laststandonzombieisland

80 years ago today: Canadian soldiers of The Carleton and York Regiment preparing to lob a Mills bomb hand grenade into a sniper’s hideout, Campochiaro, Italy, 23 October 1943.

Hailing from New Brunswick, as its name would imply, the Carleton York was created by the 1937 amalgamation of the Carleton Light Infantry and the York Regiment, units that dated to the old county militia days as far back as 1787 and went overseas to fight the Kaiser as the respective 12th and 140th and 44th and 104th battalions, Canadian Expeditionary Force, a factor that brought 18 Great War battle honors to the new regiment’s flag, along with a lineage of service in the Americas in the War of 1812 and against the Boers.

Embarking on the SS Monarch of Bermuda from Halifax on 10 December 1939 for Scotland, where they remained to protect the UK while threats of a German invasion subsided, they landed in Sicily in July 1943 and then fought their way into Europe, ending the war in May 1945 at Amersfoort, Holland.

The Carleton York suffered 348 deaths in their WWII service.

The regiment was amalgamated with The New Brunswick Scottish and The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment in 1954 to form the 1st New Brunswick Regiment (Carleton York). Two years later this word salad was renamed simply The Royal New Brunswick Regiment (RNBR), a Reserve unit that exists today as a one-battalion infantry unit that is part of 37 Canadian Brigade Group, 5th Canadian Division, with a combined 65 battle honors.