Canada. Canadian Army. Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) : In January 1900, Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal (Donald Alexander Smith) raised a mounted infantry unit, recruited from western Canada, and sent it to South Africa at his own expense. Lieutenant-Colonel Sam Steele of the N.W.M.P. was appointed to command the Strathcona's Horse. The regiment arrived in Cape Town on 10 April 1900. It took part in seven major actions as part of the Earl of Dundonald's 3rd Mounted Brigade and received its baptism by fire on Dominion Day, 1 July, 1900. The regiment embarked at Cape Town on 20 January 1901 and on 14 February arrived in London.
Although the unit itself was disbanded, remnants from it formed "A" Squadron, the Canadian Mounted Rifles on 1 July 1901. This unit, which traced its origins to 1883 and which had ties to the Royal Canadian Dragoons, was renamed The Royal Canadian Mounted Rifles in 1903. Six years later it was decided to revive the title of the Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians). In 1911 this title was amended to Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians).
The regiment was mobilized and arrived at Valcartier on 19 August 1914 under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel A.C. MacDonnell. The unit left Quebec on 30 September 1914 aboard the Bermudian and Monmouth and arrived in England on 16 October. It became part of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade on its formation on 2 February 1915. The regiment returned to Canada in 1919, and demobilized in Winnipeg. On 1 April of that year authority was granted to reorganize the Strathcona's as a unit of the Permanent Force. The task of the regiment was to maintain a Royal School of Cavalry in Calgary and Winnipeg and to supervise the instruction of all non-permanent cavalry units in western Canada.
The regiment was not immediately mobilized at the outbreak of the Second World War, but was concentrated in Winnipeg in January 1940. On July 6, the Strathcona's and The Royal Canadian Dragoons were ordered to form a composite unit called the 1st Canadian Motorcycle Regiment. Late in 1940, the Strathcona's become an armoured regiment. The regiment sailed from Halifax on 12 November 1941 and trained in England for two years. The Strathcona's landed at Naples, Italy, on 1 December 1943 as part of the 5th Armoured Brigade, 5th Armoured Division. In early 1946, the regiment returned to Canada, finding a permanent home in Calgary. On October 16, 1946 the regiment's name changed again to 2nd Armoured Regiment (Lord Strathcona's Horse) (Royal Canadians).
At the outbreak of the Korean War in 1951 the regiment provided armoured support for the Battalions of 25 Canadian Infantry Brigade of 1st Commonwealth Division. The Strathcona's have also participated in Canada's NATO brigade in Europe since its formation in 1953 and beginning in late 1956, soldiers from the Strathcona's have served as peacekeepers in Egypt, Cyprus, Cambodia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
