Major Harry Hatch, D.S.O.
19th (Central Ontario) Battalion

Major Hatch has never once been known to show the slightest concern for shells or bullets. He seems almost to have possessed a charmed life, for he would spend hours walking around the front line in any sector…

(Toronto Star, 22 May 1919, 8)

A native of Toronto, Harry Cecil Hatch was born on 5 September 1891. His father, Colonel Arthur Hatch was a leading industrialist in Hamilton and president of the Canadian Manufacturers’ Association. The younger Hatch was graduate from Queen’s University and enlisted with Lieutenant Colonel 19th Battalion.

He received a promotion to captain in France and became acting second-in-command under Lieutenant Colonel Lionel H. Millen in late 1916. Hatch assumed command of the 19th from February to June 1918 while Millen was on leave in Canada to care for his ailing wife.

 Noted for his conspicuous bravery and “sympathetic ear,” Hatch stayed with the battalion throughout the war and received the Distinguished Service Order. After the war, he returned to a manufacturing career in Hamilton and was commanding officer of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders from 1924 to 1926.

He retired as president of the Stanley Steel Company in 1959. He died in Hamilton on 9 March 1960.