Royal Rifles of Canada

The Royal Rifles of Canada was a rifle regiment in the Canadian Army and fought alongside the Winnipeg Grenadiers in the Battle of Hong Kong during World War II.

The unit was formed in 1862 as the 8th Battalion and renamed the 8th Regiment in 1900. It was reformed alongside the Les Voltigeurs de Québec in 1920. Its recruiting areas included the Eastern Townships, Quebec City and Gaspé, Quebec, and Northern New Brunswick. The Royal Rifles of Canada fought gallantly in the Battle of Hong Kong in December 1941. The survivors surrendered on December 25, 1941, and spent the rest of the war in captivity. The regiment was transferred to the Supplementary Order of Battle in 1966, but the regiment's headquarters on the Plains of Abraham, Quebec City, became home to a museum, which was destroyed by a fire in 2008.

The Sherbrooke Hussars, a present-day Canadian Forces Primary Reserve unit, has the honorary distinction of placing the Royal Rifles' badge and the date 1941 on its guidon. This distinction is not a battle honour, but an acknowledgement that one of its predecessor units, the 7th/XI Hussars, provided about half its effective strength to the Royal Rifles while it was preparing for overseas.

Lineage of the Royal Rifles of Canada:

Books

 * Hong Kong Veterans' Association of Canada. Quebec-Maritimes Branch "The Royal Rifles of Canada in Hong Kong, 1941-1945" (Canada: The Association, ©1980)