31 Combat Engineer Regiment (The Elgin’s)
The official lineage of the 31 Combat Engineer Regiment (The Elgin’s).
Branch camp flag
Lineage
This Reserve Force regiment originated in St. Thomas, Ontario on 14 September 1866, when the '25th "Elgin Battalion of Infantry"' was authorized to be formed.Footnote 1 It was redesignated: the '25th Elgin Regiment' on 8 May 1900;Footnote 2 '25th Regiment' on 17 May 1904;Footnote 3 'The Elgin Regiment' on 29 March 1920;Footnote 4 'The Elgin Regiment (Reserve)' on 7 November 1940;Footnote 5 and 'The Elgin Regiment, RCIC' on 15 February 1946.Footnote 6 It was converted to armour and redesignated 'The Elgin Regiment (27th Armoured Regiment)' on 1 October 1954;Footnote 7 and 'The Elgin Regiment (RCAC)' on 19 May 1958.Footnote 8 The regiment was converted to engineer and redesignated '31 Combat Engineer Regiment (The Elgin's)' on 14 August 1997.Footnote 9
Notes:
The 25th Elgin Regiment was disbanded on 1 August 1903 (GO 135/03) and reorganized on 17 May 1904 (Special GO dated 17 May 1904, GO 80/04, GO 81/04, and GO 82/04).This change was administrative and does not affect the lineage of the regiment.
Upon redesignation as The Elgin Regiment on 29 March 1920 (see above), it was organized as a two battalion regiment with the 1st Battalion (91st Battalion, CEF) on the Non Permanent Active Militia order of battle and the 2nd Battalion (no CEF designation) on the Reserve order of battle. The reserve unit was disbanded on 14 December 1936 (GO 3/37).
The Elgin Regiment was disbanded for the purpose of reorganization on 1 February 1921 and reorganized the same day (GO 95/21).This change was administrative and does not affect the lineage of the regiment.
The Elgin Regiment (RCAC) was disbanded on 14 August 1997 for the purpose of conversion to engineer the same day (MOO 97099). This change was administrative and does not affect the lineage of the regiment.
Perpetuations
‘Provincial Corps of Artificers’ and '91st Battalion, CEF'.
Headquarters Location
St. Thomas, Ontario.
Alliance
British Army
The Royal Regiment of Fusilier
Operational history
The First World War
Details from the 25th Regiment were placed on active service on 6 August 1914 for local protection duties.Footnote 10
The 91st Battalion which was authorized on 22 December 1915 as the '91st "Overseas" Battalion, CEF',Footnote 11 embarked for Britain on 29 June 1915.Footnote 12 Its personnel were absorbed by the '12th, 35th, 36th, 37th, 38th and 39th Reserve Battalion'(s) on 15 July 1916 to provide reinforcements for the Canadian Corps in the field.Footnote 13 The battalion was disbanded on 21 May 1917.Footnote 14
The Second World War
The regiment mobilized 'The Elgin Regiment, CASF' on 24 May 1940.Footnote 15 This regiment was converted to armour and redesignated the '25th Armoured Regiment (The Elgin Regiment), CAC' on 26 January 1942.Footnote 16 It embarked for Britain on 29 September 1942 as a unit of the 3rd Armoured Brigade, 4th Canadian Armoured Division. The '1st Canadian Tank Delivery Squadron' (formed from "B" Squadron, 25th Armoured Regiment (The Elgin Regiment) on 6 May 1943Footnote 17) landed in Sicily on 16 July 1943, and in Italy on 14 September 1943. The regiment was converted and redesignated '25th Canadian Tank Delivery Regiment (The Elgin Regiment), CAC' on 15 September 1943,Footnote 18 and on 21 October 1943 the 1st Canadian Tank Delivery Squadron was redesignated "A" Squadron, 25th Canadian Tank Delivery Regiment (The Elgin Regiment), CAC.Footnote 19 On 15 March 1944 it was redesignated '25th Armoured Delivery Regiment (The Elgin Regiment), CAC'. One squadron landed in Normandy on 8 June 1944, followed by Headquarters and other squadrons in July 1944. The squadron in Italy moved to North-West Europe in March 1945. The overseas regiment was disbanded on 15 February 1946.Footnote 21
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