Canada
Canada began using "Regimental Numbers" during the First World War.
During the Second World War, units were allocated blocks of Regimental Numbers to issue out, usually in the 5 or 6 digit range, though extremely low numbers were also possible due to the blocks.
- X12345 - the X was an alphabetic character denoting the Military District the soldier was recruited in (A represented MD1, B MD2, etc.) Up until 1945, officers never received numbers and were identified by name and rank only.
The Social Insurance Number (SIN) replaced the regimental number in the 1960s.
- 123 456 789
The SIN was itself replaced by a Service Number in the 1990s.
- X12 345 678
The use of the SIN was granted by Revenue Canada to the CF for service numbers as a temporary measure, and was revoked in the 1990s. The new Service Number used a random alphabetic letter and 8 numbers in the same format as SINs to avoid changing service forms.
Read more about this topic: Service Number
Famous quotes containing the word canada:
“I see Canada as a country torn between a very northern, rather extraordinary, mystical spirit which it fears and its desire to present itself to the world as a Scotch banker.”
—Robertson Davies (b. 1913)
“Canadians look down on the United States and consider it Hell. They are right to do so. Canada is to the United States what, in Dante’s scheme, Limbo is to Hell.”
—Irving Layton (b. 1912)
“In Canada an ordinary New England house would be mistaken for the château, and while every village here contains at least several gentlemen or “squires,” there is but one to a seigniory.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)