http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/commun...tml_view_e.asp?page=Vol4_28____Entrenous14-15
By Buzz Bourdon
Over the years, many distinguished CF regiments boasting long years of service to sovereign and country have been disbanded, amalgamated or reduced to nil strength.
The reasons for these steps include a chronic lack of soldiers and budgetary cutbacks.
When a regiment is disbanded, it loses its lineage, which can never be regained, says Major Paul Lansey of Director History and Heritage. In other words, the unit ceases to exist.
Reducing a regiment to nil strength means it is dormant and placed on the supplementary order of battle. If that regiment is ever needed again, soldiers are posted to it.
An example of both disbandment and reduction to nil strength can be found in the Regiment of Canadian Guards. Established by Queen Elizabeth II on October 16, 1953, the Canadian Guards originally had four battalions.
The 3rd and 4th Battalions were disbanded in 1957. During the 1960s, both the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Canadian Guards impressed many with their ceremonial skills during the changing of the guard ceremony on Parliament Hill. In 1962 the 1st Battalion won the Prix Le Clerc, a prestigious small arms competition held in Europe.
Despite these accomplishments, the 1st Battalion was disbanded effective October 31, 1968. The 2nd Battalion was reduced to nil strength effective July 6, 1970. On June 6, 1970, then governor general Roland Michener accepted the battalion colours and the company colours from both battalions for safekeeping. They are on display in Rideau Hall.
Other Regular Army units disbanded from 1968 to 1970 because of massive cutbacks included two battalions of the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada and two battalions of the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada. Their Reserve components, almost a century older than the regular battalions, remain active in Toronto and Montréal.
Reserve regiments were not immune from the cutbacks of the 1960s. On March 12, 1965, 12 infantry and armoured Reserve regiments were made dormant by being placed on the supplementary order of battle, including the Victoria Rifles of Canada, The Halifax Rifles (RCAC), 14th Canadian Hussars, le Régiment de Joliette and The Royal Rifles of Canada.