landed on D-Day (St. Croix, “Regina Rifle Regiment on D-Day”). The Roll of Honour containing the 45 names of the RRR fatalities is viewable through the Juno Beach Centre website through the following link: https://www.junobeach.org/regina-rifle-regiment-on-d-day/.
The iconic photo featuring three ‘D-Day originals’ of the Regina Rifle Regiment in Ghent, Belgium. Photo credit: Lieut. Donald I. Grant / Canada Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / PA-205104
Following D-Day, the Regina Rifle Regiment fought in the capture of Caen from German Commander Kurt Meyer’s12SS “Hitler Youth” Panzer Division, a long-fought battle that began on D-Day and ended in an Allied victory on the 6th of August. The documented history of the 12SS recognizes the Regina Rifles by saying: “The enemy [the RRR] was especially strong in the defense and could not be taken by surprise. He fought with determination and courage” (Brown, 62). During the ongoing battle for Caen, the regiment was assigned to capture the crucial Abbaye d’Ardenne, a 13th century abbey with a church tower that offered a significant view of the countryside that was being used as a headquarters by the 12SS Panzer Division (Government of Canada, “Abbaye d’Ardenne”). The abbey was liberated by the Regina Rifles at 2359 hours on July 8th. In the entire battle for Caen and Carpiquet, around 200 of the less than 500 total Regina Riflemen were killed and wounded (Brown, 98).
Infantrymen of the Regina Rifle Regiment in Caen, France on 10 July 1944. Photo credit: Lieut. Ken Bell / Canada Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / PA-162698
The Regina Rifle Regiment continued to fight along the west coast of France, ultimately reaching Belgium, the Netherlands, and finally Germany until the end of the war. Some particularly brutal battles experienced by the Rifles during this time were the battle for the Leopold Canal in Belgium on September 13th and 14th and the battle of the Scheldt (a maneuver intended to utilize the Scheldt River between Antwerp and the North Sea for its simplified shipping access) from October 2nd to November 8th. By the time Lieutenant-Colonel Allan Gregory replaced Lieutenant-Colonel Foster Matheson as commanding officer in October, the battalion had suffered 298 fatalities and 1302 non-fatal casualties since June 6th (Brown, 143).
The center of the Leopold Canal, crossed by members of the Regina Rifle Regiment in poor weather after brutal fighting. Photo taken by Emily Reid during the Royal Regina Rifles Trust Fund’s June 2024 Tour of Honour
Finally, on 8 May 1945, following the surrender of the German Army in Italy, Soviet troops’ victory in the Battle of Berlin, and Hitler’s suicide on April 30th, the war in Europe came to an end! The Regina Rifles were transferred from Germany to Utrecht in the Netherlands and officially began the long journey home to Saskatchewan. Regina’s Leader Post newspaper released a special “Regina Rifle Edition” on 31 December 1945 – the same night the ‘Farmer Johns’ came home. This edition featured personal anecdotes and reflections, brief biographies, and eulogies of the Regina Riflemen who had and hadn’t returned. From an article titled “The Rifles Come Home,” the complex post-war atmosphere in Regina is described pointedly by saying:
The regiment that returns to receive a proud and grateful salute for completion of a task so splendidly done is the same regiment which marched off so bravely five years ago. But the men, for the most part, are not the same men. The fighting took a grievously heavy toll on originals and replacements. But with the men who got through to final victory and the men who filled the ranks when others fell, the fine record of the regiment remained secure; and with all who have now come home as Regina Riflemen, the tradition of the regiment rests safely in strong hands. The new battle honours which will, in future, emblazon their colours stand out as proudly as the honours gained in the other wars. The Regina Rifles in this war won the reputation of being one of the hardest hitting units in the entire Allied forces. But the price of glory was high – so high that the salute witch civilian Regina renders this day should be given in deep humbleness along with happiness. (Brown, 208)
A march-past of the Third Canadian Division on the first anniversary of D-Day. Photo credit: Donald I. Grant / Canada Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / PA-3204478
In 1946, the regiment was reverted into a single-battalion militia regiment for the purpose of defending Canada. Members of the Regina Rifles also continued to serve in Germany, aiding NATO forces in 1951. Later in 1982, Queen Elizabeth II awarded the regiment with the title of “Royal,” thereby changing the name from the Regina Rifle Regiment to the Royal Regina Rifles (as they are known today). In the eighty years since the end of the Second World War, members of the Royal Regina Rifles have served across many significant overseas missions, such as in Cyprus, Croatia, Bosnia, and Afghanistan.
Today, there are many people, organizations, and programs that are dedicated to preserving the history of the 28th Battalion, the Regina Rifle Regiment, and the Royal Regina Rifles service throughout Canada’s military history. The Royal Regina Rifles Trust Fund, a local non-profit charity that aims to perpetuate the service and sacrifice of past and present Regina Riflemen, arranged an enormous initiative to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in June of 2024 known as ‘Operation Calvados’. This project resulted in the permanently mounted statue in the village of Bretteville l’Oregeuilleuse that represents the hundred of Regina Riflemen who participated in the D-Day landings and the following liberation of Europe.
The Regimental Statue in Bretteville l’Orgeuilleuse’s La Places des Canadians
As a way of continuing the legacy of the Royal Regina Rifles and the RRR Trust, University of Regina history student Emily Reid has curated a digitized collection that captures the efforts of ‘Operation Calvados’ and represents an easily accessible resource for anyone wanting to learn more about the regiment’s history. It is available for viewing through the University of Regina’s Dr. John Archer Library website at the link: https://casls-regina.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/collectionDiscovery?vid=01CASLS_REGINA:01CASLS_REGINA&collectionId=81334769370003476&lang=en. An accompanying physical time capsule which contains many of the physical items featured on the digital collection (with several additional items!) is also available for viewing through Dr. John Archer Library’s Archives & Special Collections under the accession number 2024-27!
Sources:
“Abbaye d’Ardenne.” Government of Canada, 17 January 2024, https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/abbaye-ardenne.
“Battle Honours of the Canadian Army – The Royal Regina Rifles.” The Regimental Rogue (1996-2025), http://www.regimentalrogue.com/battlehonours/bathnrinf/38-rrr.htm.
Bell, George. “Royal Regina Rifles.” The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, 2006, https://esask.uregina.ca/entry/royal_regina_rifles.html.
Borch, Peter. “28th (Northwest) Canadian Infantry Battalion.” The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, 2006, https://www.esask.uregina.ca/entry/28th_northwest_canadian_infantry_battalion.html.
Brown, Gordon and Terry Copp. Look to Your Front…Regina Rifles, A Regiment at War: 1944-45, Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies, Wilfred Laurier University, 2001.
Chaput, John. “Camp Dundurn.” The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, 2006, https://www.esask.uregina.ca/entry/camp_dundurn.html.
Coneghan, Daria. “95th Regiment.” The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, 2006, https://esask.uregina.ca/entry/95th_regiment.html.
“D-Day.” HISTORY, A&E Television Networks, 27 August 2024, https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day.
“D-Day 80 – Operation Calvados.” Royal Regina Rifles Trust Fund, 2024, https://www.rrrtrust.org/home.
Goddard, Gordon. “Price, George Lawrence (1892-1918).” The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, 2006, https://www.esask.uregina.ca/entry/price_george_lawrence_1892-1918.html.
“Plans of Operations on D-Day.” Military History, 6 June 2014, https://www.military-history.org/battle-maps/d-day-plan-of-operations-on-6-june-1944.htm.
St. Croix, Brad. “Regina Rifle Regiment on D-Day.” Juno Beach Centre, 2025, https://www.junobeach.org/regina-rifle-regiment-on-d-day/.
“The Royal Regina Rifles.” Government of Canada, 17 July 2024, https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/military-history/history-heritage/official-military-history-lineages/lineages/infantry-regiments/royal-regina-rifles.html.