Many Canadian Army regiments carry the Battle Honour “PURSUIT TO MONS,” either from the presence of their own cap badge on that field of battle, or by the presence of one or more Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) units they now perpetuate (or both in some cases).

During those last days of the First World War, the Canadian Corps advanced toward Mons as the clock ran down to the Armistice. In the final act, the 3rd Division led, and of that formations units, it was The Royal Canadian Regiment that marched first into the city of Mons, the signature of Lieutenant William King in the Golden Book of Mons ensuring a definitive record of that accomplishment.

The War Diary of The R.C.R. for November 11, 1918 reads:

"MONS At about 09.00 hours a signal message as attached was received stating that all hostilities would cease at 11.00 hours etc. The news was sent to Companies and soon spread among the civil population as well. Thus for us the war ended in almost exactly the same ground that the British Army had made their first stand in 1914. Our men were in MONS. One platoon of "A" Company under Lieut. W.M. KING had been the first to reach the square in the morning and the platoon commander had inscribed his name in the "Golden Book of MONS". In the afternoon the Corps Commander made his official entry in to MONS, part of "A" Company contributed to the Guard of Honour. Battalion Headquarters moved to MONS in the evening."

After the Armistice, the City of Mons minted a small aluminum medallion, to be given to all soldiers of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, to mark their role in liberating their city. These medallions appear occasionally, many probably long discarded as soldiers' medals passed to heirs and the significance of the smaller medallions was perhaps overlooked. Small and innocuous perhaps, only 22 millimetres in diameter and 1 mm thick, the Mons Medallion represents the gratitude of a liberated City for the final actions of the Canadian Corps at the end of the First World War.

On the face of the medallion is the coat of arms of the City of Mons, with “VILLE de MONS .” On the reverse reads the following message:

LA VILLE DE MONS
AUX SOLDATS DE LA
3^eme DIVISION CANADIENNE
11 9^bre 1918

The Royal Canadian Regiment continues to remember the “Pursuit to Mons.” In the 2nd Battalions, it was also origin of the award given annually to the unit's best Platoon Commander – The Mons Box.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 4:06 PM EST

Updated: Monday, 18 February 2013 12:26 AM EST

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The Paardeberg Compass

A soldier's medals are an interesting connection of the soldier to his (or her) period of service. Medals might be for a specific campaign, placing the soldier in time and place, they could be long service awards, for valour or meritorious service, or for commemorative purposes. Some medals show hard evidence of years of wear on parades, dutifully polished until finer details are removed, or even until most details are obliterated through that pride of service and a heavy polishing technique.

Medals, however, lack one connection to the service they represent. They are invariably issued after the fact, and could not have been with the soldier during the events that saw them earned. For that connection, we must seek other artifacts, ones we can be reasonably certain were in a soldiers backpack, or pockets, or even in hand on the field of battle or in an operational area. Such items can be difficult to attribute with confidence unless they are received from the soldier with provenance. But occasionally we do discover just such a piece of memorabilia.

One such is the pocket compass of 8077 Colour-Sergeant John David Fox Eustace.

Colour-Sergeant (now we would know him as a Company Sergeant Major) Eustace was a Militia soldier serving in Halifax with the 63rd Regiment, Halifax Rifles, at the outbreak of the South African War (Boer War). Eustace, like many of his country-men from coast to coast, volunteered to serve with a battalion of infantry raised as Canada's First Contingent to South Africa. This battalion was the 2nd (Special Service) Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment.

While The Royal Canadian Regiment continued to garrison its four Company stations in Fredericton, St Jean, Toronto and London, it also provided 84 officers Non-Commissioned officers and soldiers for this new battalion. the remaining 921 members of the Battalion came, almost completely, from over 100 units of the Canadian Militia from across the country. John Eustace was one of those Militia soldiers, and he served as the Colour-Sergeant of “H” Company, which was raised in Nova Scotia.

Colour-Sergeant Eustace enlisted at Halifax on 20 Oct 1899 at the age of 30. An immigrant born in Dublin, Ireland, Eustace was serving in the 63rd Regiment (Halifax Rifles) at Halifax when he volunteered for service in South Africa. A single man, he was employed as a grocer in his civilian life. His service record describes him as five feet, six inches in height, 140 lb, with a 36-38 inch chest, fair complexion, dark brown hair and blue eyes. He was assessed as having good muscular development, good intelligence, a sanguine temperament. fair complexion, hearing and feet good and, finally, heart, lungs, hernia; all normal.

Eustace served with The Royal Canadian Regiment in South Africa until he was invalided to England on 13 Aug 1900. His discharge followed not long after, with his Certificate of Discharge dated 31 Aug 1900, reading:

“This Certifies that No. 8077 Colour Sergt. J.D.F. Eustace of Halifax in the County of Halifax, Province of Nova Scotia, Dominion of Canada, aged 31 years, served continuously in H Coy, 2^nd Battn., The R.C.R., S.S. Force of Active Militia of Canada, from the 20^th day of October 1899 to the 31^st day of August 1900 and is now discharged therefrom.”

Signed BH. Vidal, Lt. Col., D.O.C. 8.

Eustace was eligible for the Queen's South Africa Medal with two clasps: Cape Colony and Paardeberg. In late 1903, Eustace's medal was sent to the South African Constabulary, with which unit he was then serving, having returned to South Africa. (Eustace's QSA is known to have survived, location unconfirmed.)

John Eustace's company was in the front lines of the assault at the Battle of Paardeberg on 27 February 1900, the first major British victory over a Boer force. In this action, which saw the surrender of General Cronje, the contribution of the Canadians was celebrated throughout the Empire.

While we are certain John Eustace's medals could not have been at Paardeberg, we can be reasonably certain that he had his pocket compass with him.

So, how do we determine that a man who served many years before South Africa, and again afterwards, carried this compass at Paardeberg?

Eustace's compass is marked, stamped inside the brass cover, with the following details:

• 8077
• J. Eustace
• H Co
• RCRI

John Eustace only held the regimental number “8077” while he served with the 2nd (Special Service) battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment. Similarly, he was only in “H” Company of that unit for his service in South Africa. And the “RCRI”? For a brief period, between 1 April 1899 and 1 November 1901, The Royal Canadian Regiment was officially known as “ The Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry.”

Imagine, a Colour-Sergeant (Company Sergeant Major) on the open veldt of South Africa, as his company approaches occupied Boer trenches in the darkness before the dawn of 27 February 1900. Did he use this compass to help keep direction as the distance to the enemy closed? How many years afterwards did he carry it, a constant reminder of his service in South Africa as a Royal Canadian?

Posted by regimentalrogue at 8:55 PM EST

Updated: Tuesday, 27 February 2018 9:32 PM EST

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Every once in while I come across an item that I'd like to share which doesn't quite deserve its own page on The Regimental Rogue. Similarly, opportunities to identify new connections with information already on that parent website can be missed without a means to share them. This blog, therefore, can meet those needs, and provides a place to share whatever else of interest that might cross my path.

The Minute Book. In the days before e-mail made the rapid dissemination of messages efficient (if not always effective), infantry battalions in The Royal Canadian Regiment had a method of ensuring that officers received messages on matters of dress, social responsibilities and matters of duty particular to that audience. That method was the maintenance, by the Adjutant (i.e., the Commanding Officer's principal staff officer), of the Officer's Minute Book. This Book, kept in the Adjutant's office, was attended by an expectation that every officer would check it regularly for new additions. While this blog may not provide items of any such import, I do encourage you to check in regularly to see what appears.

Michael O'Leary
The Regimental Rogue

Posted by regimentalrogue at 6:07 PM EST

Updated: Monday, 18 February 2013 12:27 AM EST

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