Standing Orders - Chapter 1
Introduction

101. Historical Introduction

1. Many of the units and batteries of The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery are older than Canada itself, and the history of artillery in Canada is older yet. The first company of artillery to be formed in Canada was organized in Quebec in 1750. The Regiment has always been formed from two important components - the Regular Force and the Reserve Force. Both Regular Force and Reserve Force gunners have fought in every war in which Canada has participated. Canadian gunners have played an important part in the lives of many Canadian communities and in the history of Canada.

2. The Militia Act of 1855 authorized the first Canadian paid force of 5,000 men. This force included seven independent batteries of artillery. Three of the original seven batteries are perpetuated by Reserve Force batteries today. Prior to 1855, volunteer Canadian artillery batteries existed but the continuity of some of these batteries is difficult to trace. One of these pre-1855 units, the “Loyal Company of Artillery”, was formed in Saint John, N.B., in 1793, and is perpetuated today by the 3rd Field Regiment RCA.

3. The regular component of The Royal Regiment was formed on 20 October 1871 when two batteries of garrison artillery, A and B Batteries, were authorized and located at Kingston and Quebec respectively. These batteries were to perform garrison duties and also to serve as “Schools of Gunnery”. A and B Batteries are the oldest regular component of the Canadian Forces having served continuously as “regulars” since their formation. They serve today as part of the 1st Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery. The Royal Regiment has adopted 20 October 1871 as its birthday, as that date marks the beginning of the Royal Regiment’s role in the newly formed Dominion.

4. A condensed history of The Royal Regiment is found at chapter 10.

101. Titles

1. Queen Victoria, as a special honour on the occasion of her birthday in 1893, conferred the title “Royal” on the artillery units of Canada, whose title thus became “The Royal Canadian Artillery”. The entire Regiment was redesignated “The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery” on 29 October 1956. The official abbreviation is RCA. It should be noted that the word “The” in the full title is always capitalized.

2. These titles exist in both official languages as: “The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery / Le Régiment royal de l’Artillerie canadienne”; “Royal Canadian Artillery / Artillerie royale canadienne”; and “RCA/ARC”.

3. The designation Royal Canadian Horse Artillery was first adopted in Canada in 1905 when 13-pounder guns were purchased for the Regular Force artillery units. Since then, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery units have been found in the regular component of The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery. In 1952-53, it was decided that all field artillery regiments of the Regular Force would be units of the RCHA and all other artillery units would be RCA. This decision was reconfirmed in 1967. Thus when the “5e Régiment d’artillerie légère du Canada”(5 RALC) was formed, it became a unit of the RCHA.

4. Battery groupings are shown at Annex A.

103. Lineages

1. Throughout most of the Regiment’s history, continuity of tradition has been at the battery level. That is to say, batteries were the basic unit of artillery organization, which were brigaded as required for operational or training purposes. Organization above battery level therefore underwent numerous changes although batteries retained specific community or geographic identity. This remains true today insofar as the Reserve Force is concerned, but is not so with Regular Force batteries, which have served in various parts of the country and overseas.

2. Following WW II, batteries were grouped into regiments on a relatively permanent basis and continuity by regiment became the norm. During periods of reorganization, however, batteries were reassigned to new regimental organizations or given the status of independent batteries. For the purpose of historical record, the Director History and Heritage retains extensive records of these lineages. These records are cross-referenced and it is therefore possible to trace lineages backward from current titles or forward from former battery or regimental designations. Wartime units and all branches of artillery are included in these records.

3. The artillery lineages are published separately as a draft on this CD. DHH will publish the final documents as part of the Army Lineage, A-AD-267-000/AF-003, in the near future. A snapshot of The Royal Regiment at various times from 1866 to 2000 is included at Annex C.

4. The correct, approved unit titles and abbreviations are reproduced at Annex B. It should be noted that unit titles are just that; they may not be translated into the other official language. Exceptions to this rule are made for the air defence regiments and the Royal Canadian Artillery School, all of which have approved titles in the two official languages. Future unit titles will be translated and designated in both official languages in accordance with Canadian Forces Administrative Order (CFAO) 2-15.

104. Precedence

1. Precedence for units of The Royal Regiment is set out in this section. Further details on precedence for the land element of the Canadian Forces are contained in CFAO 61-6.

2. It should be noted that seniority and precedence are not necessarily the same. Regiments and units take seniority within The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery according to their date of embodiment in the Regular Force or Reserve Force. Precedence is based on tradition and type of unit, and relates to a unit’s position on parade or succession of listing in the case of distribution lists.

3. On mounted parades, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery units take precedence over all units of the land force except formed bodies of Officer Cadets of the Royal Military College of Canada representing the College. RCHA units, when on parade with their guns, take the Right of the Line and march past at the head of all units of the land force.

4. Other units of The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery take precedence immediately following units of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps. For details see CFAO 61-6.

5. The following general rules apply to establishing precedence within The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery:

a. Regular Force in numerical sequence by units and alphabetical sequence by batteries;

b. Reserve Force in numerical sequence by units and batteries;

c. operational and combat units take precedence over training schools;

d. where further definition is required, the following orders of precedence apply:

(1) field artillery;

(2) heavy artillery;

(3) missile artillery (surface to surface);

(4) locating (target acquisition);

(5) air defence guns;

(6) air defence missiles; and

(7) headquarters;

e. the command element take their normal positions on parade in accordance with the detail specified in A-PD-201-000/PT-000 Canadian Forces Manual of Drill and Ceremonial. HQ and services batteries, parade on the left of a unit; and

f. when batteries participate in a parade separate from their parent units, they will take precedence after any units with headquarters on parade but before any independent batteries.

6. Precedence for artillery units is outlined in Annex B.

105. Battle Honours, Mottos and Arms

1. The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery has two mottos: “Ubique” (Everywhere) and “Quo Fas et Gloria Ducunt” (Whither Right and Glory Lead). These may be borne on regimental appointments. The first motto “Ubique” takes the place of all battle honours in recognition of the artillery’s service in all battles and campaigns.

In 1832, King William IV of England granted the Royal Regiment of Artillery the right to wear on their appointments the royal arms and supporters over a cannon with the motto, “Ubique Quo Fas et Gloria Ducunt” (Everywhere Whither Right and Glory Lead). The next year (1833), the order was amended to make clear that “Ubique” and “Quo Fas et Gloria Ducunt” were two separate mottos.

3. The Canadian Artillery was authorized to wear on its appointments the same royal arms and the motto “Quo Fas et Gloria Ducunt”, plus the word “Canada”. After the First World War, when the issue of battle honours was being decided, the RCA asked permission to use “Ubique” in place of “Canada” in recognition of distinguished overseas service in all campaigns. This was approved by King George V on 5 August 1926, and promulgated by G042/1927 the next year.

4. Royal Canadian Horse Artillery units are distinguished by the presence of the Royal Cypher on their regimental flags. The motto on the cypher is “Honi soit qui mal y pense” (“Evil be to him who evil thinks”), and is the motto of the Order of the Garter, not an artillery motto.

106. Alliances

1. The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery is allied with the Royal Regiment of Artillery.

2. The following unit alliance exists:

a. 1 RCHA with 1 RHA; and

b. 2 RCHA with The Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment (Queen’s and Royal Hampshires).

107. The Home Station

1. The Canadian Army has had a continual presence in the CFB Shilo area since before the First World War, when Camp Sewell was established five kilometres Northeast of the present CFB Shilo, in 1910. It was established to train Militia infantry, cavalry and artillery units of Militia district No. 10 (Saskatchewan, Manitoba and parts Northern Ontario).

2. Camp Sewell was renamed Camp Huges in 1915 in honour of the then Minister of National Defence, Sir Sam Hughes. Over 24,000 Canadian troops were trained here in trench warfare prior to being shipped overseas to Europe during the First World War. Camp Hughes remained open until 1934. Afterwards it saw occasional use as a training site until the 1950’s as part of CFB Shilo (known originally as Camp Shilo), which was established in 1933 in the present location. The move resulted primarily from a requirement for more training area, which was available for lease further to the south rather than in the immediate Camp Hughes area. Many of the original Camp Hughes buildings were moved to Shilo.

3. Until 1946, CFB Shilo was an all arms training camp, however, a large Gunner presence had been established in the 1930’s with the Non-Permanent Active Militia (NPAM) artillery training. In 1940, A3 CATC was organized to conduct wartime field, medium and antitank artillery training, and it held exercises every summer in Shilo until it was permanently moved there in January 1943. In 1946, the Royal Canadian School of Artillery at Shilo was established under General Order 87 “war and home establishments”, (effective 30 January 1946, amended by G.O. 179 and 189 of the same year). Therefore, it can be considered that 30 January 1946 is the ‘official’ date of origin for the home station of the RCA. The last commanding officer of A# CATC, Lieutenant-Colonel H.E. Brown, OBE, ED, became the first commandant of the RCSA in January 1946. A list of former commanding officers of A3 CATC and a list of commanders of the home station are at Annex C to Chapter 2. The base headquarters was set on 1 November 1948 (CdnV/643B/3).

4. CFB Shilo became home station of Gunners of all branches of The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery in 1960, as a result of the closing of the Coastal Artillery and Anti-Aircraft Schools. The Royal Canadian Artillery Museum and The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery Regimental Headquarters are co-located at the home station.

108. The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery Home Station

1. The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery Home Station Officers’ Mess is located at CFB Shilo, Manitoba. Its abbreviated name is the “RCA Officers’ Mess” and its Gunner traditions are maintained by the artillery units and officers located at CFB Shilo on behalf of all Canadian gunners.

2. The original post-Second World War officers’ mess in Shilo was the combined mess of 71st Field Regiment Royal Canadian Artillery (later designated 1st Regiment, RCHA), 127th Anti-Tank Battery, 68th Medium Battery and the Royal Canadian School of Artillery. During this period there were also artillery officers’ messes at the Royal Canadian School of Artillery (Anti- Aircraft) at Picton, Ontario, the Royal Canadian School of Artillery (Coast and Anti-Aircraft) at Esquimalt, British Columbia, and the combined Mess of 128th and 129th Anti-Aircraft Batteries, RCA at Gordon Head, British Columbia (which was normally referred to as the Gordon Head Officers’ Mess). On the amalgamation of the three artillery schools in August 1960, the Officers’ Mess in Shilo became the home mess of the Regiment.

3. The home mess of the Warrant Officers and Sergeants of The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery is the Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ mess located at CFB Shilo and bears the name: “Royal Canadian Artillery Home Station Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess.”

4. As the home station messes are repositories of much RCA memorabilia and tradition, they receive support from the Royal Canadian Artillery Association and the RCA Regimental Fund.

109. Honorary Membership in Artillery Officers' Messes

All officers of The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery are honorary members of the Royal Artillery Mess in Woolwich while on duty in Britain. The RCA Officers’ Mess in Shilo extends reciprocal privileges to Commonwealth artillery officers.

(110 to 199 inclusive - not allocated

• Annex A to Chapter 1 Grouping of The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery
• Annex B to Chapter 1 Unit Titles and Precedence in The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery
• Annex C to Chapter 1 The Organization of Canadian Artillery Units and Formations at Various Times
• Standing Orders Chapter 2 Regimental Organization