Canadian Provost Corps
Encyclopedia
The Canadian Provost Corps (C Pro C) was the military police
corps of the Canadian Army. The Canadian Provost Corps was authorized on 15 Jun 1940. The Canadian Provost Corps was amalgamated into the Canadian Forces
in 1968.
, Regimental Police
were the only police element in the Canadian Army. The situation was such that the 2nd Canadian Division
made its brigade
s responsible for the provision of "Trench Police" to perform traffic control duties.
The Canadian Military Police Corps was formed during October 1917, with a total of 850 all ranks.
The CMPC school was formed at Ottawa
on 1 June 1918, and closed ten months later on 11 March 1919.
The CMPC itself was disbanded on 30 June 1920.
, the Canadian Army was without any form of military police. On September 13, 1939, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(RCMP) requested and received permission to form a Provost Company using volunteers from its ranks. This was designated 1 Provost Company (RCMP), of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division
, Canadian Active Service Force.
, but was involved in the battles during the fall of France (Brest, Laval, Sable and Chateaubriant).
The Canadian Provost Corps Training Centre operated from November 1942 to May 1946, training a total of 1,897 all ranks.
During World War II, most of the Canadian Army in England was stationed at Aldershot
.
Canadian MPs wore red-topped caps and were armed with .38 revolvers carried in a holster on the left hip together with white pattern 1937 web belt, brace and brace attachment in the same manner as the British
Corps of Military Police
(CMP).
The corps saw action for the first time on 18 August 1942 in the Dieppe Raid
. Of the 41 members who took part, 22 returned to England, one was killed, eighteen were taken prisoner (seven of them being wounded). During 1943, 1 Provost Company became involved in operations in Sicily
(Pachino, Valguarno, Assoro, Agira, Adrano and Regalbuto) and after the crossing into Italy
on 3 September 1943, the company continued its support of the I Canadian Corps
as part of the Eighth Army
as Allied forces crept northwards from the toe of Italy. Places where 1 Provost Company saw action included: Campobasso, Torello, Motto Montecorvino, San Leonardo, The Gully, and Ortono in 1943; San Nicola, San Tomasso, Cassino II, the Gustav Line, the Liri Valley, the Hitler Line, and Got Lamone Crossing in 1944; and Misano Ridge, Rimimi Line, San Martino, San Lorenzo, and Fossa Vechio in 1945. In the Cassino
area of Italy, the Canadian Provost assisted the British CMP on "Highway 6", where 11,000 vehicles were handled every day. The Canadians were part of twenty-four provost and traffic control companies and two Special Investigation Branch
sections that were attached to the Eighth Army.
Shortly after the Normandy landings in June 1944, the 2nd Canadian Line of Communications (LoC) Provost HQ and six sections were deployed in Northern France
on traffic control duties. 1 Provost Company also saw action at Apeldoorn
in the Netherlands
.
On 18 October 1945, 1 Provost Company was de-activated when it was repatriated to Canada. By September 1945, the C Pro C numbered 6,120 men.
25 Provost Detachment headed to Korea
in 1950, where it formed part of 1 Commonwealth Division Provost Company ("1 COMWEL Div Pro Coy"). It was stated in the Standing Orders of this unit that it was the only integrated unit of its kind in the Allied Forces. In 1955, the Provost Detachment was disbanded after a total of 264 Canadian MPs had served in Korea.
From 23 November 1951, the 27th Brigade Provost Detachment was located in Hanover
, West Germany
with NATO. In November 1958, the 4 Canadian Infantry Brigade Group rotated into Germany and the Provost Platoon in Germany was renamed No.4 Provost Platoon.
During 1968, the platoon was renamed 4 Military Police Platoon and was located at Canadian Forces Base Lahr
until the pull out of 4 Canadian Mechanised Battle Group (CMBG) in 1992.
In March 1964, the United Nations
authorized a force to serve on the island of Cyprus
. Members of the Military Police served on Cyprus from that time until Canada pulled out in 1992.
On 1 February 1968, the Provost Corps ceased to exist, when all branches of the Canadian military were unified into the Canadian Forces
and security became the responsibility of the Canadian Armed Forces Security and Intelligence Branch
.
The Canadian Military Police Heritage Hall at Canadian Forces Base Borden is a museum dedicated to the memory of the Canadian Provost Corps, Royal Canadian Air Force Service Police and Royal Canadian Navy Naval Shore Patrol Veterans in the Canadian Forces.
Military police
Military police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...
corps of the Canadian Army. The Canadian Provost Corps was authorized on 15 Jun 1940. The Canadian Provost Corps was amalgamated into the Canadian Forces
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
in 1968.
Canadian Military Police Corps
During the early years of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Regimental Police
Regimental Police
Regimental Police , sometimes called Regimental Provost Staff in the United Kingdom, are soldiers responsible for regimental discipline enforcement and unit custody in the British Army, some other Commonwealth armies and some armed forces structured in the British tradition...
were the only police element in the Canadian Army. The situation was such that the 2nd Canadian Division
2nd Canadian Division
The 2nd Canadian Division was an infantry formation that saw service in the First World War. A 2nd Canadian Infantry Division was raised for the Second World War.-History:...
made its brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
s responsible for the provision of "Trench Police" to perform traffic control duties.
The Canadian Military Police Corps was formed during October 1917, with a total of 850 all ranks.
The CMPC school was formed at Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
on 1 June 1918, and closed ten months later on 11 March 1919.
The CMPC itself was disbanded on 30 June 1920.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
At the outbreak of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Canadian Army was without any form of military police. On September 13, 1939, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
(RCMP) requested and received permission to form a Provost Company using volunteers from its ranks. This was designated 1 Provost Company (RCMP), of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division
1st Canadian Infantry Division
The 1st Canadian Infantry Division was a formation mobilized on 1 September 1939 for service in the Second World War. The division was also reactivated twice during the Cold War....
, Canadian Active Service Force.
Second World War
In mid June 1940, the Canadian Provost Corps was officially born out of 1 Provost Company. For most of 1940, 1 Provost Company was stationed in EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, but was involved in the battles during the fall of France (Brest, Laval, Sable and Chateaubriant).
The Canadian Provost Corps Training Centre operated from November 1942 to May 1946, training a total of 1,897 all ranks.
During World War II, most of the Canadian Army in England was stationed at Aldershot
Aldershot
Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
.
Canadian MPs wore red-topped caps and were armed with .38 revolvers carried in a holster on the left hip together with white pattern 1937 web belt, brace and brace attachment in the same manner as the British
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
Corps of Military Police
Royal Military Police
The Royal Military Police is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK, and whilst service personnel are deployed overseas on operations and exercises.Members of the RMP are generally known as...
(CMP).
The corps saw action for the first time on 18 August 1942 in the Dieppe Raid
Dieppe Raid
The Dieppe Raid, also known as the Battle of Dieppe, Operation Rutter or later on Operation Jubilee, during the Second World War, was an Allied attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe on the northern coast of France on 19 August 1942. The assault began at 5:00 AM and by 10:50 AM the Allied...
. Of the 41 members who took part, 22 returned to England, one was killed, eighteen were taken prisoner (seven of them being wounded). During 1943, 1 Provost Company became involved in operations in Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
(Pachino, Valguarno, Assoro, Agira, Adrano and Regalbuto) and after the crossing into Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
on 3 September 1943, the company continued its support of the I Canadian Corps
I Canadian Corps
I Canadian Corps was one of the two corps fielded by the Canadian Army during World War II. From December 24, 1940 until the formation of the First Canadian Army in April 1942, there was a single unnumbered Canadian Corps...
as part of the Eighth Army
Eighth Army (United Kingdom)
The Eighth Army was one of the best-known formations of the British Army during World War II, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns....
as Allied forces crept northwards from the toe of Italy. Places where 1 Provost Company saw action included: Campobasso, Torello, Motto Montecorvino, San Leonardo, The Gully, and Ortono in 1943; San Nicola, San Tomasso, Cassino II, the Gustav Line, the Liri Valley, the Hitler Line, and Got Lamone Crossing in 1944; and Misano Ridge, Rimimi Line, San Martino, San Lorenzo, and Fossa Vechio in 1945. In the Cassino
Cassino
Cassino is a comune in the province of Frosinone, Italy, at the southern end of the region of Lazio.Cassino is located at the foot of Monte Cairo near the confluence of the Rapido and Liri rivers...
area of Italy, the Canadian Provost assisted the British CMP on "Highway 6", where 11,000 vehicles were handled every day. The Canadians were part of twenty-four provost and traffic control companies and two Special Investigation Branch
Special Investigation Branch
The Special Investigation Branch is the name given to the detective branches of all three British military police arms: the Royal Navy Police, Royal Military Police and Royal Air Force Police. It is most closely associated with the Royal Military Police, which has the largest SIB. SIB members...
sections that were attached to the Eighth Army.
Shortly after the Normandy landings in June 1944, the 2nd Canadian Line of Communications (LoC) Provost HQ and six sections were deployed in Northern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
on traffic control duties. 1 Provost Company also saw action at Apeldoorn
Apeldoorn
Apeldoorn is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland, about 60 miles south east of Amsterdam, in the centre of the Netherlands. It is a regional centre and has 155,000 . The municipality of Apeldoorn, including villages like Beekbergen, Loenen and Hoenderloo, has over 155,000...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
On 18 October 1945, 1 Provost Company was de-activated when it was repatriated to Canada. By September 1945, the C Pro C numbered 6,120 men.
Postwar history
The Canadian Provost Corps School was formed at Camp Borden in the late 1940s, and by 1948 there were at least ten Provost Companies, including five Militia Provost Companies, in the Canadian Army.25 Provost Detachment headed to Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
in 1950, where it formed part of 1 Commonwealth Division Provost Company ("1 COMWEL Div Pro Coy"). It was stated in the Standing Orders of this unit that it was the only integrated unit of its kind in the Allied Forces. In 1955, the Provost Detachment was disbanded after a total of 264 Canadian MPs had served in Korea.
From 23 November 1951, the 27th Brigade Provost Detachment was located in Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
, West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
with NATO. In November 1958, the 4 Canadian Infantry Brigade Group rotated into Germany and the Provost Platoon in Germany was renamed No.4 Provost Platoon.
During 1968, the platoon was renamed 4 Military Police Platoon and was located at Canadian Forces Base Lahr
Canadian Forces Base Lahr
Canadian Forces Base Lahr was a military owned and operated commercial airport located in Lahr, Germany. It was operated primarily as an air force base, and later as an army base, beginning in the late 1960s. The military base was closed in 1994 and converted to civilian use...
until the pull out of 4 Canadian Mechanised Battle Group (CMBG) in 1992.
In March 1964, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
authorized a force to serve on the island of Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. Members of the Military Police served on Cyprus from that time until Canada pulled out in 1992.
On 1 February 1968, the Provost Corps ceased to exist, when all branches of the Canadian military were unified into the Canadian Forces
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
and security became the responsibility of the Canadian Armed Forces Security and Intelligence Branch
Canadian Forces Military Police
The Canadian Forces Military Police provide military police services to the Canadian Forces.Canadian Military Police are unusual in that they are classified as Peace Officers in the Criminal Code of Canada, which gives them the same powers as civilian law enforcement personnel to enforce Acts of...
.
The Canadian Military Police Heritage Hall at Canadian Forces Base Borden is a museum dedicated to the memory of the Canadian Provost Corps, Royal Canadian Air Force Service Police and Royal Canadian Navy Naval Shore Patrol Veterans in the Canadian Forces.