The Essex-Scottish Regiment Menu

The Essex and Kent Scottish - otherwise known affectionately as the "Eeks and Squeaks" - is Canada's twenty-ninth most senior Reserve Infantry regiment, and comprises one battalion of the Land Force Reserve. In 1954, The Essex Scottish Regiment was amalgamated with The Kent Regiment to form The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment of the Royal Canadian Infantry Corps. The Regiment's two battalions were officially formed in 1962, with the 1st Battalion's headquarters remaining at the Windsor Armouries on University Avenue East, and the 2nd Battalion's headquarters stationed in Chatham. The Canadian Forces Headquarters made reductions within the military structure two years later, and the two battalions of the Essex and Kent Scottish merged into a single battalion, as it is currently structured, in 1965, with two companies in Windsor and one in Chatham. As of 2009, the regiment is commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Phil Berthiaume, who has served in such a capacity since 2001, and it enjoys the formal patronage of Colonel-in-Chief His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent.

The regiment is outfitted in the McGregor tartan, in honour of the McGregor family of Windsor, three generations of which served in the Essex Scottish. Full dress uniform includes a scarlet doublet with blue facings, the McGregor tartan, and a white hackle in a feather bonnet. Special features of regimental dress for active service include a flash of McGregor tartan and the regimental badge on the balmoral; officers wear the Rob Roy tie (the personal tartan of Rob Roy McGregor). The uniform was adopted with the creation of the Essex Scottish Regiment in 1927, as was its regimental quick march, The Highland Laddie. The Chatham-based battalion adopted The Hundred Pipers as its regimental quick march upon its amalgamation with the Essex Scottish in 1954.

The regimental badge is described in armorial terms: "two sprays of thistle supporting a scroll in the shape of a pointed arch, bearing the designation THE ESSEX AND KENT SCOTTISH; across the thistles a scroll bearing the motto SEMPER PARATUS; in centre a shield bearing in chief three seaxes barwise (alluding to the arms of the County Council of Essex) in base the white horse of Kent; the whole surmounted by a lion's head erased." 1

The regiment has been affiliated with The Royal Anglian Regiment since 1926 and The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment since 1927. It is also affiliated with four cadet corps: the 59 Legion Highlanders, Royal Canadian Army Cadets in Chatham; the 1086 Walkerville Army Cadet Corps in Windsor; the 2715 Metropolitan Legion Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps, also in Windsor; and the 2819 Leamington Legion Army Cadet Corps in Leamington.

For a comprehensive history of the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment from its earliest inception to the twenty-first century, see Antal, Sandy, and Kevin R. Shackleton, Duty Nobly Done: The Official History of the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment, Walkerville Publishing: Windsor, Ont., 2006.

• Scottish Military Tradition


• Early History


• World War II


• Pipes & Drums