{"product_id":"ww1-5th-canadian-mounted-rifles-officers-26mm-gilt-button-by-firmin-sons","title":"WW1 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles officer's 26mm gilt button by Firmin \u0026 Sons","description":"\u003cp\u003eWW1 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles officer's 26mm gilt button by Firmin \u0026amp; Sons\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA fine First World War officer's gilt button for the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles, Canadian Expeditionary Force. Large 26mm tunic size.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe design is crisply struck in high relief. A King's crown sits above a spray of maple leaves. In the centre is a large numeral 5 with a beaver resting on it, surrounded by scrolls reading OVERSEAS, MOUNTED RIFLES and CANADA. The gilding is bright and the detail is sharp throughout. The reverse is marked FIRMIN \u0026amp; SONS LD LONDON, and the original wire shank is intact. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 5th CMR was authorised in November 1914 and recruited mainly in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. It was raised as a mounted regiment. In January 1916 it was converted to infantry as the 5th Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles, and served with the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian Division.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn 2 June 1916, at the Battle of Mount Sorrel, the battalion was devastated. Its commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel George Harold Baker, a sitting MP, was killed. Around half the battalion was killed or badly wounded. The unit was rebuilt and went on to fight on the Somme and at Vimy Ridge.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt Passchendaele, on 30 and 31 October 1917, the battalion lost around 60% of its fighting strength in a single day. Major George Pearkes won the Victoria Cross there. He was wounded in the thigh just before the attack, but he captured a German strongpoint and then held his objective with only a handful of men. Pearkes later commanded the battalion and became Canada's Minister of National Defence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 5th CMR fought on through the Hundred Days offensive until the Armistice. After the war its memory was carried on by the Eastern Townships Mounted Rifles.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA scarce Canadian unit button with a strong fighting history, and a fine addition to any CEF collection.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gradia Militaria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54222280524104,"sku":"10230","price":15.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0924\/1103\/5976\/files\/IMG-2668.heic?v=1791214136","url":"https:\/\/www.gradiamilitaria.com\/products\/ww1-5th-canadian-mounted-rifles-officers-26mm-gilt-button-by-firmin-sons","provider":"Gradia Militaria","version":"1.0","type":"link"}