Канада армиясының «Принцесса Патриция» жеңіл әскерлік полкі

Canadian military unit

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI, generally referred to as the Patricia's) is one of the three Regular Force infantry regiments of the Canadian Army of the Canadian Armed Forces. Formed in 1914, it is named for Princess Patricia of Connaught, daughter of the then Governor General of Canada. The regiment is composed of three battalions, for a total of 2,000 soldiers. The PPCLI is the main lodger unit of Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Edmonton in Alberta and CFB Shilo in Manitoba, and attached to 3rd Canadian Division; as such, it serves as the "local" regular infantry regiment for much of Western Canada. The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (LER), a Reserve Force battalion, is affiliated with the PPCLI but is not formally part of it. As part of this affiliation, the LER carries the designation '4th Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry'. The PPCLI is a "British style" Regiment which serves as the spiritual home and repository of customs and traditions for a number of battalions that do not necessarily serve together operationally. Its three battalions are independent operational entities, within 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (1 CMBG). The regimental title is honorific: two of the battalions are mechanized infantry and the unit has never been organized as a traditional light infantry regiment. The regiment has received 39 battle honours, three Commander in Chief Unit Commendations and the United States Presidential Unit Citation. The battalion is made of three rifle companies, combat support company comprising reconnaissance and signals platoons as well as a sniper group, and administration company. The current commander is Lieutenant Colonel C. Petersen, CD Its regimental sergeant major (RSM) is Chief Warrant Officer B. Worth,CD. The battalion is a mechanized infantry unit of the Regular Force and is part of the 1CMBG. The battalion is composed of three rifle companies (A, B and C), one combat support company, and one command and administration company. Its Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) is Chief Warrant Officer Dunwoody, CD

The 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (3PPCLI) is based at Steele Barracks, CFB Edmonton, Alberta. The battalion is a light infantry unit of the Regular Force, and the only one in Western Canada. The battalion is composed of three rifle companies, one combat support company and one combat service support company. 3PPCLI also maintains an airborne and mountain operations capability. The commanding officer (CO) is Lieutenant Colonel J. C. Thamer, CD The regimental sergeant major is Chief Warrant Officer L. J. Schnurr, CD.

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry originated in Ottawa, Ontario, on 10 August 1914. The Permanent Active Militia (Regular Force) component was formed on 1 April 1919 and the Canadian Expeditionary Force component of the regiment was disbanded on 30 August 1920. Following the Second World War on 1 March 1946, the Canadian Active Service Force regiment was disbanded and the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, CIC was redesignated Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, CIC. On 27 June 1946, the regiment was embodied in the post war Permanent Force (Active Force). On 7 August 1950, the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, RCIC was authorized to be formed as an Active Force unit embodied in the Special Force. On 1 January 1952, it ceased to be embodied in the Canadian Army Special Force. On 30 November 1950, the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, RCIC was authorized to be formed as an Active Force unit embodied in the Special Force. On 1 November 1953, it ceased to be embodied in the Canadian Army Special Force. On 8 January 1954, it was reduced to nil strength and the battalion was disbanded on 21 July 1954. On 27 April 1970, the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry was authorized to be formed as a Regular Force unit.

On 3 November 1997, the regiment was granted the perpetuation of the 260th Battalion Canadian Rifles, Canadian Expeditionary Force (Siberia). A sandstone slab memorial at Lansdowne Park is dedicated to the founding of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry at this location in August 1914. Lieutenant Colonel Francis D. Farquhar was instrumental in assisting Hamilton Gault in founding the regiment. Colonel Farquhar, Military Secretary to Canada's Governor General, 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 Princess Patricia's were established. Princess Patricia, Colonel in Chief, designed and made by hand the regimental flag to be presented on that occasion. As a Canadian regiment mobilized in a time of wartime shortages, the regiment was equipped with weapons from a variety of sources. Private soldiers initially carried the Canadian .303 Ross rifle, while officers and non commissioned officers normally carried the 1914 Colt Canadian contract .45 M1911 pistol. The regiment left Ottawa on August 28 and boarded the SS Megantic in Montreal, Quebec. On this date the PPCLI was the only Canadian infantry unit on the battlefield; only the 1st Canadian Medical Corps was there before. When Farquhar was killed in action at St Eloi on March 20, he was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel H. Buller, another British regular, who had served with him on the staff of the governor general before the war. On May 8, the stout defence of Bellewaerde Ridge during the Battle of Frezenberg established the reputation of the Patricias but at tremendous cost. When they came out of the line the 700 men that had started the battle had been reduced to just 150 who were battle ready. The tattered remains were commanded by a lieutenant, all other officers having been killed or wounded. The phrase "holding up the whole damn line" became one of unit's unofficial mottos for the regiment. The PPCLI served for a year with the 80th Brigade before joining the new 7th Brigade within the 3rd Canadian Division on December 22. During the Battle of Passchendaele Sergeant George Harry Mullin earned the Victoria Cross, the highest honor in the British Empire. When the awarded of his Victoria Cross was announced in the London Gazette on 12 February 1918, his surname was misspelled as "Mackenzie." On February 4, 1915, Private Guy Dwyer became the Patricias' first combat death of the war. The last of the Patricias killed in action was likely Corporal Percy Wainwright Carleton on 10 November 1918. In total 1,272 officers and enlisted men of the Patricias were killed and 82 officers and enlisted men were captured during the war. The 260th Battalion, Canadian Rifles, CEF (Siberia) was authorized on 1 November 1918 in Victoria, B. C. and embarked for Russia on 29 December 1918. It served with the 16th Infantry Brigade as part of the Allied Forces in eastern Russia until 9 May 1919. The battalion was disbanded on 15 November 1920. The service of the 260th Battalion, CEF (Siberia) resulted in Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry being awarded the battle honour .

On March 20, 1919, the regiment became a component of the Permanent Active Militia.

Freedom of the city was exercised by the 3rd Battalion in Victoria, British Columbia on June 15, 1974. The regiment was granted the Freedom of the City of Edmonton, an honour in respect of the centennial of the regiment. This permits the regiment to conduct parades on city streets as of May 22, 2014.

Instead of a regimental band, PPCLI maintains three drum lines that form the regimental corps of drums, which provides ceremonial musical support. It is the Canadian counterpart to the Corps of Drums of the British Army Royal Logistics Corps, and thus it is an all percussion unit that occasionally marches with the Royal Canadian Artillery Band. From 1919 to 1994 however, PPCLI did maintain a regimental band. PPCLI's band date back to the First World War when its core band came from the St. Mary's Boys Brigade Band and the 140th New Brunswick Battalion in January 1916. PPCLI Band was formed in 1919 under the guidance of Captain Tommy James and was stationed at Fort Osborne Barracks in Winnipeg. In early 1940s, the 1st Canadian Division Band was largely made up of former PPCLI bandsmen, which provided the basis to be reactivated after the war at Wainwright, Alberta. Due to military budget cuts in 1994, the entire band was disbanded and reduced to a corps of drums. The drum line was inactive due to the Afghanistan War in the early 2000s; however, it was re formed under the leadership of Sergeant Keith Mooney and Warrant Officer Dave Kennedy in 2014. The process for establishment began in 2012 with the research for drum patterns and sequences. The drum line took part in the regimental Centennial Parade in September 2014. The Edmonton Police Service pipe band, which was formed in 1914, was dissolved during the First World War, with its musicians being re augmented to PPCLI and leading the regiment into battle. Members of the pipe band also served as stretcher bearers during the war. As a result of this close history together, the Pipes and Drums of the EPS, which was re founded in 1961, is the only non military civilian band within the Commonwealth to wear the badges of three Canadian regiments, with one of these being PPCLI. While serving as a public relations tool for the EPS, it performs alongside the regiment during public events in Edmonton. The band was invited to play at PPCLI's beating retreat ceremony in 1964 and at the regimental trooping the colour in 1967.

The PPCLI is not directly affiliated with the Western Hockey League, but they are associated through name with the Regina Pats who were formed in 1917 in Regina, Saskatchewan, as a major junior hockey team. The "Patricias" shortened their name to the Regina "Pats" in 1923, and to this day wear the PPCLI patch on their hockey jersey's shoulders. The Regina Pats are the longest lived major junior hockey team in the world.

In the movie "Across the Pacific"(1942), a cashiered U. S. Army officer, played by Humphrey Bogart crosses the border in 1941 and attempts to enlist in the Princess Pats. He is refused, as the regiment expects all its officers to have high moral standards. The character later comments that his rejection "was a *little* on the insulting side". A soldier of the regiment is interviewed in Max Brooks's zombie novel World War Z. The character Major Patrick Gordon/Patrick Crawley in Season 2 of Downton Abbey was a member of PPCLI. The Canadian infantry soldiers in the Afghanistan War based movie Hyena Road are members of the PPCLI. In 1968 movie "The Devil's Brigade", Sgt. Patrick O'Neill (played by Jeremy Slate) is wearing P. P. C. L. I. insignia on his shoulder. In the "Ultimate Soldier Challenge" TV show on History Channel (Season 1, Episode 5), three teams of two soldiers (US Marines, Canadians, and Contractors) are competing in various military tasks. The Canadians (Alex and Andrija) are from the PPCLI.

It has been suggested in a Canadian professional military journal that the regiment's third battalion (3 PPCLI) could be adapted to become a specialized light infantry battalion that is able to deploy parachute infantry and marine infantry company groups to support the protection of Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic.