Royal Regiment of Canada – Battle Dress Jacket

Original WWII Royal Regiment of Canada battle-dress Jacket. All insignia are original applied, consisting of printed Royal Regiment of Canada shoulder titles and printed 2nd Canadian Infantry Division formation patches on both sides. The left sleeve cuff is damaged. The battle-dress is not dated but due to traces of a makers label, hook and catch collar closing sytem combined with the early shoulder strap buttons, we can date this jacket 1941. C broad arrow stamped. The tunic shows clear traces of field wear, combined with some damages.

The Royals, as they became known, were a part of the Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942. They were to land at Puys, just east of Dieppe, armed with machine guns and mortars, and begin the battle in the darkness of the night. To their dismay, however, they arrived on shore as the sun was rising, leaving them as no surprise to their German enemies, who were waiting, strategically placed and heavily armed, ready to fire. By the end of the Dieppe Raid, the Royal Regiment of Canada had suffered almost 500 casualties and prisoners of war, 227 of which were fatal. The Royals proved to have the highest casualty rate of all the participating units. Over the next few years, as the war continued, the Royal Regiment of Canada rebuilt and trained as they continued to fight overseas, for peace and freedom, they fought in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. On 31 December 1945, after the Second World War had come to an end, the Royal Regiment of Canada was disbanded and reverted back to Reserve status.