2026 - PROPOSED - The Canadian Grenadier Guards Heritage Trail (European Battlefields and Memorials) - A 33 stop travel itinerary that follows the movement of the Canadian Grenadier Guards during WWI and WW2 through the campaigns of the 87th Battalion (Canadian Grenadier Guards), CEF, the CGG No 2 Company 14th Battalion (Royal Montreal Regiment) and the 22nd Canadian Armoured Regiment (Canadian Grenadier Guards) in the Second World War.

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Scope and Content

This proposed CGG Heritage Trail (European Battlefields and Memorials) follows the movement of the Canadian Grenadier Guards during WWI and WW2 through the campaigns of the 87th Battalion (Canadian Grenadier Guards), CEF, the CGG No 2 Company 14th Battalion (Royal Montreal Regiment) and the 22nd Canadian Armoured Regiment (Canadian Grenadier Guards) in the Second World War. Heritage Trail Legend Symbol Meaning 🟦 Battalion Arrival / Formation Site ⚔️ Major Battlefield 🕊️ Liberation Site 🪦 Commonwealth War Cemetery ⭐ National Memorial / Historic Site 🏅 Canadian Grenadier Guards Medal of Gallantry Site FIRST WORLD WAR (1915–1919) 🇫🇷 🇧🇪 Stop Symbol Location Significance 1 ⚔️ Rue d'Épinette / Festubert, France Famous stand of No. 2 Company, 14th Battalion (Royal Montreal Regiment) during the Battle of Festubert (May 1915), representing the regiment's earliest combat heritage. 2 🟦 Le Havre, France Arrival of the 87th Battalion in France on 13 August 1916 aboard SS Archangel. 3 ⚔️ Courcelette, France First major battle of the 87th Battalion during the Somme Offensive. 4 ⭐ Vimy Ridge National Historic Site, France Canada's defining victory. The memorial bears the names of 246 members of the 87th Battalion with no known grave. 5 ⚔️ Hill 70 & Lens, France Major CGG battle; numerous decorations earned during August 1917. 6 ⭐🪦 Ypres – Menin Gate, Belgium Eighty-four Canadian Grenadier Guards with no known grave are commemorated on the memorial. 7 ⚔️ Passchendaele, Belgium The regiment fought through one of the war's most difficult campaigns. 8 🏅 Dury & the Drocourt–Quéant Line, France Hero Site: John Francis Young earned the Victoria Cross on 2 September 1918. 9 ⚔️ Bourlon Wood & Cambrai, France Key battles during the Hundred Days Campaign. 10 🪦 Hoielaart Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery, Belgium Cemetery containing graves of Canadian soldiers who fell during the liberation of Belgium, including members associated with the Canadian Grenadier Guards. 11 🕊️ Roisin, Belgium First Belgian village entered and liberated by the 87th Battalion (5 November 1918). 12🪦⚔️Marchipont & River Aunelle Crossing, Belgium The "Eight Grenadiers Battlefield." On 5 November 1918, eight members of the 87th Battalion were killed while forcing the crossing of the River Aunelle and entering Belgium. Their sacrifice enabled the battalion to become the first Canadian infantry battalion to liberate Belgian territory during the Hundred Days Campaign. This is one of the regiment's most significant places of sacrifice in the First World War. 13 🕊️ Angreau & Angre, Belgium Villages liberated by the 87th Battalion during the advance toward Mons. 14 🕊️ Quiévrain, Belgium Strategic railway town liberated during the advance. 15 🕊️ Frameries, Belgium Liberated during the final Canadian advance. 16 🕊️⭐ Mons, Belgium Final objective reached on 11 November 1918 before the Armistice came into effect. SECOND WORLD WAR (1942–1945) 🇫🇷 🇧🇪 🇳🇱 🇩🇪 Stop Symbol Location Significance 17 ⭐🪦 Dieppe, France Operation Jubilee (19 August 1942). Although the regiment did not participate as a unit, Dieppe profoundly influenced Canadian armoured doctrine. This stop commemorates Captain Frederick Morgan, 22nd Canadian Armoured Regiment (Canadian Grenadier Guards), the regiment's first battle casualty in Europe during WWII, killed while attached to the Dieppe operation. He is buried in the Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery. 18 ⭐ Juno Beach Centre, Courseulles-sur-Mer, France Introduction to the Canadian campaign in Northwest Europe and the regiment's arrival in Normandy in July 1944. 19 ⚔️ Verrières Ridge, France Battlefield associated with the regiment's first combat operations in Normandy. 20 ⚔️⭐ Mont Ormel (Hill 262) – Falaise Pocket, France The Canadian Grenadier Guards helped close the Falaise Gap, trapping the German Seventh Army. 21 🕊️ Rouen, France Liberated during the rapid Allied advance after Normandy. 22 ⚔️ Leopold Canal, Belgium Opening phase of the Battle of the Scheldt. 23 🏅 Philippine & Sluiskil Railway Station, Zeeland, Netherlands Hero Site: Samuel Moses Hurwitz earned the Distinguished Conduct Medal on 12 September 1944 for extraordinary gallantry while leading tanks in the capture of the Sluiskil railway station. 24 ⚔️ Woensdrecht, Netherlands Battle securing the approaches to Antwerp and South Beveland. 25 ⚔️ South Beveland & Walcheren, Netherlands Operations that cleared the Scheldt Estuary and opened Antwerp to Allied shipping. 26 🪦 Bergen-op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery, Netherlands Burial place of Sgt. Samuel Moses Hurwitz, DCM, MM, and other Canadian Grenadier Guards. 27 🪦 Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Netherlands Principal cemetery associated with the 4th Canadian Armoured Division. 28 🪦 Holten Canadian War Cemetery, Netherlands Commemorates Canadians who fell during the liberation of the eastern Netherlands. 29 ⚔️ Hochwald Forest, Germany One of the regiment's hardest battles during Operation Blockbuster. 30 ⚔️ Xanten, Germany Final German defensive line west of the Rhine. 31 🏅🕊️ Bad Zwischenahn / Oldenburg Area, Germany Final Sacrifice Site. On 4 May 1945, Lt. Norman A. Goldie and Chaplain Albert E. McCreery were killed while attempting to rescue wounded soldiers. They were the last Canadian Grenadier Guards fatalities in the European campaign and among the last Canadians killed before VE Day. 32 ⭐ Rhine Crossing (Operation Plunder) Crossing into Germany during the final Allied offensive. 33 🕊️ Oldenburg, Germany Final wartime destination of the Canadian Grenadier Guards in Europe following Germany's surrender. These are the two principal "Hero Sites" of the entire heritage trail: 🏅 Stop 8 – Dury & the Drocourt–Quéant Line, France Hero: John Francis Young Unit: 87th Battalion (Canadian Grenadier Guards), CEF Award: Victoria Cross Date: 2 September 1918 🏅 Stop 23 – Philippine & Sluiskil Railway Station, Netherlands Hero: Samuel Moses Hurwitz Unit: 22nd Canadian Armoured Regiment (Canadian Grenadier Guards) Award: Distinguished Conduct Medal Date: 12 September 1944 Suggested Future Additions To make this the definitive Canadian Grenadier Guards Heritage Trail, I would recommend adding three more locations: Bramshott Camp, England – where the 87th Battalion trained before embarking for France in 1916 and was reviewed by King George V. Aldershot Camp, England – where the Canadian Grenadier Guards converted to an armoured regiment and trained before the Normandy campaign. Bovington Camp & Lulworth Ranges, England – where the regiment mastered Sherman tank gunnery and combined-arms tactics before deploying to Northwest Europe. With those additions, the trail would span 35 major heritage sites across England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, presenting a complete chronological journey of the Canadian Grenadier Guards in Europe from 1915 to 1945. It would likely be the first heritage trail dedicated exclusively to the regiment and could serve as the foundation for a guidebook, interactive map, or battlefield tour program. Together they form an approximately 1,600 km heritage route across France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, following the Canadian Grenadier Guards' service from the regiment's origins in the First World War through its armoured campaigns in the Second World War. For your Canadian Grenadier Guards historical project, this would be a distinctive interpretive trail, linking battlefields, memorials, cemeteries, and places of liberation into a single coherent journey through the regiment's European history.

Created By

Lieutenant Michael Hayes-Rivet, retired.

Create Date

July 9, 2026

Updated By