Lieutenant-Colonel G. W. Little
Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry
Perth Regiment

My Brigadier, the son of a bitch, is still alive— I’ll kill him.

(G. W. Little on Brig. Gen. J. A. Clark, CBC Interview, 1964)

George Wilfrid Little was born on 1 November 1891 in London, Ontario. A graduate of University of Toronto and Western University, he originally enlisted with 5th University Company as a lieutenant in December 1916 before transferring to the PPCLI on the Western Front. Promoted to captain in August 1917, he became acting commanding officer on 28 September 1918 when all senior ranks had been put out of action.

After Lieutenant-Colonel Charlie Stewart was killed in action on 28 September 1918,. Captain James Edgar had assumed temporary command for a day until Little returned to the unit from instructional duties in England. For his heroic leadership during the battle of Cambrai, Little earned the Military Cross:

After all senior officers became casualties he assumed command of his battalion, and under his leadership a most successful attack was carried out, much ground gained, and severe losses inflicted on the enemy. His accurate appreciation of the situation contributed in a marked degree to the success of the operation.

In the 1960s, when interviewed by CBC for the In Flanders Field radio series, Little continued to bear a grudge against his hated Brigadier General J. A. Clark. When Clark ordered a new attack after the 42nd Battalion was pushed back, Little protested that the plan was impossible. Clark bluntly stated, “Little, then you have a lot of stragglers.” Little recalled, “Well, I hope you can see that saying that to a fellow who was in the PPCLI as I, was exactly like calling a fellow the worst name you can in front of his mother. That infuriated me beyond any sensibility.”

“To hell with him,” Little thought, “We’ll show the bugger that we can still do it even though he killed half of the 42nd.” When, the P.P.C.L.I. launched a new attack on the heavily defended German position, Little stated “they punished us like the devil.”

Little returned to England in October 1918 to take a senior officers’ course and handed command of the PPCLI to Major A.G. Pearson. Little ended the war as acting major and subsequently became an insurance company executive.

Shortly after mobilization in September 1939, Little was appointed to head the Western University contingent of the Canadian Officer Training Corps. In August 1940, he succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel S.H. McComb to become commanding officer of the Perth Regiment, which he led overseas a year later. In May 1942, he relinquished command to Major R.L. Tindall on appointment to be colonel of an armoured reinforcement unit in England. He retired from the army at the end of the war in Europe and returned home.

He died in London, Ontario on 9 August 1962.