Brigadier Jock Spragge
Queen’s Own Rifles
7th Infantry Brigade

Then I saw it was the Colonel. I gave him plain hell … I told him he should be back at Battalion HQ, not up at the front with us—the last line between our forces and the enemy. He was too good and too necessary to be killed or wounded … [he] said ‘Charlie, it’s such a sad day. We’ve lost so many good me.’ He said goodnight and turned away, but not before I saw the tears in his eyes. Jock Spragge was all man. He was not one of the spit’n’polish professional types, but as a fighter he was the best.

(C.C. Martin, Battle Diary, 15-16)

Born on 20 May 1907 in Ottawa, John Godfrey Spragge was a sportsman, former Toronto banker, industrialist, and businessman in London, Ontario. He had joined the Queen’s Own Rifles as a private in 1925 and took a commission a year later. He returned to Toronto with the outbreak of the war when the regiment mobilized for active service. Before the QOR went overseas in July 1941, Spragge became second-in-command and succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Mackendrick in April 1942.

Even before going into action, his leadership was rewarded with the Order of the British Empire: “This officer has proved his ability by the general improvement shown by his battalion since he assumed command. He has at all times set an excellent example to all ranks, and his energy and leadership have helped greatly to maintain the good traditions of his regiment, the standard of which can be judged by the number of officers who have been chosen for staff appointments and the number of other ranks who have been selected for Officer Cadet training.”

Spragge landed with the battalion on D-Day and earned the Distinguished Service Order for directing the assault in heavy fighting to come in Normandy:

Throughout the first day’s fighting and in this subsequent action, Lieutenant-Colonel Spragge displayed marked courage, coolness and determination, and by his leadership ensured the successful carrying out of the tasks given to his battalion. His actions throughout were an example to all ranks.

When his mother asked for details of the citation, “he wrote back and said he didn’t know why he got it at all, that it was all due to the regiment.” In late August 1944, Spragge was promoted to brigadier of the 7th Infantry Brigade. “Mr. Queen’s Own” passed command to Major Steve Lett. After the campaigns out of Normandy and into the Low Countries, General Guy Simonds decided to remove him in February 1945, suspecting Spragge to be suffering from the strain of battle exhaustion. He ended the war in command of No. 2 Base Reinforcement Group from May to October 1945.

In 1947, he was named comptroller of the Ontario Liquor Control Board in 1947 and became the board’s chief administrator and chairman in 1950.

He died in Columbus, Ontario on 1 July 1978.