Turn of the century regiments - 6TH?

[Nyles]

Trying to figure out a regimental marking on a Canadian-issued MLE Mk.I rifle, and I'm coming up blank. Anyone know of a unit between, say, the turn of the (20th) century and World War One that might be abbreviated 6TH?

 

[Old Sweat]

According to my 1904 Militia List, there was a unit titled the 6th Regiment, "The Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles" in Vancouver.

 

[medaid]

What is modernly known as the BCRs

 

[Nyles]

The thought occured, but they wouldn't be abbreviated TH.

 

[AJFitzpatrick]

6th Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles ?

http://www.civilization.ca/cwm/boer/canadianmountedrifles_e.html

Note that even the referenced page is contradictory with regards to the unit being called a regiment or a battalion (picture caption refers to 5th Battalion while page title refers to Regiment).

I can't help you more than that this the first time I ever heard of this particular unit.

 

[armyvern]

Boer War 6th Contingent (1899-1902)??

Comprised of 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th Regiments CMR??

 

[Michael OLeary]

From Concise Lineages of the Canadian Army 1855 - DATE (i.e., 1982), by Charles H. Stewart:

6th Machine Gun Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corps (organized 1919)

6th Duke of Connaught's Royal Canadian Hussars (name as of Aug 1892)

Have you also considered the possibility that it is the "6TH" Company of a Regiment.

AJFitzpatrick - if you follow the lineages of various regiments, you can find periods where the unit name switched between "Battalion" and "Regiment" without necessarily including a change in organization or size.

 

[Old Sweat]

Let me throw some of my thought process into the discussion.

First, the rifle in question is a MLE Mk I, or a Magazine Lee-Enfield which the army used from the late 1890's to the advent of the Ross Rifle. This rules out the 1919 machine gun battalion. I excluded the 6th regiment of cavalry because I believe they would have been armed with carbines, however I could be wrong. As for the Boer War, 6 CMR was disbanded on return to Canada in 1902 and its members may have retained their rifles as was the case for earlier contingents. However if the rifles were turned in, it is possible they would have been issued to another unit, in which case a new designation and number might have been stamped on the butt plate.

It's all as clear as mud.

 

[Michael OLeary]

It's all as clear as mud.

Sure, as long as you can absolutely verify that no post-First World War Militia unit was ever issued with pre-First World War weapons.

 

[Nyles]

From Concise Lineages of the Canadian Army 1855 - DATE (i.e., 1982), by Charles H. Stewart:

6th Machine Gun Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corps (organized 1919)

6th Duke of Connaught's Royal Canadian Hussars (name as of Aug 1892)

Have you also considered the possibility that it is the "6TH" Company of a Regiment.

AJFitzpatrick - if you follow the lineages of various regiments, you can find periods where the unit name switched between "Battalion" and "Regiment" without necessarily including a change in organization or size.

I tend to doubt that - first of all, when you look at the marking its 6.TH, which certainly wouldn't make you think "6th". And Enfield regimental markings almost always identify a specific unit rather then a company within the unit, within the unit you would use the rack number, in this case 211.

 

[ExSarge]

Just to ensure that this doesn’t get too easy, let me interject the following.

There may be another clue here. The War Department Broad Arrow, stamped on the butt. When did Canada adopt the broad arrow within the C? Could the marking refer to a British unit?

 

[geo]

The Canadian C + broad arrow?... I have some of my Granddad's kit that dates back to 1914.
Some does & some does not.... but this could be a case of some officer's kit that was "personal" and purchased at the officer's expense.  Then again, the C + arrow could have been added at a later date...

No further ahead I guess.

 

[Gunplumber]

Wasnt the GGBG the Toronto Horse ( or Light Horse) before?

 

[geo]

GG"B"G?
You talking about the GGHG? (H as in Horse)

 

[Nyles]

At least according to their website, the GGHG was called the Governor General's Body Guard from 1866. There was another cavalry unit in Toronto at the time, but that was the Mississauga Horse.

I'm not sure exactly when the C broad arrow was introduced. It was definately not more than 5 or 10 years before 1914, as during the Boer War the Canadian stamping was M&D for Militia and Defence, as seen (faintly) on my rifle.

 

[Gunplumber]

The Missisauga Horse started out as the Toronto Light Horse circa 1903 and was that till 1907. Unfortunatly that means they probably would use TLH and there number was 9th anyway so it probably wasnt them. Back to the books.