Lieutenant Colonel G. F. Morrison, D.S.O.
19th and 18th Battalions

It is presumed by the police that Morrison lay down on the chesterfield, and pressing the gun against his left breast, pulled the trigger. The bullet passed through the body below the heart and went out through the back lodging in the chesterfield. Examination of the army automatic found on the floor showed the only other bullet had jammed in the ejector.

(Toronto Globe, 14 Jul 1931, 11)

Major Gordon Fraser Morrison led the 19th Battalion through the first stage of the battle of the Somme in summer until commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel W. R. Turnbull recovered. On 9 October 1916, Morrison transferred to take command of the 18th when Henry L. Milligan returned to Canada following the death of his wife. Born in Toronto on 16 October 1884, Morrison was a member of the Queen’s Own Rifles, a mining executive and stockbroker with Pellet & Pellet. His grandfather, Angus Morrison had been mayor of Toronto in the 1870s.

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