‘Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa’ Battledress

Description

Untouched battledress tunic of the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa – 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. The tunic is in used condition, shows traces of usage. A damage on breast pocket and sleeve and some damage on the left lower sleeve. The tunic is having embroidered shoulder titles and division patches with the Canadian Volunteer medal ribbon. Nicely maker marked and early dated 1941 and with the early brown coloured shoulder board buttons, small size 1 but fits a normal posture mannequin. The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa took part on D-Day June 6 1944.
A regiment with amazing wartime history. Very hard to find especially in this nicely worn condition!

On June 6, 1944, the 1st Battalion landed on the beaches of Normandy as part of the Canadian D-Day assault force, the only Ottawa unit to do so. The Camerons operated as a divisional resource and spent much of the next year spread out at company and platoon level providing machine gun and mortar support for the nine infantry battalions of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. As a result, the 1st Battalion fought in most of the II Canadian Corps’ battles in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany until the ceasefire in May 1945. Following the war the regiment received numerous battle honours for the 1st Battalion’s efforts: Normandy Landing, Caen, Carpiquet, The Orne, Bourguébus Ridge, Faubourg de Vaucelles, Falaise, Quesnay Wood, The Laison, Boulogne, 1944, The Scheldt, Breskens Pocket, The Rhineland, Waal Flats, The Hochwald, The Rhine, Zutphen, Deventer, Leer, and North-West Europe, 1944-1945.

In total, the 1st Battalion suffered more than 160 men killed either with the battalion or with later units they had transferred to. Ninety-nine of these Camerons died on the field of battle, either killed in action or died from their wounds. A total of fifty-six military honours and decorations were awarded to individual Camerons during the war, including eight Orders of the British Empire (three OBEs and five MBEs), seven Military Crosses, eleven Military Medals, one British Empire Medal, fourteen Mentioned-in-Despatches, one American Distinguished Service Cross, three French Croix de Guerre, one Belgian Chevalier of the Order of Leopold, two Belgian Croix de Guerre, two Dutch Bronze Lions, and five Dutch Bronze Crosses.