Author: Matthew K Barrett

The Scout Master

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Lieutenant Colonel J.A. Hesketh
Lord Strathcona’s Horse

Among the citizens of Winnipeg, such men as Col. Hesketh is deserving of special praise and honor for his interest in our boys. His objective was not to teach them war, nor turn their thoughts in enmity towards any people. But he was one of the men who taught them the national need of rigid adherence to paths of duty.

(Winnipeg Tribune, 3 May 1921, 4)

Born in Aldershot, England on 20 November 1863, James Arthur Hesketh was a graduate of the Royal Military College and a Canadian Pacific Railway engineer in Winnipeg. He was a early leader of the Boy Scout movement and helped to organize the first scout council in Manitoba. With over thirty years in the Canadian militia and as commander of the Corps of Guides, Major Hesketh went to overseas with Lord Strathcona’s Horse in October 1914.

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Brig. Gen. MacBrien

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Brigadier General James H. MacBrien
12th Canadian Infantry Brigade

The ending of war involves the most fundamental modification of the whole structure of society, and can only be brought about by a reversal of the general method of human life and the general method of nature which up to this time has been manifested in the survival of the fittest. I think that until we see a complete change of heart in human society we should prepare our sons to fight and quickly organize that they may have as chance of success. The league of nations as a means of definitely preventing war is about as likely to succeed as a proposal to abolish hunger and death.

(Maj. Gen. MacBrien in the Weekly Albertan, 1 Dec 1920, 2)

Born in Myrtle, Ontario on 30 June 1878, James Howden MacBrien was a North-West Mount Police constable when he joined the South African Constabulary during the Boer War. A few years after he returned to Canada, he was commissioned in the Royal Canadian Dragoons in 1910. In September 1914, he joined the 1st Canadian Division headquarters as a staff officer at the rank of lieutenant colonel. Two years later he replaced Lord Brooke in command of the 12th Infantry Brigade.

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Lt. Col. W.H. Bell

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Lieutenant Colonel Walker Bell, D.S.O.
3rd (Light) Tank Battalion

Bvt. Lt.-Colonel W.H. Bell is an able officer of sound judgement with decided personality and character. His knowledge of the application of tactical principles is sound as also are his views on matters connected with the training and administration of a Cavalry Regiment. In my opinion he is up to the standard of officers attending this school.

(Senior Officer School confidential report, 16 Aug 1924)

Walker Hardenbrook Bell was a Boer War veteran and Permanent Force member since 1906 when he was commissioned in the Royal Canadian Dragoons. He was born in St. John, New Brunswick on 28 December 1881. He served as second-in-command of the R.C.D. from July 1916 until January 1918, when he transferred to the British Army Tank Corps. His war service anticipated the eventual replacement of traditional cavalry with modern armour.

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The Blue Bomber

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Lieutenant Colonel R.L. Denison
1st Canadian Tank Battalion
DenisonRL

He is very weak & debilitated. He suffers from insomnia & shock. The Board is of opinion that he will not be fit for any Service at home or even light-duty for nine months, & as he is a native of Canada he should be permitted to proceed home. He has also six bullet wounds in the left leg and four in the right

(Proceedings of Medical Board, 22 May 1915)

Born on 23 March 1889 in Minnedosa, Manitoba, Richard Lippincott Denison was a Winnipeg insurance manager and sportsman when commissioned as a lieutenant with the 8th Battalion in August 1914. He was put out of action when badly shot up and concussed in France in May 1915. Suffering from multiple bullet and shrapnel wounds as well as likely shell shock, he was found unfit for any duty and returned home. Six months later he enlisted as a major with the 90th Battalion.

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Lt. Col. Mills

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Lieutenant Colonel J.E. Mills, D.S.O.
1st Canadian Tank Battalion
Mills

It was while on this reorganization work that our O.C. conceived the idea of the Canadian Tank Corps. He is the father of the First Canadian Tank Battalion, and had it not been for the sudden cessation of hostilities, his claim that Canada could distinguish itself in the tank-field would have been justified.

(The Tank Tatler, Vol. 1, No. 4, 1919, 4)

By the end of the Great War, John Edgar Mills had been an artilleryman, staff officer, air force observer, gunnery school commandant, and tank battalion commander. He was born in Brantford, Ontario on 3 November 1878. Commissioned with the Permanent Force since 1903, he was an expert in artillery and chief gunnery instructor with the First Contingent. He served on the staff of the 1st Division and was attached to the Royal Flying Corps before transferring to the Royal Field Artillery as part of the Gallipoli campaign.

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Maj. Gen. MacDougall

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Major General J.C. MacDougall
Canadian Training Division
MacdougallJC

General MacDougall has, also, been very nasty with General Steele, as well as with General Carson … he puffed himself out and became most offensive until, as I once told you, I gave him to understand I would recall him promptly. I had a large gathering of senior Officers at Shorncliffe yesterday, some two or three hundred, and told them frankly and kindly that all this sort of rivalry and “monkeying” must cease.

  (Sam Hughes to Robert Borden, 24 Mar 1916)

Born in Toronto on 16 July 1863, James Charles MacDougall was a Royal Military College graduate, Boer War veteran, former commanding officer of the Royal Canadian Regiment, and a professional soldier for over thirty-years in the Permanent Force. Left behind when the 1st Canadian Division went to France in February 1915, MacDougall was placed in command of all Canadian troops in the United Kingdom.

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Maj. Gen. Steele

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Major General Sir Sam Steele
2nd Canadian Division
Steeke

Climbed the high hill to where the 19th, 20th [Bns.] and engineers were busy digging trenches and completing them. They are doing very well indeed, all hands working with a will, but I thought what an awful thing it is to be obliged to do this for the sake of our freedom, and to enable us to kill other men.

(Gen. Steele diary, 1 July 1915)

Born on 5 January 1848 in Medonte Township, Upper Canada, Samuel Benfield Steele was among the first officers of the North-West Mounted Police and the first commanding officer of the Lord Strathcona’s Horse in the Boer War. His leadership during the Klondike Gold Rush and his memoirs contributed to linking his name with the iconic image of the Mountie. As Canada’s most famous policeman and soldier, Steele received an appointment to command the 2nd Canadian Division in May 1915.

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Lt. Col. Pragnell

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Lieutenant Colonel G.S. Pragnell, D.S.O
1st Reserve Battalion

This officer does not complain of feeling of exhaustion he had when last boarded. He has been playing golf and can do 18 holes without feeling over tired. Has no feeling of nervousness as complained of in last board.

  (Proceedings of a Medical Board, 12 Feb 1918)

Born on 22 November 1880 in Hythe, England, George Seabrook Thomas Pragnell was a British Army officer and Boer War veteran who immigrated to Kamloops, British Columbia in 1908. He joined the 31st B.C. Horse under fellow British officer Lieutenant Colonel Charles Flick. Pragnall joined the 5th Battalion as a major when it deployed to France. In the confusion of the Second Battle of Ypres, he was mistakenly reported killed in action.

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Lt. Gen. Turner

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Lieutenant General Richard Turner, V.C.
2nd Canadian Division
Turner2

We are all very tired from days and nights of endless strain – with no sleep. I had men killed by enemy fire actually at the door of the house where my H.Q.’s was-to get to the Signal Dug Out-we knocked a hole in one side of the house, as it was too dangerous to pass outside.

  (Gen. Turner diary, 3 May 1915)

On 7 November 1900, Richard Ernest William Turner drove off an attack by Boer fighters near the Komati River. For his gallantry that day he was one of three Canadians to earn the Victoria Cross. Born in Quebec on 25 July 1871, Turner was the son of a Quebec politician and businessman. After his return from South Africa, Turner remained active in the Canadian militia until moving to the reserve list in 1912. At the outbreak of the Great War, he was recalled to service and appointed brigadier general.

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The Scapegoat

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Major H. LeRoy Shaw
87th (Grenadier Guards) BattalionShawHL

Major Shaw said that he was going overseas because he had no ties or obligations to hold him back, and that his spirit was only the same as many of his friends, and of many with whom he was not acquainted. With them, he said, it was a question of where their home and family duties ended and duty to their country began. 

(Maj. Shaw speech, Montreal Gazette, 14 Feb 1916, 14)

Born on 28 June 1878 in Prince Edward Island, Harold LeRoy Shaw was manager of the Montreal Imperial Life Assurance Company when he joined the 87th Battalion in September 1915. He went to France as a company commander in August 1916. He served as acting battalion commander between March and May 1917, and led the 87th through the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

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