Call for renaming 2 Royal NB Regiment "North Shore Regiment"

[The Bread Guy]

For those saying "now that we've renamed branches with the 'Royal' monicker, wait'll the others come out of the woodworks, I present this from an east coast newspaper:

Made up mostly of farmers, fishermen and blue collar workers from northeastern New Brunswick, they became one of the most decorated military units in Canadian history as the North Shore Regiment.

They were one of the first Canadian units to fight in the Great War.

Before the regiment was merged with others in New Brunswick, it was among the first to breach Adolph Hitler's Fortress Europe on Juno Beach in Normandy, France on D-Day during the Second World War.

And while the "royal" title has been restored to many Armed Forces veterans delight, a growing chorus of voices wants to see New Brunswick's second battalion of the Royal New Brunswick Regiment drop the colonial throwback for its original name.

Proponents now say they are closer than ever to seeing the North Shore Regiment return after meeting with both provincial and federal officials this month.

"We lost our identity," said Graham Wiseman, president of the North Shore Veteran's Association, whose father, Sprague Wiseman, is the only surviving member of the original regiment from Bathurst.

"It has been a long wait to get it back, but there is a feeling that it will now happen."

At a joint caucus meeting between provincial and federal Tories last week in Oromocto, Wiseman presented the case to government officials, expanding on a letter-writing campaign that has New Brunswick's military, past and present, in agreement.

( .... )

Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen Bass, the current commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, the Royal New Brunswick Regiment, formerly the North Shore, said the timing is right.

"We have tried several times in the past to get our North Shore Regiment re-established, but it has never gotten through the chain of command," Bass said. "(But) recently, there have been some opportunities where other units have been successful in similar endeavours." ....

A bit of previous chatter on the unit here:
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/83846.0.html

 

[211RadOp]

So, does this mean 1 RNBR will be split in two and renamed the Carleton Regiment and the York Regiment?  How about the Essex and Kent?  Will they be split as well?  Can of worms if you ask me.

 

[Redeye]

So, does this mean 1 RNBR will be split in two and renamed the Carleton Regiment and the York Regiment?  How about the Essex and Kent?  Will they be split as well?  Can of worms if you ask me.

Not really. I'd be unsurprised to see an effort to reinstate the Carleton & York Regiment's name as well though. As I understand it, it was anticipation of amalgamations that let to the renaming of several units (just like the Nova Scotia Highlanders).  I'm not sure what the cost of reinstating the unit's name is (like was just done for the Cape Breton Highlanders), but if it's not unreasonable, why not use the historical names of the units?

 

[Michael OLeary]

So, does this mean 1 RNBR will be split in two and renamed the Carleton Regiment and the York Regiment?  How about the Essex and Kent?  Will they be split as well?  Can of worms if you ask me.

Well, it appears that the renaming of the Cape Breton Highlanders was not accompanied by any other changes to the unit's lineage, there's been no announcements (that I am aware of) undoing the amalgamation with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders (e.g., no separation of battle honours, or perpetuations, etc.) It would appear that someone has decided that we can change the labels without touching anything else, no matter how people interpret it as "restoring" honour, history, identity etc.  Personally, I think a few of the proponents for these name changes would be surprised if they were actually accompanied by the complete reversal of the amalgamation that led to the name change they want to reverse.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Calls answered....

The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, announced today that the name of 2nd Battalion, The Royal New Brunswick Regiment (North Shore), an Army Reserve unit assigned to 37 Canadian Brigade Group, will revert to it's historical designation, the North Shore Regiment.

“Knowing the historic name of this regiment was never far from the hearts of those in the regiment and the local communities, I am pleased to announce the re-designation of the The North Shore Regiment,” said Minister MacKay. “The regiment and the people of Northeastern New Brunswick have never accepted the unit’s name change, and today we are righting a historic wrong.  I am proud to honour the brave men and women who have served in this regiment over the years by reconnecting them with their history.”

From its birth as the 73rd Northumberland (New Brunswick) Battalion of Infantry in 1870, many in Northeastern New Brunswick have served with this illustrious unit.  The unit fought in South Africa, the First World War and the Second World War, and won a total of 54 battle honours.  In 1956, the North Shore Regiment was designated as 2nd Battalion, The Royal New Brunswick Regiment (North Shore).

“The veterans and serving members of the North Shore Regiment are grateful to the federal government for restoring the name of The North Shore Regiment. The name will be carried with honour and pride in perpetuity,” said Colonel Jake Bell, Commander of 37 Canadian Brigade Group. “The Regimental association would like to thank the Minister of National Defence and the Chief of Defence Staff for their support. As well, the Regiment acknowledges the excellent support received from Minister Ashfield, Premier Alward, and MLA Brian MacDonald. The efforts of the New Brunswick municipalities and friends and families of the North Shore Regiment are acknowledged with heartfelt gratitude.”

The North Shore Regiment offers exciting employment opportunities, with competitive benefits, for citizens from the community who wish to serve their country.

 

[Michael OLeary]

Once again we see that renaming units to satisfy political initiatives is not the same as reverting units to their pre-amalgamation state.

The RNBR did not win "a total of 54 battle honours" (in fact, I'm not sure where that number even comes from), its amalgamated and perpetuated units did, which were combined to form the list of honours carried by the RNBR. See the battle honours of the Royal New Brunswick Regiment here.

Note the allocations of First World War honours to the various predecessor regiments in the right hand column and which current battalion would carry which honours if the amalgamation were reversed. Note also the combining of Second World War battle honours for both the entire Sicily/Italian campaign as well as Northwest Europe.

The North Shore Regiment, like the Cape Breton Highlanders, remains a de facto Second Battalion of an amalgamated regiment and the general understanding of their lineage is muddied one step further.