Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

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{{Infobox Military Unit |unit_name=Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry |image=Image:PPCLI.JPG |caption=Cap badge of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry |dates=10 August 1914- |country=Canada |branch=Army |type=Line Infantry |role=Mechanised Infantry (two battalions); Light Role Infantry/Paratroop (one battalion); |size= four battalions |current_commander= |garrison= Edmonton (1st Battalion); Shilo (2nd Battalion); Edmonton (3rd Battalion); Edmonton, Alberta (4th Battalion) |ceremonial_chief=Rt Hon Countess Mountbatten of Burma |ceremonial_chief_label=Colonel in Chief |colonel_of_the_regiment= Major-General R.I. Stewart, CMM, CD |nickname= The Pats |motto= |colors= |march= Has Anyone Seen the Colonel / Tipperary / Mademoiselle from Armentières (medley) |mascot= |battles= |notable_commanders= |anniversaries= }} Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) is an infantry regiment in the Canadian Forces (CF), belonging to 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (1 CMBG). It is one of the most decorated regiments in the CF. It currently consists of four battalions, three in the Regular Force and one in the Reserve Force (militia). The PPCLI is ranked second in the order of precedence for the regular infantry, and 38th in the infantry militia.

Contents

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History

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History 1914-1938

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A new regiment

At the outbreak of World War I the regular military forces in Canada were pitifully small. To help rectify this situation the Patricias, the brain child of Captain Andrew Hamilton Gault, were created almost overnight. Hamilton Gault personally offered $100,000 to finance and equip a battalion as a contribution to Canada's war effort. The government provisionally accepted his offer on August 6, 1914. Official authorization was granted on August 10. The Canadian Department of Militia and Defence undertook the ongoing upkeep and maintenance of the regiment.

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Farquhar and Gault

Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Farquhar was instrumental in assisting Hamilton Gault in founding the regiment. Colonel Farquhar, Military Secretary to Canada's Governor General, the Duke of Connaught, asked the Duke of Connaught for permission to name the regiment after his daughter, Princess Patricia of Connaught. She was pleased to accept this honour and thus the Princess Pat’s were established.

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Mobilization

Farquhar and Gault moved expeditiously to mobilize the unit. The day after authority was granted, August 11, 1914, they began an aggressive recruitment campaign. Due to the patriotic outpouring following the August 4 declaration of war, 3000 applicants were recruited within eight days. On August 19 the complement was complete and the regiment's first formal parade was scheduled for August 23.

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Princess Patricia

Princess Patricia designed and made by hand the regimental colours to be presented on that occasion. It is a crimson flag with a circular blue centre. In the circle are gold initials V P which stand for Victoria Patricia. The regimental colours became known as the "Ric-A-Dam-Doo". This colour was carried in every regimental action during World War I.

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History 1939-1945

World War 2 began in Europe on 1 September 1939. The Patricia's were mobilized for active service on the 1st of September, 1939. The Regiment sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia on the 21st of December, 1939 arriving in Scotland, the Regiment moved to Aldershot Command and spent New Year's Eve in Cove, England. The Regiment spent three years in the United Kingdom, most of which was spent in coastal defence and training in various parts of the country.

On 10 July, 1943 the PPCLI, forming part of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and the 8th Army, landed in Sicily. After the short Sicilian campaign, the Regiment landed and fought in Italy from September, 1943 to March, 1945.

In March 1945, the Regiment was transferred to North West Europe where they participated in the liberation of the Netherlands. On the 7th of May, 1945 the Regiment was the first Allied force to enter Amsterdam.

On the 1st of June, 1945 a new battalion of the Regiment was authorized to form part the Canadian Pacific Force in the campaign against Japan. After the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by atomic bombs and Japan's subsequent surrender on the 15th of August, 1945 the Pacific Force was disbanded. In the meantime, the Regiment's serving battalion in Europe, very much understrength, returned to Winnipeg in October, 1945 and was demobilized.

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History post-1945

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Kapyong

The 2nd Battalion of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry received the Distinguished Unit Citation (now Presidential Unit Citation (US)) from the President of the United States to recognize its stand at Kapyong during the Korean War in April 1951. The Patricia's together with the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, which received the same honour, held up the Chinese forces for three days while United Nations forces withdrew to a new defensive line. This citation is the American equivalent of a battle honour. The citation is represented by a blue streamer bearing the name of the action. The streamer is attached to the pike of the regimental colour. The use of this streamer was authorized by King George VI. In addition to the streamer, the Presidential Citation is also worn on the uniform. It is a small royal blue bar with gold trim. Although battle honours are awarded on a regimental basis, and the whole of the PPCLI carries Kapyong on its colours, the distinction of bearing this streamer belongs to the 2nd Battalion PPCLI alone and is carried on the battalion's regimental colour.

Following the Korean War, the PPCLI was reduced to two battalions, with the 3rd Battalion being redesignated as 2nd Battalion, Canadian Guards.

In 1998, to commemorate the re-opening of Canada House, a detatchment from the 3rd Battalion travelled to London, England to mount the Queen's Guard at Buckingham Palace, becoming the first Canadian soldiers in a generation to do so.

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Afghanistan and the War on Terrorism

The Regiment deployed approximately 700 troops to Afghanistan as part of the Canadian contribution (Operation Apollo) to Operation Enduring Freedom in February 2002. On 18 April 2002, four Canadian soldiers died when Major Harry Schmidt, a pilot in the Illinois Air National Guard, dropped a bomb on them as they took part in a nighttime training exercise near Kandahar. The Regiment also deployed troops as part of the International Security Assistance Force.

In 2002, during Operation Anaconda, a three-man sniper team from Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry set a new record for farthest combat kill. They killed a Taliban soldier at over 2400 metres with a .50 calibre sniper rifle.

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Armourial description of badge

The cipher of Princess Patricia of Connaught (VP) enfiling a coronet (gold) within an annulus (crimson) edged and inscribed PRINCESS PATRICIA'S CANADIAN LIGHT INFANTRY (also gold) ensigned by the royal crown proper.

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Regimental names

1914: Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

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Battle honours

1. granted ca. 2000 with perpetuation of 260th Battalion CSEF

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Victoria Cross recipients

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Princess Pat and the Ric-A-Dam-Doo

The Ric-A-Dam-Doo is the Patricias' regimental song, and holds a special place in the regiment's history. Long in the public domain, the song was first composed and sung by soldiers in 1916. The selection of verses here describes some regimental history, and the origin of the unique title of the song, which refers to the regimental colours.

The Princess Pat's Battalion
They sailed across the Herring Pond,
They sailed across the Channel too,
And landed there with the Ric-A-Dam-Doo
Dam-Doo, Dam-Doo.
The Bombers of the Princess Pat's
Are scared of naught, excepting rats,
They're full of pep and dynamite too,
They'd never lose the Ric-A-Dam-Doo,
Dam-Doo, Dam-Doo.
Old Hammy Gault, our first PP,
He led this band across the sea,
He'd lose an arm, or leg or two
Before he'd lose the Ric-A-Dam-Doo,
Dam-Doo, Dam-Doo.
And then we came to Sicily.
We leapt ashore with vim and glee.
The Colonel said the Wops are through
Let's chase the Hun with the Ric-A-Dam-Doo,
Dam-Doo, Dam-Doo.
The Ric-A-Dam-Doo, pray what is that?
'Twas made at home by Princess Pat,
It's Red and Gold and Royal Blue,
That's what we call the Ric-A-Dam-Doo,
Dam-Doo, Dam-Doo.
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Order of precedence

Template:Start box Template:Order of precedence Template:End box

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See also

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External links

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