The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4th Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry), or L Edmn R, is a Primary Reserve infantry unit of the Canadian Armed Forces based in Edmonton, Alberta. The Loyal Edmonton Regiment is part of 3rd Canadian Division's 41 Canadian Brigade Group. They are colloquially known as "The Loyal Eddies".

Lineage

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File:LER colour.jpg|The Regimental Colour of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment.

File:LED camp flag.jpg|The camp flag of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment.

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The Loyal Edmonton Regiment

  • Originated 1 April 1908 in Edmonton, Alberta as the 101st Regiment
  • Redesignated 1 March 1909 as the 101st Regiment "Edmonton Fusiliers"
  • Redesignated 15 March 1920 as The Edmonton Regiment
  • Reorganized 15 March 1920 to form two separate regiments, The Edmonton Fusiliers and The Edmonton Regiment
  • Redesignated 7 November 1940 as the 2nd (Reserve) Battalion, The Edmonton Regiment
  • Redesignated 7 July 1943 as the 2nd (Reserve) Battalion, The Loyal Edmonton Regiment
  • Redesignated 1 November 1945 as The Loyal Edmonton Regiment
  • Redesignated 19 October 1954 as The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry)
  • Redesignated 1 April 1970 as The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4th Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry)

Perpetuations

The Great War

  • 49th Battalion (Edmonton Regiment), CEF
  • 51st Battalion (Edmonton), CEF
  • 63rd Battalion (Edmonton), CEF "D" Company participated in the expedition to the Norwegian island of Spitzbergen on 25 August 1941, and the battalion landed in Sicily on 10 July and Italy on 3 September 1943, as part of the 2nd Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Infantry Division. The unit landed in France on 15 March 1945 as part of Operation Goldflake, on its way to the Northwest Europe theatre of operations, in which it fought until the end of the war. The overseas battalion disbanded on 15 October 1945.

On 1 June 1945, a second Active Force component of the regiment was mobilized for service in the Pacific theatre of operations, as under the 3rd Canadian Infantry Battalion (The Loyal Edmonton Regiment), CASF. The battalion disbanded on 1 November 1945. It suffered three dead and numerous injured during this war.

Recent activities

The unit continues to carry out individual and small unit training locally and across Canada. The L EDMN R has continued to support NATO, UN, and Canadian domestic operations with multiple individual and group deployments.

The regiment expanded to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, with the establishment of C Company, The Loyal Edmonton Regiment, in August 2009.

In the summer of 2018, The Loyal Edmonton Regiment and Calgary Highlanders were tasked with standing up a mortar platoon that deployed to the Forward Presence Battle Group in Latvia in early 2020. This was the first Primary Reserve mortar platoon to deploy overseas.

Lineage chart

Alliances

  • : The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's Lancashire and Border)

Battle honours

In the list below, battle honours in capitals were awarded for participation in large operations and campaigns, while those in lowercase indicate honours granted for more specific battles. Those battle honours followed by a "+" are emblazoned on the regimental colour.

Victoria Cross recipients

  • Private Cecil John Kinross, VC
  • Private John Chipman Kerr, VC

Regimental badge

The maple leaves symbolise service to Canada and the regiment's perpetuated units, the 51st and 63rd Battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and the crown, service to the Sovereign. The number 49 represents the service of the perpetuated unit, the 49th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and the windmill sails allude to the battlefields in Flanders on which the battalion fought in the First World War. The coyote's head commemorates "Lestock", a prairie coyote presented to the regiment as a mascot prior to the 49th Battalion's departure for overseas service in 1915. The red rose came from the badge of the former allied regiment The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) (now, through amalgamation, the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment). "THE LOYAL EDMONTON REGIMENT" is a form of the regimental title.

Loyal Edmonton Regiment Military Museum

The Loyal Edmonton Regiment Military Museum is in Edmonton in the Prince of Wales Armouries

Heritage Centre, the building where the regiment was based from 1920 to 1965. The building also houses the City of Edmonton Archives and the Telephone Historical Centre. The museum features two galleries and several smaller exhibits, and displays include historic firearms, uniforms, souvenirs, memorabilia, military accoutrements, and photos. The museum features an exhibit on the role of the 49th Battalion, CEF in Canada's Hundred Days Offensive.

Media

  • A City Goes to War: History of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment (3PPCLI) by Lieut-Colonel G. R. Stevens (1964)
  • Our Quarrel with the Foe: Edmonton's Soldiers 1914-1918 by Ian Edwards (2020)

Order of precedence

Notes

References

  • Loyal Edmonton Regiment Military Museum
  • list of battle honours