World War 1

History WWI Formation of PPCLI

The PPCLI WWI Capbadge Regiment's first formal parade was held on August 23rd. Princess Patricia presented her Regiment with a Camp Colour that she had designed and worked by hand. On it, the initials "VP" (Victoria Patricia) in gold were entwined upon a blue center on a crimson background. The "Ric-A-Dam-Doo", as it later became known to all Patricia Soldiers, was affixed to a staff cut from a Government House maple tree. The colour was carried into every battle in which the Regiment fought in the First World War. The Edmonton City Pipe band traveled to Ottawa under the leadership of Pipe-Major C. Colville, a veteran who reported for duty in Hunting Stewart Tartan and announced to the Commanding Officer that: "We came (Sir) to pipe you to France and back again." The Regiment left Ottawa on the 28th of August 1914, and embarked at Montreal on the MEGANTIC.

The sailing was cancelled due to enemy action in the Atlantic and the Regiment disembarked at Levis, Quebec, where the Patricias set up camp and conducted training. On the 27th of September 1914, the Regiment sailed from Quebec on the ROYAL GEORGE, and on the 18th of October was in camp on Salisbury Plain, England.

The British authorities found the Patricias to be well trained and capable of taking the field. In early November the Regiment moved to Winchester to join the 27th British Division as a unit of the 80th Brigade. Other units of the Brigade were all regular battalions of the British Army: 4th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade, 3rd and 4th Battalions Kings Royal Rifle Corps, and 2nd Battalion King's Shrophire Light Infantry.

The 27th Division landed in France on the 21st of December, 1914. The Patricias were therefore the first and only Canadian Infantry Regiment in a theatre of war in 1914.

The Regiment left Ottawa on the 28th of August, 1914 and embarked at Montreal on the MEGANTIC.

The British authorities found the Patricias to be well trained and capable of taking the field. In early November the Regiment moved to Winchester to join the 27th British Division as a unit of the 80th Brigade . Other units of the Brigade were all regular battalions of the british Army: 4th Battalion The Rifle Brigade, 3rd and 4th Battalions Kings Royal Rifle Corps, and 2nd Battalion King's Shrophire Light Infantry.

The 27th Division landed in France on the 21st of December, 1914. The Patricias were therefore the first and only Canadian Infantry Regiment in a theatre of war in 1914.

The Patricias served one year with 80th Brigade (named the "Stonewall Brigade" after its defence of the Ypres Salient in May, 1915). The historic battle of FREZENBERG was fought on the 8th of May, 1915. The enemy attacked behind clouds of poison gas, however the Regiment held the front even thought they were fighting from ditches and shell holes and were under fire from three sides.

The Regiment came out of action commanded by Lt H.W. Niven with 154 effectives. The anniversary of this famous battle is commemorated annually by the Regiment.

On the 22nd of December, 1915 the Regiment became part of the newly formed 3rd Canadian Division as a unit of the 7th Brigade. Other units of the Brigade were: the 42nd Battalion (Black Watch); the 49th Battalion (The Edmonton Regiment); and the Royal Canadian Regiment. The Regiment fought in many actions throughout the rest of the World War I and was part of the Canadian Corp which captured Vimy Ridge on the 9th of April, 1917.

During the battles around Passchendaele on the 30th of October, 1917 two members of the Regiment won the Victoria Cross for gallantry. Another Victoria Cross was won at Parvillers in August, 1918.

In November 1918, the Patricia's were involved in pursuing the Germans and on the 11th of November, 1918 No.4 Company entered Mons and shortly thereafter the Armistice was declared.

The Regiment returned to Canada in early 1919 and was demobilized at Ottawa following the homecoming parade.

Recently, the Regiment has been granted the honour of perpetuating the history of the 960th Battalion (Canadian: Rifles) Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force. This is a unit that was formed as part of the 16th Canadian Infantry Brigade in late 1918 to travel to Russia as part of a large multinational force to aid the Czech Legion while protecting allied war stocks in Vladivostock.

On the afternoon of 6 January 1915, the Patricia's, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Farquhar, occupied the muddy trenches of the Ypres Salient.

As night fell over the battlefield, the Patricia's began to relieve the tattered remains of the French regiment occupying the Vierstraat sector. Although Vierstraat was considered a quiet sector, it was here that the Patricia's received their first casualties. On the morning of 7 January, the Germans welcomed the Patricia's to Vierstraat with an artillery bombardment and harassing sniper fire. On this day, Pte MacNeil and MacNash were killed by snipers, and Captain DO Newton, the regiment's first officer casualty, was also shot by a sniper and died the next day.

The Patricia's were relieved from the trenches of Vierstraat on 8 January 1915, and were redeployed to the vicinity of St Eloi on 15 January 1915. Although the Regiment had received fairly light casualties, the Patricia's would quickly learn that the War ahead was to be a long, bloody and impersonal one.

PPCLI snipers

The beginning of WWI found the Regiment living and learning trench warfare in the Ypre-Salient. In Feb 1915 the Regiment was once again on the front lines. Life in the trenches was not glamorous for the soldiers, the trenches were crowded and water logged, often getting up to the thigh depth in the continuous rain. The constant rain caused the soldiers clothes, boots and even feet to rot. It was wet, miserable and rations were most often eaten cold. Any digging to improve the rat and lice infested trenches often revealed a French or German corpse from previous battles. To make things worse there was continual artillery bombardments and sniper rounds. There wasn't anything that LCol Farquhar could do about the artillery but he could respond to the snipers. He selected soldiers known for their shooting skills to form a special sniper unit. Cpl Jim Christie became the first PPCLI sniper. This unit worked quickly and carefully to hunt down and eliminate German snipers and marksmen. They proved very successful and rapidly evened the odds in the trenches. Cpl Christie was methodical about recording everything he learned, from trial and error, about the art of sniping in a small handbook so he could teach it to other snipers. This innovative approach to the problem proved very successful and started the long and proud tradition of skilled PPCLI snipers.

6 January 1915

On the afternoon of the Patricias, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Farquhar, occupied the muddy trenches of the Ypres Salient.

As night fell over the battlefield the Patricias began to relieve the tattered remains of the French regiment occupying the Vierstraat sector. Although, Vierstraat was considered a quiet sector it was here that the Patricias received their first casualties. On the morning of 7 January the Germans welcomed the Patricias to Vierstraat with an artillery bombardment and harassing sniper fire. On this day, Pte MacNeil and MacNash were killed by snipers, and Captain DO Newton, the regiment's first officer casualty, was also shot by a sniper and died the next day.

The Patricia's were relieved from the trenches of Vierstraat on 8 January 1915, and were redeployed to the vicinity of St Eloi on 15 January 1915. Although the Regiment had received fairly light casualties, the Patricia's would quickly learn that the War ahead was to be a long, bloody and impersonal one.

Allowing some reprieve after the intense combat, the Regiment moved back from the front to prepare for upcoming operations. By mid-January, the PPCLI were once again called to the front, in the area of St. Eloi, just when the Regiment was realizing there would soon be a dire requirement for some 500 fresh troops to augment the battle worn Patricia's. It was from St. Eloi where the Regiment was to spend the next few months defending. St. Eloi was an important town as it was a crossroads just five kilometers south of Ypres. The terrain was wet and muddy in the cold Belgian winter. Due to the mud-covered terrain, the defences were a series of trench systems not entirely connected; each being able to provide mutual support onto one another. The Regiment shared the trench duty in shifts with the other units in their sector; putting them in the trenches for three to four days at a time and then rotating to the rear for much needed rest. While in the trenches, life was miserable for the soldiers; snipers would kill any soldier idle enough to expose their heads above the trench-line. Also rats infested the trenches and trench foot and disease became as deadly as the German bullets. St. Eloi would always be remembered as a rat-infested quagmire where the uncertainty of life was commonplace and the realizations of trench warfare became evident.

2nd Battle of Ypres PPCLI at the Battle of Frezenberg

The second battle of Ypres was to become the real introduction of the horrors of trench warfare during WWI, and baptism of fire for the first Can Div. They were ordered to the Ypres Salient on the 1st of April 1915. They initially occupied a 4000m frontage in the Northeast sector of the salient. During the fighting at the battle of Ypres the Canadians were renowned for their tenacious fighting abilities. The Battle lasted until the end of May, however most of the Canadians had been relieved as of 25 April. The only remaining Canadian unit to stay in the salient was the PPCLI.

On the 8th of May the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry are attacked at Frezenberg and Bellewaerde Ridges. Early in the morning prior to the German attack the Bn received a massive, violent artillery bombardment, during which all officers were either killed or wounded except Lieutenant Hugh Niven, who took over command of the Bn and the remaining men. Over the remainder of the day the unit continually beat back German attacks suffering many losses, manpower and ammunition were becoming a grave concern for the troops holding on to the ridge. By the end of the final German assault, the Patricia's had been reduced to 4 officers and 150 men. Facing unbelievably greater numbers, they once again held their ground, and the line. The German offensive of the 2nd Ypres had ended. When the PPCLI were relieved, the other regiments cheered them as they moved back towards Ypres. This battle was the Regiment's first battle honour and the beginning of our long and distinguished history. We commemorate the anniversary of this famous battle annually on the 8th of May, and should be proud of the suffering and heroism of the Regiment

Mount Sorrel

On 2 June 1916 it was the turn of 3rd Canadian Division at Mount Sorrel. Following a massive artillery bombardment and the exploding of four mines under Mount Sorrel the Germans attacked. The PPCLI, despite 400 casualties, held on to the left flank while the 4th and 5th Battalions , with almost 90% casualties were obliterated. In the immediate, and unsuccessful, Canadian counterattack Signals "went awry", the artillery was badly coordinated and inadequate and further massive losses occurred. Many officers were "fired" as a result of the debacle and Lieutenant General Sir Julian Byng, the Commander of the Canadian Corps put Major General Arthur Currie in charge of the battle. On 12 June 1916 the Canadians counter-attacked. The preliminary bombardment, equal to the original German assault, was stopped four times to allow the Germans to man their defences and then restarted. Within an hour the lost ground was regained and then held despite ten days of German counter - attacks. There were 8000 Canadian casualties versus 5,675 German casualties. The battle also saw the end of the infamous Ross rifle which Sir Sam Hughes, the Canadian Minister of Militia, had insisted upon. Despite some 80 modifications the Ross simply did not work in mud and, after Mount Sorrel, Canadian soldiers were finally reequipped with the Lee-Enfield. The demise of the Ross also began the demise of Sir Sam Hughes as Minister of Militia and Defence.

Jan 1917 saw the PPCLI engaged in the trenches of the Great War in France. Having occupied the line a day earlier, the Regiment set an aggressive tone by raiding the German positions as documented 26 Jan 1917 in the Regimental War Diary:

A raid was carried out by the Battalion on the German lines between Duffeld and Durand Craters for the purpose of destroying listening posts and dugouts and capturing any enemy encountered. The raid was successfully carried out by Major A. Rasmussen and a party of two NCOs and ten men. Two prisoners were taken and heavy casualties inflicted on the enemy and the dugouts destroyed. The party returned safely to their lines without casualties. The enemy shelled their lines heavily in retaliation but caused no casualties.

The Battle of Amiens

The Amiens attack opened on the morning of 8 August 1918, with two British, three Australian, and three Canadian divisions on a twenty-kilometre front. The attack started with the usual artillery bombardment, but then moved forward with tanks and ground-attack aircraft closely supporting the advancing infantry. The Canadians and Australians rolled forward some thirteen kilometres on the first day alone. The attack moved forward for four days, with German resistance stiffening as the assaulting troops moved deeper into the German lines. The strategy of the attack and the tactics used produced a stunning Allied victory, punched a major hole in the German lines, and initiated the last hundred days of the war.

Sir Arthur Currie held the 3rd Canadian Division in reserve on the first day of the Battle of Amiens. When it moved into action, the 7th Brigade remained in divisional reserve. It was the Patricias' job to mop up points of resistance that the assaulting units had bypassed, and to take prisoners. The Patricias then moved up to front-line positions in front of the village of Parvillers late at night on 11 August, and joined the fight the next day. No. 3 Company led an attack on German trenches south of the town, making good progress until slowed by a shortage of grenades. They consolidated in the captured trenches overnight, but were heavily attacked by German troops in the early-morning hours of the thirteenth.

Parvillers was an important crossroads on the reverse slope of a gentle ridge, and the key to an extensive network of German trenches. The Germans badly wanted to keep it. Four days after the initial shock of the opening attack, they were rallying sufficient reserves to hit back hard at any further Canadian advances. At least three companies of the German infantry moved toward the Patricia-held trench, and No. 3 Company was quickly cut off. With German attackers drawing near on two sides, the Patricias had to pull out. As the company retreated down the trench, a platoon found itself in grave danger of being overrun. Platoon Sergeant Robert Spall grabbed a Lewis gun and leaped on to the parapet, pouring pannier after pannier of .303 bullets into the German troops. They went down by the dozens. Spall then jumped back into the trench and led his platoon to the safety of a sap some seventy-five metres from the attackers. He grabbed a second Lewis gun, scrambled on to the parapet again, and again loosed a stream of bullets into the Germans. He held them long enough for the platoon to get away, and then was shot dead. His posthumous Victoria Cross was the third and final VC won by a Patricia in the war.

Spall was only the most conspicuous; however, of the several outstanding Patricias covering the withdrawal from Parvillers. The beleaguered Patricia company straggled back to the main battalion positions, killing many Germans as it did so. But the Canadians were as determined to gain Parvillers as the Germans were to hold it, and the next day, 14 August, the Patricias attacked again, this time with Nos. 1 and 4 Companies moving directly into the middle of town. Once again, the Germans counterattacked. They drove the Patricias back to the western edge of the hamlet, where the line held until nightfall. The next day, a Canadian counter-attack was launched that resulted in the complete capture of the town. There would be no rest for the Germans.

Early November of 1918 found the Patricias in the front line of the Canadian Corps pushing northeast across the French-Belgian border towards the city of Mons, where the BEF had first engaged the German forces in 1914. Now, slightly more than four years later, the German war machine was in shambles with units surrendering en masse and the Navy in full revolt. At Mons; however, the Germans continued to defend with dogged determination launching numerous counter attacks against the advancing Canadians. Despite the defender's best efforts, the Canadians penetrated the outskirts of Mons and, on November 10, the Patricias were relieved by the RCR. No. 4 company; however, elected to remain in the front lines and fought on to within sight of the central railroad station.

That night orders were received to withdraw the men from the front lines and find them billets for the night. The following morning, the Patricias awoke to find that while they had slept the war had ended. They had sailed for England with 1,098 men and in the intervening four years had suffered 4,076 killed, wounded, and missing. During the same period, they had participated in nearly every major battle fought by the BEF and CEF on the western front and been awarded the Victoria Cross as well as 366 other decorations.

The PPCLI Association

After the end of the first World War, many former members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry began forming clubs across Canada and in Britain. These Patricia Clubs grew slowly over the years seeing very large growth in the mid-to late forties as many veterans of the second World War were welcomed into membership. Clubs across the country were all operating autonomously, but with a common interest in the history and current activities of the Regiment. It was not until October 1947, that the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Association was formed. Brigadier Hamilton Gault presided over the founding meeting in Calgary, AB.

The PPCLI Association remains very active today. The Association not only supports its own events and activities, but is also willing to lend assistance to the Regiment whenever and wherever possible. The success and membership of the Association is a testament to the camaraderie that exists within the Regiment that spans from generation to generation.

On 20 March, 1919, the Regiment was selected to form part of Canada's "peace-time" army to be called the Permanent Active Militia, more commonly known as the Permanent Force. The Regiment's headquarters, "A" and "D" Company were located at Fort Osborne Barracks in Winnipeg, Manitoba. "B" Company was located at Esquimalt, British Columbia.

The years between the wars were lean ones for the Canadian Militia, both Permanent and Non-permanent. It was a period of official neglect and ever decreasing establishments. By 1924 the Regiment had been reduced to 209 all ranks. Patricias were concentrated at Sarcee Camp, Alberta, to carry out battalion training on only four occasions during these twenty years.

Each summer the Winnipeg companies went to camp, first to Camp Hughes and later to Camp Shilo to carry out company training. On the west coast, "B" Company trained at Heal's Range and other points on southern Vancouver Island.

Each year the Regiment was called on to provide instructors and to conduct qualifying courses for officers and non-commissioned officers of the Non-permanent Active Militia. Instructors were also provided for contingents of the Canadian Officers Training Corps at the universities of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

• Lieutenant-Colonel F. D. Farquhar, D.S.O.
• Lieutenant-Colonel H. C. Buller, D.S.O.
• Lieutenant-Colonel C. J. T. Stewart, D.C.O.
• Lieut. H. E. Agar.
• Lieut. J. E. Almon.
• Lieut. H. T. Beecroft.
• Lieut. C. F. H. Biddulph.
• Lieut. D. E. Cameron.
• Capt. P. V. Cornish.
• Lieut. R. G. Crawford.
• Lieut. M. S. de Bay.
• Capt. H. S. Dennison.
• Major L. V. Drummond-Hay
• Capt. St. C. Dunn (C.A.M.C.)
• Lieut. E. W. Duval.
• Lieut. F. L. Eardley-Wilmot.
• Lieut. N. A. Edwards.
• Lieut. G. S. Fife.
• Capt. F. Fitzgerald.
• Lieut. N. F. Gammell.
• Lieut. A. E. Goodeve.
• Lieut. C. A. Grant.
• Lieut. D. G. Hagarty.
• Capt. R. L. Haggard.
• Lieut. J. E. Hodgson.
• Lieut. A. H. Horner.
• Major S. L. Jones.
• Lieut. A. J. Knowling.
• Lieut . P. E. Lane.
• Lieut. C. J. Lightbody.
• Lieut. S. Loptson, M.C., M.M.
• Lieut. D. H. Macartney.
• Lieut. J. MacKay.
• Lieut. M. MacKay.
• Lieut. McKenzie V.C. DCM
• Lieut. I. L. McKinnon.
• Lieut. D. MacLean.
• Major J. R. Macpherson, DSO
• Major S. F. A. Martin.
• Lieut. R. D. Millyard.
• Lieut. J. R. Mitchener.
• Capt. P. Molson, M.C.
• Capt. W. H. Morris, M.C.
• Capt. D. O. C. Newton.
• Major T. M. Papineau, M.C.
• Lieut. C. A. Pope.
• Lieut. C. H. Price.
• Lieut. W. T. Ramsay.
• Lieut. J. R. Riddell.
• Lieut. A. J. Robins.
• Lieut. A. G. Rosamond.
• Lieut. R. H. Simonds.
• Lieut. R. L. Sladen.
• Lieut. J.H. Stewart.
• Lieut. G. S. Stratford.
• Major H. E. Sulivan.
• Lieut. W. D. Thomson.
• Lieut. G. Triggs.
• Lieut. A. F. Wagner.
• Lieut. A. A. Wanklyn.
• Major. J. S. Ward.
• Lieut. M. W. Williams
• Lieut. D. A. Wright

A B C D E F G H I J K L Mc M N O P Q R S T U V W Y