Canadian Army Post-War

In 1946, the “Interim Force” was gradually abolished in order to reconstitute the Canadian Army Active Force. Once the wartime battalion was stood down, the “Second Battalion” prefix was dropped.

The Regiment moved from Camp Shilo to Camp MacDonald, MB in January 1946.

The arrival of the Patricias in Calgary, AB on 10 June 1947 and the establishment of Currie Barracks as the new “home station” of the Regiment marked the commencement of a productive period in the history of the Regiment.

In 1948, in order to meet the requirements of a rapidly changing world situation, the government decided to convert the Regular Army brigade to an Airborne Mobile Striking Force. In August, the Vice-Chief of the General Staff visited the Patricias, the first unit selected to convert to parachute duty, to seek volunteers. “The response was no mere proportion of the unit: it was complete 100 percent”, with every officer, NCO and soldier volunteering.

The transition was eased by the fact that many Patricias had already served during the Second World War with the First Canadian Parachute Battalion, and by the spring of 1949 training was complete; establishing PPCLI as Canada’s first peacetime parachute battalion.