Lieutenant Colonel Harry Genet
58th (Central Ontario) Battalion

Is it too much to expect that our fellow-citizens, now living in Canada in comfort and security, purchased by the blood of their brothers here in France, will sin all differences, political or otherwise, and unite in the common cause of our Empire and make one great effort to support and reinforce their army in the field?

(Col. Genet, Toronto Globe, 17 Dec 1917, 3)

Born on 20 February 1864 in London, England, Harry Augustus Genet had served for five years in the 2nd Middlesex Regiment before immigrating to Canada. He worked for the Adams Wagon Works in Brantford and joined the 38th (Dufferin) Rifles. After Lieutenant Colonel F. A. Howard left with the First Contingent in 1914, Genet assumed command of the 38th regiment. In April 1915, he was authorized to raise the 58th Battalion from central Ontario, Toronto and Hamilton. Continue reading →