The 1st Hussars is an armoured Primary Reserve regiment of the Canadian Armed Forces, based in London and Sarnia, Ontario.

Both troops were put on active duty in southwestern Ontario in response to the Fenian raid of 1866, but neither had contact with the invading forces.

[4] In February 1905, the regiment moved into the newly built London Armouries at the corner of Dundas and Waterloo Streets, which it used until 1977.

Six Hussars joined the special service battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry and participated in the engagements at Sunnyside, Paardeberg and the capture of Pretoria.

At the outbreak of the war, some 66 members of the regiment joined the 1st Western Ontario Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force which was raised in late 1914.

Some elements of the regiment performed costly reconnaissance patrols in the area while the unit waited in reserve just behind the lines for a breakthrough that the cavalry could exploit.

On 9 October 1918, the Canadian Corps attacked the Germans near the French village of Escaudoeuvres on the L'Escaut Canal (north-east of Cambrai).

The situation on the left of the advance developed in a similar fashion with MGs opening up as the troopers crested the rail embankment.

One of the German MGs was put out of action allowing a position to be established and Hotchkiss Machine guns to be set up on the rail embankment.

The objective for 'A' and 'C' Squadrons of the CLH was to capture a portion of sunken road on the ridgeline and continue on to take a hill overlooking the village of Iwuy .

As the Hundred Day's offensive continued, the 1st Hussars and rest of the CLH found itself often leading the advance, and letting the infantry pass through when resistance was met.

In December 1939, the majority of 1st Division sailed for England, but the 1st Hussars stayed behind in London because there were not enough tanks to equip the regiment.

The Hussars remained a part of 1 CAB until January 1943, when they were reorganised into the 3rd Canadian Army Tank Brigade along with The Fort Garry Horse and the Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment.

At 07:15, 19 tanks of 'B' Squadron launched their Sherman V DDs from their landing-craft into the English Channel some 4000 meters from shore of Nan Green Beach.

After dropping their screens, they began engaging the German antitank guns, machine-gun nests and other strong points, allowing the infantry to break the beach defences and make its way inland.

'A' Squadron made its way inland to the village of Graye-sur-Mer where the Winnipeg Rifles were attempting to capture bridges over the Suelles River.

On 9 June, the Hussars supported the Canadian Scottish as they re-took Putot-en-Bessin and engaged Panthers of the 1st Battalion, SS-Panzer Regiment 12 (of the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend), destroying 6.

On the afternoon of Sunday, 11 June, 'B' Squadron of the 1st Hussars was decimated during an abortive attack with The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada on the hamlet of Le Mesnil Patry, North-West of Caen.

Using Panzerfausts, Panzerschrecks and anti-tank guns, the German forces were able destroy 51 Shermans, and inflict 61 killed or missing, 2 wounded and 11 captured on the 1st Hussars.

After a few weeks of rest and training the Hussars were back in action on 8 July 1944 as part of Operation Charnwood, with the objectives of capturing the village of Cussy and the Ardenne Abbey.

When the attack started at 18:30, the Hussars again found themselves opposing the 12th SS, including Panther tanks, anti-tank guns and infantry.

The Canadian portion of Goodwood was code-named Operation Atlantic, which aimed to secure a bridgehead over the Orne east of Caen.

The Hussar's objectives during Atlantic included the capture of the steelworks at Colombelles on the east bank of the river, the eastern suburbs of Giberville and Faubourg de Vaucelles.

As the Canadian's pushed south towards the Start Line on 20 July, 'A' Squadron of the 1st Hussars was tasked with supporting the attack on Saint-André-sur-Orne and the Beauvoir and Troteval farms by Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal.

Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal initially captured the village and the farms, but were pushed back by the counter-attacks of the 1SS Panzerdivision and 272nd Infantry Division.

Most of the attacks against the ridge met heavy resistance and were fought to a standstill by the Germans, with only the Village of Verrières being captured and held.

Lineage chart of the 1st Hussars[1] The regiment's original guidon was presented in 1967 by Queen Elizabeth II during a ceremony on Parliament Hill.

On D-Day, 2 Troop 'C' Sqn commanded by Lieutenant W. F. (Bill) McCormick failed to contact the infantry but kept going, returning an hour and a half later after a 10-mile ramble inland through Bretteville and almost into Carpiquet.

By crossing the Caen-Bayeux railway line the troop became somewhat fortuitously "the only unit of the allied invasion forces known to reach its final objective on D-Day."

The 2010 docudrama Storming Juno follows a tank crew of the 1st Hussars led by Sergeant Leo Gariepy (played by Philippe Martin) during the initial landings and immediate aftermath.