The South Saskatchewan Regiment

The South Saskatchewan Regiment had its origins 3 July 1905. It was designated the 95th Regiment, and was authorized in the districts of Assiniboia and Saskatchewan. More than 30 years later, on 15 December 1936, the amalgamation of two existing regiments, the Weyburn Regiment and the Saskatchewan Border Regiment, brought about the establishment of the South Saskatchewan Regiment as we know it today. After fighting in the First World War, the Regiment was mobilized once again as the South Saskatchewan Regiment, C.A.S.F., on 1 September 1939. The troops from Saskatchewan left for the United Kingdom on 16 December 1939.

On 19 August 1942, the South Saskatchewan Regiment took part in an operation that has not been forgotten, the Dieppe Raid. Brave soldiers from the Regiment pushed over the beach at Dieppe in the dim light of the early morning and entered the small village of Pourville, believing that surprise had been achieved. To their dismay, however, the Germans had detected the raid and the South Saskatchewan Regiment was met with heavy gun fire by the enemy. By the end of the Dieppe Raid the South Saskatchewan Regiment had suffered 84 casualties.

Lieutenant-Colonel of the South Saskatchewan Regiment, Charles Cecil Ingersoll Merritt, was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry and inspiring leadership during the Dieppe Raid. From Dieppe, the troops moved into Normandy on 8 July 1944 as a unit of the 6^th Infantry Brigade, 2^nd Canadian Infantry Division. They were stationed there until the end of the war and were disbanded on 15 December 1945.

To commemorate the Regiment's hard work and bravery in the Dieppe Raid, a monument was erected at Pourville, just west of Dieppe, where the Regiment landed on that ill-fated day.