The Patricias: The Proud History of a Fighting Regiment

J.L. Granatstein, Distinguished Research Professor of History Emeritus,
York University, served as Director of the Canadian War Museum from 1998
to 2000. He is the author of Who Killed Canadian History? and co-author
of The Canadian 100: The 100 Most Infl

Regiments are like families. The soldiers live together, fight together,
and sometimes die together, and when that happens, the “relatives”
rally round to ensure that the families are looked after. Canadians had
a sense of how the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry looked
after their own when the “friendly fire” incident in Afghanistan
killed and wounded a dozen of the regiment’s 3rd Battalion. Part of
this history is their determination to live up to the record of those
who served before. Formed in 1914, the PPCLI earned a splendid record in
the trenches. Then the regiment became a Permanent Force unit between
the wars, served with great distinction in World War II and in Korea,
and has carried out innumerable peacekeeping stints.

David Bercuson’s regimental history is worthy of the PPCLI. The
regiment has a vast archive, all but untouched before this book, and
Bercuson has interviewed dozens of its past and serving soldiers. The
result is praiseworthy—but it is not all praise. Bercuson tells the
truth, noting the triumphs and the flaws in command and performance, but
all the while treating the regiment fully, fairly, and in the context of
army and Canadian history. This is a first-rate regimental history, one
of the three or four best that we have.