Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
Encyclopedia : P : PR : PRI : Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
| Battalion | Home | Brigade | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry | CFB Edmonton (Alberta) | 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group | Mechanized infantry |
| 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry | CFB Shilo, Manitoba | 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group | Mechanized infantry |
| 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry | CFB Edmonton | 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group | Light infantry. Includes a parachute company. |
| The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4th Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry) | Edmonton, Alberta | 41 Canadian Brigade Group | Reserve Force. Dismounted infantry |
History
History 1914-1938
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.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.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.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.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.
History post-1945
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.
Afghanistan
In February 2002, the Regiment deployed approximately 700 troops to Afghanistan as part of the Canadian contribution (Operation Apollo) to Operation Enduring Freedom. The Regiment also deployed troops as part of the International Security Assistance Force.
In March 2002 during Operation Anaconda, a five-man sniper team from the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry set two new world records for farthest combat kill with a rifle. First, Master Cpl. Arron Perry broke the old record by hitting an al-Qaeda forward observer from a distance of 2,310 metres (over 1.43 miles). Days later, Perry's sniper teammate Cpl. Rob Furlong set the current world record by firing a shot from a .50 cal McMillan Tac-50 sniper rifle that killed an al-Qaeda soldier at an estimated distance of 2,430 metres (over 1.5 miles).[Maclean's Magazine; May 16, 2006: 'We were abandoned'] Both shots surpassed the long-standing previous world record of 2,250 metres (over 1.39 miles) set by U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Carlos Hathcock during the Vietnam War.
On April 18, 2002, soldiers from the 3rd Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry were involved in a highly-publicized case of "friendly-fire". The Canadian soldiers were participating in planned nighttime training exercises near Kandahar when Major Harry Schmidt, an American pilot from the Illinois Air National Guard, flew overhead. Believing he was being fired upon by enemy soldiers, Schmidt dropped one 500-pound laser-guided bomb on the Battalion. Four Canadian soldiers were killed and eight were injured.
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.Regimental names
1914: Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.Battle honours
- The Great War:
- *Ypres 1915 '17
- *Arleux
- *Frezenberg
- *Hill 70
- *Bellewaarde
- *Passchendaele
- *Mount Sorrel
- *Amiens
- *Somme 1916
- *Scarpe 1918
- *Flers-Courcelette
- *Hindenburg Line
- *Ancre Heights
- *Canal Du Nord
- *Arras 1917 '18
- *Pursuit to Mons
- *Vimy 1917
- *France and Flanders 1914-18
- *Siberia 1918-191
- The Second World War:
- *Landing in Sicily
- *Leonforte
- *Agira
- *Sicily 1943
- *The Moro
- *The Gully
- *Liri Valley
- *Hitler Line
- *Gothic Line
- *Rimini Line
- *San Fortunato
- *Savio Bridgehead
- *Naviglio Canal
- *Fosso Munio
- *Granarola
- *Italy 1943-1945
- *Appeldoorn
- *North-West Europe 1945
- Korea: 1950-53
- *Kapyong
Victoria Cross recipients
- Sergeant George Mullin, VC - at Passchendaele, Belgium, 30 October 1917
- Lieutenant Hugh McKenzie, VC - at Passchendaele, Belgium (KIA), 30 October 1917
- Sergeant Robert Spall, VC - at Parvillers, France, 12/13 August 1918
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.
Order of precedence
|- style="text-align: center;"
| width="30%" |Preceded by:
The Royal Canadian Regiment
| width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
| width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Royal 22e Régiment
References
See also
External links
- [Canadian Department of National Defence - 1st Battalion]
- [Canadian Department of National Defence - 2nd Battalion]
- [Canadian Department of National Defence - 3rd Battalion]
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