Fonds glen-1490 - Canada Department of National Defence. Lord Strathcona's horse (Royal Canadians) fonds

The Department of National Defence was created in 1923 by the National Defence Act which established one civil department in place of the previous Department of Militia and Defence, the Department of the Naval Service and the Air Board. The Canadian Forces Reorganization Act in 1968 unified the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force into a single service called the Canadian Armed Forces. The Department is responsible for the control and management of the Canadian Armed Forces, and all matters related to national defence establishments and the defence of Canada. In 1900 the Strathcona's Horse regiment was raised at the personal expense of Lord Strathcona (Donald A. Smith) as a cavalry unit of western Canadians to fight in the South African War. Lt. Col. Samuel B. Steele of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was appointed commanding officer, and many of the officers and other ranks were recruited from the NWMP. On return to Canada in 1901 the regiment was demobilized, but it was reactivated in 1909 as a permanent Canadian Army unit known as Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians). In 1911 it was given the prefix "Lord". During First World War it served in France and Belgium as infantry with the 1st Canadian Division in 1915, and then mounted in the Canadian Cavalry brigade. LdSH(RC) served as an armoured regiment in the Canadian Armoured Corps in Algiers, Italy and Holland during the Second World War. It has served with distinction in Korea and numerous other UN commitments.