Legendary Van Doos regiment honoured in Quebec City

CTV Montreal: Honouring the Van Doos The legendary Van Doos Armed Forces Regiment has been honoured as part of a series of events leading up to Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017.

The legendary Royal 22^nd Regiment of the Canadian Armed Forces, better known as the Van Doos, received some special recognition on Friday.

The government of Canada honoured the regiment for its historic significance and its role in advancing the use of French in the Canadian military.

“Their commanders at all levels within the battalion were French-speaking and everything happened was done in French,” said retired Lt.-Gen. Richard J. Evraire, who served with the unit. “One can imagine the importance of that to anyone who, among other things, might not have been able to speak English and would find themselves under the command of an English-speaking officer. That made it difficult. Not impossible, but difficult. Certainly serving your country in your own mother tongue, I think, is something that quite naturally one would expect one would be able to do.”

Founded in October, 1914, the Van Doos was the “only Francophone infantry unit that was active on the front during (World War I),” according to the Parks Canada website. “Many milestones in the history of bilingualism in the armed forces were laid by the Van Doos. For example, in May 1958, they became the first Canadian Army unit to have their battle honours in French.”

The ceremony took place at the Quebec Citadel, a military fortress built by the British in 1820 which has become the second official residence of Canada’s governor general and has been home to the Van Doos since 1920. It’s part of several events planned by the federal government to highlight Canadian history leading up to the country’s 150^th birthday in 2017.

That nickname is derived from the unit’s number and has become the regiment’s calling card.

“It’s become now something of an historical anecdote,” said Evraire. “It’s even spelled in a strange way, which makes no sense grammatically, but everybody understands.”