PPCLI mourns Lady Patricia, longtime colonel-in-chief
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/06/2017 (3212 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
CFB Shilo’s Second Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry soldiers are mourning the loss of their former colonel-in-chief Patricia Mountbatten, who died on Tuesday at the age of 93.
The Countess Mountbatten of Burma was the second colonel-in-chief of the regiment, appointed in 1974 until she relinquished her appointment in 2007 to the Honourable Adrienne Clarkson.
Lady Patricia, as she became known, was very active throughout her years as Colonel-in-Chief, even keeping in touch with the regiment post-retirement, said Capt. Chuck Pitkin with 2PPCLI.
“She was very active in visiting our battalions while deployed on operations, as well as coming to Canada to visit them and steer them, if you will, in a good direction,” Pitkin said. “She was with us for so long and so involved with the regiment that we still maintained contact with her post-retirement … through Madame Clarkson — she would often send us cards, letters, well wishes even into her later years.”
Mountbatten earned respect from the soldiers with ease, due to her dedication and sense of humour.
She regularly visited the regiment at military bases across Canada, following the unit when they deployed overseas, camping out in whatever sort of shelter was available. She accompanied the regiment during deployments in Cyprus, Germany, Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, Pitkin said.
Mountbatten also survived an IRA bomb hidden on her family boat as they vacationed off the coast of Sligo, Ireland, in 1979.
Her father, Earl Mountbatten, her 14-year-old son Nicholas Knatchbull and her mother-in-law, the Dowager Lady Brabourne, all died in the attack.
She was pulled from the water requiring 120 stitches to her face, which she referred to in later years as her “IRA facelift.”
“I first met Lady Patricia when she visited the battalionwhile we were deployed in Croatia in 1993,” Maj.-Gen.Wayne Eyre, the senior serving Patricia, said in a statement. “I was impressed by the way she spoke with the soldiers — chatting and exchanging jokes. Although I was a young subaltern at the time, she set an example that I have always tried to emulate.”
In their mourning, the battalion has found comfort in an unlikely coincidence — two 2PPCLI soldiers are currently performing public duties in London and will be representing the regiment at Mountbatten’s funeral, Pitkin said.
“Certainly it’s a sad day for the regiment … we’re focusing on a celebration of life and remembering the great things that she did for the regiment …Everybody is remembering the good work that she did both in Canada and the U.K.,” Pitkin said. “It’s certainly important for us to have our soldiers there to represent the regiment.”
» edebooy@brandonsun.com
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