The Queen's York Rangers: An Historic Regiment

Sidney Allinson is a Victoria-based communications consultant, Canadian
news correspondent for Britain’s The Army Quarterly and Defence, and
author of The Bantams: The Untold Story of World War I.

The publishing of Canadian regimental histories was sadly neglected until quite recently. Even when attempted, they were all too often produced in a lamentably amateurish way that detracted from the content. However, the dramatic change for the better in this genre during the past few years is providing increased pleasure and knowledge to the military history buff. An excellent new example that combines good research and writing with first-class book production is Major Stewart Bull’s The Queen’s York Rangers.

Few other regiments in Canada have such early origins as this, having started out in 1755 in New England as the famed Rogers Rangers during the bloody battles of the French and Indian wars. Stoutly Loyalist, the regiment moved to Canada following its valourous service in the American Revolution. Major Bull has done a thorough job of ferreting out exciting details from the records, and he makes a good tale of the important role the Rangers played in hacking the first roads around the settlement of York, which, of course, was to become Toronto.

Having fought in virtually every battle from the War of 1812, to the Fenian Raids and the Riel Rebellion, to the Boer war, the Queen’s York Rangers established a fighting tradition as superb light infantry. With gallant and costly service in World War I, there were Rangers in battle right through the worst of Vimy Ridge and Passchendale, with a Victoria Cross to its credit. Twenty years later, the allocation of regimental personnel as reinforcements for other active service units makes a strangely short four-page chapter on World War II. The book ends on the satisfactory note of HM Queen Elizabeth presenting the Queen’s York Rangers with their new guidon in 1984.