Victoria Rifles of Canada Helmet Plate

Victoria Rifles of Canada Helmet Plate - c. 1904; 3rd Battalion, Victoria Rifles of Canada Helmet Plate, c. 1904. 63 mm x 113 mm, bronze, with two of three lugs intact. Very fine. Footnote: On January 10 1862, the Regiment was officially enrolled as a militia in response to the strain that was brought on by the American civil war. During the Fenian raids, the Victoria Rifles participated in the Campobello fiasco in Cornwall with other regiments like the Royal Scots. In 1866 several companies from the Victoria Rifles were sent to reinforce defences in St-Jean, Lachine and Cornwall. Victoria Rifles also participated in the Boer War, as part of the second Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment. Between 1885 and 1902, The Rifles have sometimes been called upon to help quell civil disruptions in Montreal and Valleyfield. Details of the Regiment were placed on active service in August 1914 for local protection duties. The 24th Battalion, which was authorized in November 1914 as the 24th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, embarked for Great Britain in May 1915. It disembarked in France in September 1915, where it fought as part of the 5th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Canadian Division in France and Flanders until the end of the war. They also perpetuated the 60th Battalion (1915) and the 244th (1917). Members of the 1st Battalion were sent to England during World War Two, in 1944.