In 1904, a special banner, given by His Majesty King Edward VII to commemorate the Regiment’s services in South Africa, was presented at Ottawa on October 4th by His Excellency the Governor-General, Lord Minto.
Imperial troops having been withdrawn and the defence of Canada taken over by local troops, the Regiment moved to Halifax, the establishment being raised to ten companies.
On the outbreak of the European War in August, 1914, the Regiment was mobilized at Halifax, occupying the various forts. It was brought up to war strength by a draft of four hundred volunteers, men from the newly formed Camp at Valcartier, for the Expeditionary Force then being raised. Being trained regular troops, and the only ones available for service Overseas, the Regiment, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel A. O. Fages, was sent to Bermuda on September 9th to relieve the 2nd Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, and were the first Canadian troops to go abroad. In August of the following year, the Regiment having been relieved by the 38th Battalion, C.E.F., proceeded, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Carpenter, to France, via England, where it was rearmed and re-equipped. It landed at Boulogne, under the command of Lieut.-Col. A. H. Macdonell, D.S.O., on October 31st, and on moving up the line immediately became Corps Troops to the Canadian Corps under Lieut.-General Sir A. E. H. Alderson, K.C.B. It went into the trenches for the first time with the First Canadian Division, opposite Messines.
At the beginning of 1916 it was one of the Battalions composing the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade under Brigadier-General A. C. Macdonell, C.M.G., D.S.O., of the newly formed 3rd Canadian Division, under Major-General Mercer, C.B. The Brigade consisted of the Royal Canadian Regiment, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, 42nd Battalion (Royal Highlanders of Canada) and 49th Battalion (Edmonton Regiment), and, later, the 7th Canadian Machine Gun Company. The Regiment went into the line with the Brigade at Wulvergham, moving afterward to Kemmel and then to Ypres.
The Regiment’s first general action was that of the German attack on June 2nd to June 5th on Sanctuary Wood and Hooge, in the Ypres Salient. Here the Regiment, under Lieut.-Col. C. H. Hill, distinguished itself by its steadiness under the heaviest concentration of hostile artillery and trench mortar fire which up to that date had ever been brought to bear on British troops. By its rifle and machine gun fire the attempted infantry assaults against its lines were frustrated, and it was virtually the action of the machine guns, assisted by the 7th Canadian Machine Gun Company, that prevented a great disaster to the whole Ypres Salient. These guns had been unable to get away after being relieved on account of dawn breaking. On June 5th the Germans blew up three very large mines at Hooge, annihilating the Garrison. The guns, which were some distance in the rear, immediately mounted, fully exposed, on the Menin Road, and by their coolly directed fire threw back the German Infantry, thus preventing them from swamping our line and outflanking it both north and south on the Menin Road. The action of June 2nd to 5th exemplified the value of long training. The older men who had been in the Regiment for years, and who were considered as almost past their day, came to the fore wonderfully by their steadiness and discipline. This was shown particularly when during the hostile infantry attacks and intense shelling they remained cool and steady and withheld their fire, only letting forth their perfect deluge of bullets when a good target appeared. This encouraged and gave added confidence to the younger men. It was certainly the old soldier’s day.
Between June and August some extremely gallant trench raids and expeditions were carried out by the Regiment. One raid carried out was discovered by the enemy before starting, and came under intense fire from rifles, bombs and machine guns at close quarters. In spite of this the party rushed forward and inflicted heavy losses upon the enemy, but every man except one was wounded. Two officers and some men came out into the open and worked for two hours under fire collecting and bringing in the wounded.
In September the Regiment moved south with the Canadian Corps under Lieut.-General Sir Julian H. G. Byng, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., M.V.O., to the Somme, where until November they took part in very severe fighting at Courcellette, Regina Trench, and elsewhere.
The Battalion performed a very difficult feat on September 15th, when it came up from reserve and occupied a line just after dusk over absolutely strange ground, made unrecognizable by shell fire, and in so doing was obliged to change front twice. They occupied their position on time. Again, on September 16th, two Companies went forward to attack an enemy trench over open ground, in full view of the enemy, in face of deadly rifle and machine gun fire, starting at a distance of over 800 yards and being practically wiped out when less than 50 yards from the enemy’s trench.
On October 8th, at Regina Trench, the R.C.R. and one other Battalion were the only Canadian Battalions to capture and for the time hold objectives. There by its gallantry and determination the Battalion held on throughout the day outflanked and unsupported. A Battalion of German Marines was threatening the left, which necessitated a change of front. This was successfully accomplished. The enemy charged the position on three separate occasions, but were driven back with heavy loss each time. This, however, was accomplished only by heavy loss to the Battalion, for, when relieved, it mustered only one officer and eighty-one other ranks; in one Company only five men remained.
On leaving the Somme area the Regiment was so depleted that it was obliged to reorganize. The fighting had been of the bitterest hand-to-hand kind.