3PPCLI History

After the First World War, a detached rifle company was based in Work Point Barracks at Esquimalt, British Columbia, while battalion HQ and a second rifle company were stationed in Winnipeg at Fort Osborne Barracks. In 1939, the Regiment was brought back to full strength and sailed to England three and a half months after the declaration of the Second World War. The Regiment was sent to Sicily in August 1943 with the First Canadian Division, and then moved up into Italy. From then until March 1945 the unit fought with the allied army (Canadian, British and American) up the spine of Italy. In March 1945 the Regiment moved with the Division to Holland to rejoin the First Canadian Army. The next two months involved taking part in the liberation of the Netherlands. On May 7, 1945, the PPCLI were the first Allied soldiers to enter Amsterdam. The Regiment ended the war having won 20 Battle Honours, at the cost of 268 killed and 1,066 wounded. Once the Battalion returned to Canada in November of 1945, a majority of the wartime veterans were released from service and the remaining soldiers joined the 2nd Battalion of the regiment that had just been formed for service in the Pacific. This Battalion was incorporated into the new post-war army and dropped the 2nd Battalion designation and became the PPCLI. With this reorganization complete, the Battalion then moved from Camp MacDonald in Manitoba to Currie Barracks in Calgary on June 10, 1946.

In 1950 the Regiment gained a Second and Third Battalion. In April 1951, 2 PPCLI, with Australian and American units, held back a major Chinese offensive that had pushed through the UN lines and was heading for Seoul. The Regiment earned two additional Battle Honours in Korea. The Third Battalion was disbanded in 1954 after serving as part of the 25th Canadian Infantry Brigade during the Korean Conflict.

In 1970 the First Battalion of The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada was rebadged to reform the Third Battalion of the PPCLI. In 1993 The Third Battalion was converted to a 10/90 Total Force Battalion. In 1996 the Third Battalion was reactivated as a regular force Light Infantry Battalion.

Some of the recent domestic operations in which 3 PPCLI has participated include:

• Operation ASSISTANCE, the CF’s support to Manitoba’s Red River flood in 1997;
• Operation RECUPERATION, the CF’s support to ice storms in 1998;
• Operation MOLUSC, the CF’s support to the B.C. government's fireighting efforts in 1998; and
• Operation PEREGRINE, the CF’s support to the B.C. government’s firefighting efforts in 2003.

The Battalion’s recent major international operations include:

• Operation PALLADIUM, Roto 3, Bosnia, (August 1998 to January 1999).
• Operation PALLADIUM, Roto 6, Bosnia, (February 2000 to September 2000).
• Operation APOLLO, Afghanistan, (January 2002 to July 2002).
• Operation ATHENA Roto 2, Afghanistan, (August 2004 to February 2005).
• Operation ARCHER, Afghanistan, (July 2005 to present).