Introduction
This is the last quarterly update assembled by Vince Kennedy to go to the RHQ controlled Regimental Senate lists, serving and retired. COR Ray Romses will assume his communications when he arrives back in Canada in early May 2023. Please make it known if you find other Senate members who do not get these updates. Please get their contact info (e-mail especially) and notify RHQ
at rhqppcli@forces.gc.ca. Points of Reportage
1. The COR Conundrum. As most know, acquiring the appointment scroll for Ray Romses had been first missed entirely and then delayed with the scroll in the Minister’s office. Army agreed that Vince Kennedy should continue to act as the COR, though the system would not allow expenditures of public funds for him. Once the Minister signed the appointment scroll with effect from 14 November, Ray Romses was the COR and the system was able then to spend money as and if needed. Ray and his wife Carol had long ago booked a world cruise starting 22 December 2022 to celebrate their 40 years of marriage – and hence Ray asked Vince to continue to monitor the duties of COR while the Romses were out of country. Ray will return to Canada on 9 May and will be attending the Association’s AGM at Niagara-on-the- Lake in May. A change of appointment of CORs will occur in June as an adjunct to the Change of Command of 1 PPCLI.
2. Continuance from Governance Meetings. There is staff work now pouring into the 110th Anniversary plan – which will be modest by policy yet fun for the Patricia family. The Volume VI of the Regimental history should be available for promotion and sales. A regional approach to marking the 110th is presently leading as the method for the celebration of the first decade after the 100th. An outline of the possible event list should be available at the Association’s AGM. Once the format and ideas are taste-tested by all of the regimental entities, the system will get organizing the detail.
3. The Patrician 2022. For 2022, the articles of historical interest and specific remembrance are in and the team at RHQ are busy at creating this next edition. The past editions are a valuable source of info – you need only go to the Patrician page on www.ppcli.com, select a year from the list of all the publication years, and when that edition opens, there is a search box and you can quickly search any name or item for that year.
4. The Broad Issues at Defence. While the war in Ukraine continues, DND is pulled in many directions including many that have nothing to do with that effort –
but are also particularly important. Equipment priorities, only essential tasks being accommodated, re-peopling the CAF – are all needed. DND awaits the next federal budget and will look for the needed resources and long-term growth in the lines of that.
5. 70th Anniversary of the Korean Armistice. The preparation for a signature event in 2023 to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the signing of the Armistice Agreement and the 60th Anniversary of diplomatic relations continues. Terry Loveridge, Vice President of the Association, is acting on the Regiment’s behalf in terms of this project. Recently we have agreed on a gift for display in the orientation hut on the trail.
6. C-in-C News. Madame Adrienne and husband will be in France in February. She intends to talk with each of the deployed commanders in UK, Latvia, Iraq and Poland by telephone during the month – short calls to check on the state of play and morale. She turns a youthful 84 on 10 February.
Major Activities 7. HGMF:
a. The PPCLI Foundation and the HGMF Presidents have signed the agreement that commits both entities to join into a single charitable entity. That agreement is on hold while we await the completion of an accounting audit that is currently underway at the Foundation. In the meantime, the HGMF has developed a new and improved set of charitable purposes and activities that will advance the purposefulness of the HGMF. These have been informally shared with the CRA Charities Directorate to solicit feedback before formal adoption. The objectives will be discussed in the Niagara-on- the-Lake meetings, where the AGMs of both the HGMF and the Association will be held 12-14 May 2023.
b. The HGMF has donated $20K to St. Bartholomew’s Church to assist with the restoration of the Memorial Window. The remaining $5K of the HGMF commitment to this project will be presented at a suitable occasion in the coming months. The HGMF has also committed to making a small annual donation to the Friends of Mersham Church to assist with the upkeep of the memorial plaques in the Brabourne/Knatchbull chapel dedicated to Lady Patricia and her husband, Lord John Brabourne.
8. PPCLI Regimental History. Volume VI of the Regiment’s history is progressing very well, with a few minor exceptions. Draft Two is complete and has been reviewed by the REB. While there is still work to be done with the production of maps and some photos, the Board is very pleased with the draft that reflects very well our history from 1958-2000.
a. Bob Stewart and Ray Crabbe met with the author, Rob Engen, in Calgary for two days at the Regimental Museum and resolved several issues related to the history. This was a prelude to the author completing the Final Draft of the volume for the Regimental Editorial Board’s review. The REB will have the draft for review by 31 Jan 2023 and will have completed our review by 15 March. There is allocated another 6 weeks to put the finishing touches on the draft, at which time the publication phase will begin. RHQ is looking at selecting a publisher. The REB will continue to assist with the Volume by continuing its reviews and be a ‘sounding board’ for the publisher. Of particular importance will be to ensure maps and photos line up with the text to facilitate reading the book. The REB have been successful with a few exceptions of determining full captions for all photos and maps and other inserts.
b. All the ‘non-text’ portions of the book were completed except the comments from the Knatchbull family – Ray now has the latter and will get those completed within a few weeks.
c. The REB is on target to have the book, in all respects, complete and ready for print by 1 Dec 2023.
d. During the research for the book, it has become evident that there is a need to look critically at how the Regiment is recording major events and activities that should be part of our history and ‘story telling’. To this end, the REB has prepared a draft instruction that will be finalized over the next weeks and forwarded to the Guard for consideration. The key is to, of course, record the events in a way that not only captures the essence of the events, but that provides a solid basis for future volumes of our history. “Colonel John Joly was a leader in producing this instruction, and he will be sorely missed for this and as an active member of the REB, for his in-depth knowledge of our history. May be rest in peace.” – Ray Crabbe
9. Italian Campaign Tour, 16-31 May 2024. Planning continues and is well into the advanced stages. The upper limit is 80 pers (two buses),and the programme for cadets is moving ahead (14 seats). Three historians will be embarked as well as
two STI guides – leaving about 60 seats for the rest of the Regimental family. The recce completed by Paul Hale has been excellent in keeping the balance between military battlefields and cemeteries, local community engagements with memorials, and relax time savouring Italy’s charms. Reservations (or at least recorded expressions of interest) will open during the Association’s AGM and the HGMF’s AGM (HGMF is the sponsor of the Tour), both this year at Niagara-on-the-Lake where the tour will be briefed.
10. PPCLI Association:
a. Planning is well underway for the AGM which will be held in Niagara- on-the-Lake 12-14 May. As this is our first in-person AGM in four years, we are hoping for a good turnout, particularly from our Eastern-based members and serving members based in Ontario. Registration is now open. Registration instructions are available from Branch Presidents as well as on the Assn Facebook site.
b. The Association is actively searching for members willing to join the Board of Directors. Ted Giraldeau’s term as President is ending and a new President will be needed. Anyone interested in any role on the Board of Directors should contact Paul Hale, Past President and Chair of the Nominating Committee.
c. As COVID restrictions are lifted, most Branches are returning to their regular in-person activities and meetings. Some of these activities were reported on in the recently distributed newsletter. A Spring Newsletter will be published in April as well as an AGM bulletin covering the business, related supporting documents pertaining to elections, budget and by-law amendments.
11. PPCLI Foundation. The Foundation awaits the accountants in establishing the now dormant financial situation of the Foundation.
12. The Regiment on Operations and Training: 1 PPCLI
a. During the month of October 1 PPCLI leadership participated in Exercise VIGILANT RAM, 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group’s (1 CMBG) annual Computer-Assisted Exercise (CAX). 1 PPCLI was successfully validated at Level 6.
b. On November 11th the Remembrance Day celebration for 1 PPCLI occurred at Patricia Park, in Griesbach Edmonton. On the 15th was the Soldiers’ Appreciation (Christmas) Dinner. Described by the CO, LCol C.M.G. Higgins, as a “Petit Noël” – done this early as the eFP Latvia team was starting to deploy.
c. On 25 November the eFP BG Advance Party gathered at 1 PPCLI. The Brigade Commander, Col R.P. Bourque, and Brigade Sergeant Major, CWO R.J. Clarke, addressed the team offering words of encouragement for a safe and successful tour. On 3 December, the deploying chalk was waved away by the Latvian Ambassador to Canada, H.E. Kaspars Ozoliņš, who stated that the mere presence of Canadian soldiers in Latvia allows Latvians to feel safe and protected. Deployment was completed in December, and redeployment is likely to be in the summer.
2 PPCLI
a. With the growing excitement of the Winter Holiday Season, 2 PPCLI saw the return of troops from the eFP Latvia contingent from OP REASSURANCE. The battalion looked back on all the training conducted in the previous year – KAPYONG SPADE and URBAN COWBOY chief amongst them. URBAN COWBOY started off with basic gunfighter skills and then quickly transitioned to live ranges over 5 days. During this time, soldiers had the opportunity to practice basic skills, fire and movement, and barricade shoots.
b. Concurrent to URBAN COWBOY, 2 PPCLI was getting ready to deploy yet again to OP UNIFIER in the UK. The plan for the deployment is just in its beginning phase.
c. An excellent tour was wrapped up for the 2 PPCLI eFP BG contingent. Well done the Second-to-None.
3 PPCLI
a. 3 PPCLI continued to support Bravo Company soldiers currently deployed on Op UNIFIER in the United Kingdom, as they trained Ukraine soldiers to fight in the defence of their country. The battalion is ready to deploy more soldiers in support of the training mission with 2 PPCLI who are deploying in February of 2023.
b. Domestically, the battalion deployed to Wainwright and also completed courses to include the Basic Machine Gunner course and a Basic Parachutist course. Alpha Company took part in Menton Week at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, US, and prepared for deployment to Joint Pacific Multi-National Readiness Centre in Alaska, US. Charlie Company conducted urban operations training and prepared to deploy soldiers to Georgia, US for two separate tasks; supporting a CANSOFCOM exercise and training soldiers on the US Army Air Assault course.
Conclusion
13. The Regiment is remarkably busy, fully committed to training, readiness, and operations, simultaneously. This is a disparate mixture of important tasks and a web of responsibilities for every soldier and leader.
14. I thank everyone who has sent along by various means their warm words on my and Wendy’s service to the Regiment. It is generous of you, and in truth I can only reflect on the hundreds of Patricias and their families who everyday are giving their best for Canada’s best infantry regiment, as it has been from August 1914 to today. We were happy to serve and will not be gone completely. Keep going, the future’s going to test us all.
VP
Vince Kennedy BGen (Ret’d) Past COR PPCLI
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