Lieutenant General Richard Turner, V.C.
2nd Canadian Division
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.
World War Graphic History 