Veterans Guard of Canada

[fearnaught]

Finally who or what are these?

[boots and saddles]

In a nut shell. WW 1 Veterans who signed up & did local protective duty during WW 2, some server in the Carribean as well, I don't think any went overseas under that name. They had their own Unit. Their field service cap was made up of the colours of the 4 WW1 Divisions.

[Bill A]

The Veterans' Guard were First World War vets who enlisted to provide home guard type duties during the Second World War in Canada. Duties, among many, included guarding vulnerable points, and guarding prisoners of war at camps and in transit. One company was sent to the UK to perform duties that would free up Canadian soldiers from routine duties. The Guard was quite a significant organization in protecting Canada.

[Bill A]

Additional info. This pattern of melton shoulder flash is fairly common, the canvas titles are rare.

[Voltigeur]

G'morning Gents, about the Veterans Guards, from Veterans Affairs Canada....
Perhaps the most unlikely Canadian unit represented in South East Asia was the Veteran's Guard of Canada. In the summer of 1944, and again in the spring of 1945, contingents of the Veterans were employed as mule skinners, escorting shiploads of mules from the United States to India and eventually the jungles of Assam and the Arakan where they were much needed for transportation.

Jo

[Voltigeur]

And a little clarification about the VGC.From the Canadian Military History Gateway website.
Jo
Corps of First World War veterans between the ages of 40 and 65, formed in May 1940, for full-time and reserve service during the Second World War. It grew to 10,000 men in 1944 with another 8,000 on part-time service. The great majority served in Canada with a few companies in Newfoundland, London (England), Nassau (Bahamas) and Georgetown (Guyana). Some veterans stood guard at power plants, factories and other installations deemed essential to the war effort but most served as guards at the POW and enemy aliens internment camps in Canada. In 1944-1945, some went to India and Burma as “mule skinners”(as mentioned in the above post). The Veteran’s Guard continued to serve after the war until March 1947 when the last veterans were disbanded.

[Bill A]

Hi Mike, Jo et al, The disbandment date of 1947 was the bureaucratic end of the VGC, but by mid-1945 the effective strength was reduced considerably with the end of the war.
Some notes on the Vet Guard insignia. There were actually two designations in the priced stores list for the VGC, one was the Veterans' Guard of Canada and the other the Veterans' Home Guard of Canada. The VGC were both active and reserve. The active units wore the standard gold on red titles. Several other patterns of shoulder titles are found, but are very scarce in comparison to the one Mike has shown. It was the standard pattern.
The canvas printed title that is the same pattern as the embroidered title is very rare, and seldom seen. The printed titles were only made in the UK (with a couple of exceptions), and issued to units on the strength of the Canadian army in England and NW Europe.
There were three patterns of slip-ons for the unit, a gold on scarlet pattern, the worsted winter slip-on and the khaki drill slip-on. In all likelyhood, the worsted and drill slip-ons were worn by both the active and reserve components, being replaced by the yellow on scarlet shoulder titles when the army adopted coloured embroidered titles circa 1942. The yellow on scarlet slip-on was probably worn only by the active components, and maybe only the company that proceeded to the United Kingdom.

[Voltigeur]

Thanks Bill, as always, very instructive and helpful.
Jo

[boots and saddles]

Thanks Jo for pointing out that a few of them did actually go overseas during WW2.

[Voltigeur]

Thanks Ray,appreciated.
Jo

[fearnaught]

Hi, and thankyou all for your full response. Mike

[servicepub]

Originally Posted by boots and saddles

Their field service cap was made up of the colours of the 4 WW1 Divisions.

For the sake of accuracy, the Field Service Cap was khaki, same as every other unit in the Canadian Army. Their Coloured Field Service Cap was made up of the colours of the four First World War Divisions..

[servicepub]

Originally Posted by Bill A

There were three patterns of slip-ons for the unit, a gold on scarlet pattern, the worsted winter slip-on and the khaki drill slip-on. In all likelyhood, the worsted and drill slip-ons were worn by both the active and reserve components, being replaced by the yellow on scarlet shoulder titles when the army adopted coloured embroidered titles circa 1942. The yellow on scarlet slip-on was probably worn only by the active components, and maybe only the company that proceeded to the United Kingdom.

An old copy of MilArt has an article on VGC insignia. Research at DHH uncovered that the coloured "worsted titles" (this is the official WWII term for the slip-on titles) were developed to identify VGC units on Active Service. To determine exactly which units qualified as being on Active Service I would recommend a look at Mark Tonner's CD "On Active Service".

[Bill A]

Hi Clive, The "on active service" definition is a bit of an issue. I have corresponded with Mark about the VGC, and he provided an extensive list. It appears that many of the units that were active in Canada did not wear the coloured slip-on, probably because it was not available. The coloured embroidered shoulder title was worn by the active service units, and at this point in time, the exact date of approval of the coloured title has not been established.

[Bill A]

Hi Clive, To be totally pedantic, the slip-ons were designated "titles, shoulder, worsted".