Great Gunners
Home of the great Canadian gunners who contributed to the glory of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery.
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Lieutenant-General WAB Anderson OBE CD (1915-2000)
A member of one of Canada’s most distinguished military families, Lieutenant-General William Alexander Beaumont Anderson was born in Montreal. His father, the late Major-General W.B. Anderson, CMG, DSO of Ottawa, was a former Commander of Military District No. 3; an uncle, Major-General T.V. Anderson, DSO, was Chief of the General Staff at the outbreak of the Second World War and a second uncle, Colonel A.A. Anderson, DSO, was second-in-command of the Royal Canadian Signals Training Centre, Kingston during World War II.He received his education at Rothsay Collegiate School, Saint John, New Brunswick where his interest in the military became evident; he joined the Frontenac Regiment at age 13 and entered Royal Military College in 1932. During his college years, he spent two summers training with the Royal Canadian Navy, the first as a Cadet at HMCS Stadacona and the next afloat aboard HMCS Saguenay. Graduating in 1936 and commissioned a Lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, he was subsequently placed on leave to attend Queen’s University. He then served with “A” Battery in Kingston and “C” Battery in Winnipeg. In 1939 he attended the Artillery Staff Course and was completing the latter portions of this training when the Second World War broke out.
On mobilization, he was appointed Adjutant of 3rd Field Regiment and went overseas in December 1939. The following May he was appointed Staff Captain, Royal Artillery at the 1st Division Artillery Headquarters and led the advance party on the abortive trip to Brest, France in June 1940.
Several staff appointments at Canadian Military Headquarters, London, followed, as well as attendance at the Camberley Staff College in 1941. He was given command of 15 Field Regiment in 1943. Relinquishing command in May 1944, he served as General Staff Officer, Grade One (Operations) at Headquarters First Canadian Army until his return to Canada in February 1945 for assignment to the Pacific Force (6 Canadian Division) as Deputy Commander, Royal Artillery. The Pacific Force was disbanded before he could take up his appointment.
Promoted Colonel in 1946, he was appointed Director of Military Intelligence, subsequently attending the National Defence College in 1949 and his appointment as Director of the Canadian Army Staff College. Later, in the rank of Brigadier, he commanded Western Ontario Area and 1 Canadian Infantry Brigade Group in Germany. In 1956 he attended the Imperial War College and during the years 1957 to 1962 held the successive appointments of Vice Adjutant General, Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Commandant of the Royal Military College.
In January 1962 he was promoted Major-General and appointed Adjutant-General, a position he held until the army reorganization of 1964. He then chaired the study group tasked to produce a career management plan for officers and, in October 1965 was appointed Deputy Chief of Reserves. In July 1966, he was promoted to Lieutenant-General and given command of Canada’s army, Mobile Command.
Lieutenant-General Anderson was awarded the Order of the British Empire, the Order of Leopold, Order of the Crown with Palm and Croix de Guerre (Belgium) and was Mentioned-in-Dispatches in 1944.
On retirement to pension in 1969 he joined the Ontario Civil Service as a Deputy Minister. His appointments included Chairman of the Ontario Civil Service Commission and Secretary to the Management Board of the Ontario Cabinet. He later served as Vice Chairman of the Ontario Inflation Restraint Board.
Active in his community, Lieutenant-General Anderson was past President of the Royal Life Saving Society of Canada, served as a member of the Advisory Council of the Niagara Institute and as honorary governor of the National Ballet of Canada.In September 1986 Lieutenant General Anderson accepted the appointment of Colonel Commandant, The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery. He relinquished this appointment in 1992 after six additional years distinguished service to the Royal Regiment.
With more than forty-five years of service and rising from the ranks to command Canada’s army, Lieutenant-General Anderson has made a significant contribution to his country and his Regiment.
Lieutenant-General Anderson passed away in Ottawa in 2000.
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Major-General H.O.N. Brownfield CBE MC CD (1894-1958)
One of The Royal Regiment’s brilliant technical proponents, Major-General Harold Oswald Neville Brownfield was born at Englewood, New Jersey, in December 1894, was educated in Kingston, Ontario, and subsequently attended the Royal Military College. On graduation in 1910, he was employed as an instructor with The Royal Canadian Horse Artillery and The Royal School of Artillery in Kingston.As a Lieutenant he served in France from 1916 until the armistice and was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry. His coolness and courage in directing the care of the wounded while under a heavy high explosive and gas barrage, as well as his maintenance of an observation post while under constant machine gun fire were noted in his citation. “Brownie”, as he was affectionately known, was mentioned frequently for his skill and courage when it really mattered.
After serving in Kingston and Winnipeg, he was nominated to attend the Imperial Staff College and on graduation in 1934 was appointed Professor of Tactics at the Royal Military College. At the outbreak of the Second World War he was a General Staff Officer at Military District Number 7 in Saint John, New Brunswick. He proceeded overseas as Brigade Major, Royal Artillery, 1st Canadian Infantry Division. Promotion soon followed and with it the appointment to command the 8th Field Regiment.
Due to his proven abilities and his experience overseas, he was returned to Canada in 1940 and was promoted to fill the Commander, Royal Artillery appointment in the newly formed 3rd Division. The following summer he sailed with the Division for the United Kingdom.
In November 1941, he was appointed Commander Corps, Royal Artillery at 1st Canadian Corps and served both in England and in Italy before assuming the appointment of Brigadier, Royal Artillery of the First Canadian Army from November 1943 until January 1945. In the latter stages of the war he commanded “C” Group, the artillery component of the Canadian Reinforcement Units in the United Kingdom. His work in coordinating all artillery matters was widely acclaimed. His dedication, efficiency and forceful, positive personality, became his hallmark. Among his many achievements were the conception and establishment of the Canadian Army School of Artillery (Overseas), the development and fielding of the Land Service Mattress (1 Canadian Rocket Battery) and the training of the artillery units supporting Operation OVERLORD. His work was recognized in his appointment to the grade of Commander of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
On return to Canada in 1945 he commanded Prairie Command; one year later he was appointed Commander Canadian Joint Staff in Washington and promoted to Major-General. He retired to pension in 1947.
Major-General Brownfield honoured The Royal Regiment by accepting the position of Colonel Commandant in 1948; he served The Royal Regiment in this capacity for ten years. During his tenure he visited most Canadian Gunner units, making frequent gifts of Regimental plate and trophies. It was said that he knew more Canadian gunners than any other artillery officer.
His long career was characterized by professionalism, innovative ideas and a genuine feeling for the men of The Royal Regiment. In large measure he is responsible for the accomplishments of Canada’s modern gunners.
Major-General Brownfield died at Brockville, Ontario, on 8 July 1958
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Lieutenant Colonel Norman Bruce (Ike) Buchanan, MC with 2 Bars, ED (1915-2008)
Lieutenant Colonel Norman Bruce “Ike” Buchanan was born in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, 16 September 1915. He attended the Royal Military College of Canada from 1934 to 1939. Buchanan graduated as a Lieutenant in the Canadian Artillery. After graduation, he served at the Partridge Island Battery in Saint John, New Brunswick, from 1939 to 1940.He served in World War II from 1940 to 1945. In 1942 and 1943, he served in North Africa with the British Army as a Forward Observation Officer (FOO). In 1943, he served with the 1st Field Regiment, RCHA, 1st Canadian Division in Italy. He then moved to the 14th Field Regiment, RCA, 3rd Canadian Division. He landed on Normandy and remained in action until the liberation of Europe.
He received his first Military Cross for actions in North Africa (Tunisia), 22 February 1943. While serving as a Troop Commander with the 1st Canadian Division, he received his first bar to his Military Cross for action in Italy, on 7 October 1943. He received his second bar to his Military Cross for efforts during the invasion of Normandy, 7 June 1944.
He received his Military Cross with two bars for three separate acts of exemplary gallantry. Only twenty-three Commonwealth soldiers have the Military Cross with two bars. He is the only graduate of the Royal Military College and the only Canadian Gunner to hold this distinction.
In 1952, he became an MLA for Charlotte County. From 1952 to 1960, he was a Minister in New Brunswick. During this time, he championed economic development and industrial growth. He applied his engineering knowledge to public works projects.
He served in the Militia and became the Commanding Officer of the Carleton and York Regiment with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He motivated and inspired his troops and led them during public events.
He excelled in amateur sport. In 1936, he was a pitcher on the championship-winning St. Stephen – St. Croix team, later inducted to the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame. Of note, he pitched against Babe Ruth during an exhibition game in Halifax. After the war, he curled on his father’s team that won the New Brunswick title, and he curled in the Brier. He helped invent the fibreglass hockey stick used worldwide.
LCol Buchanan inspired many during his lifetime, serving Canada with dignity and honour. He passed away in 2008.
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Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Burstall KCB, KCMG (1870-1945)
Born at Quebec, he was educated at Bishop’s College School, Lennoxville, and at the Royal Military college of Canada and was commissioned a Provisional Lieutenant on 29 October 1889.In March 1898, Captain Burstall served with the Yukon Field Force, arriving at Wrangell on 6 May. The arduous 400-mile trip to Fort Selkirk was completed by 11 September followed by the short trip to Dawson City.
Captain Burstall served with the 2nd (Special Service) Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment in South Africa, seeing action in Orange Free State and the Transvall in 1900. Subsequently he was seconded to the South African Constabulary until May 1902 where he was twice Mentioned-in-Dispatches and appointed Brevet Major.
He served with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (RCHA) from May 1907 until May 1911 where, in May 1908, he was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel. After leaving the RCHA and until the outbreak of the First World War, he commanded the Royal Canadian Artillery (RCA) and held the appointments of: Inspector of Horse, Field and Heavy Artillery, Commandant Royal School of Artillery and Officer Commanding Royal Canadian Coastal Artillery, Quebec. Lieutenant-Colonel Burstall’s technical gunnery abilities and his insistence on the highest standards during training would save countless lives in the cataclysm soon to come.
On 1 September 1914, Lieutenant-Colonel Burstall was appointed to command the artillery of the Canadian Expeditionary Force which was assembled and training at Valcartier. On 1 October, after a short, intensive training period, the guns, horses and men of the Canadian Contingent departed for the Great War.
Training continued on the Salisbury Plain; Lieutenant-Colonel Burstall was everywhere, demanding excellence in equitation, ranging, fire discipline, entrenching and camouflage. Under his command the Canadian Divisional Artillery embarked for France on 7 February 1915; the entire formation was ashore by the 16th thereby gaining the distinction of being the only fighting formation to arrive in France as a single entity. At 10:15 on the morning of 2 March, the 1st Battery, 1st Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery fired the first Canadian artillery round, opening a new era for the Canadian Army.
On 1 September he was promoted Colonel and appointed Brevet Brigadier-General.
On 15 June the Canadians began preliminary arrangement for the assault on two strong points opposite Fivenchy-les-la Bassée. Under Brigadier-General Burstall’s direction, these arrangements would stand as a model for future operations of the Canadian Corps. They included the employment of 18-pounders fitted with armour plating deployed into forward most trenches where, at ranges of between 75 and 3000 yards, they smashed enemy strong points.
Brigadier-General Burstall was appointed General Officer Commanding Royal Artillery, First Canadian Corps on 13 September 1915, a newly created appointment. His preparations for the Mount Sorrel counter-attack included a ten-hour bombardment of Hill 60 and Sanctuary Wood – his gunners were accurate and effective. In this fire plan the first smoke screen was incorporated. Fired by Stokes Trench Mortars, the screen was effective and would soon become a regular function of field artillery.
On 15 December 1916 he was promoted Major-General and appointed to command the 2nd Canadian Division, an appointment he held until early 1919.
After his return to Canada on 31 May 1919, he was appointed to the General List and was promoted Lieutenant-General on 15 August 1920; he subsequently served as Quartermaster General and Inspector General.
After a distinguished career, he retired in October 1923. His innovation, training techniques and practical use of the Canadian Guns set the stage for the significant advances made by the next generation of Canadian Artillerymen.
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General The Honourable HDG Crerar PC, CH, CD, DSO, CD (1888-1965)
One of Canada’s greatest wartime commanders, General Crerar was born and educated in Hamilton, Ontario. Graduating from the Royal Military College in 1909, he took a position with the Ontario Hydro-Electric Commission, Toronto.At the outbreak of the Great War he was a Lieutenant in Toronto’s 4th Battery, 2nd Brigade, the Non-Permanent Active Militia. He immediately joined Canada’s First Division, going overseas with the First Contingent. He served in France, initially with the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade, later as Brigade Major of the 5th Canadian Divisional Artillery. A recognized leader in the development of modern artillery, he designed the largest, most intricate and successful creeping barrage in the later days of the war. This three-day barrage at Canal du Nord halted the final German advance and was considered a brilliant use of artillery. His fine work was recognized in the award of the Distinguished Service Order. By October 1918, he was a Lieutenant-Colonel.
After the war he remained in the army and was appointed to the General Staff, Ottawa. Following attendance at the British Staff College he returned to Kingston as Professor of Tactics, Royal Military College. He represented Canada at the 1932 Geneva Disarmament Conference and at the London Imperial Conference of 1937. In 1935 he was promoted to Colonel concurrent with appointment as Commandant, Royal Military College.
Immediately following the declaration of war in 1939, he was promoted and dispatched to Britain to prepare for the arrival of the Canadians. In July the following year, he returned to Ottawa a Major-General and as Chief of the General Staff. In 1941, he was promoted to Lieutenant-General.
Late in 1941 he returned to England and, in order to command the 2nd Canadian Division, reverted to Major-General. On arrival he became temporary Corps Commander and was immediately promoted to Lieutenant-General for the second time. In April 1942, he was given permanent command of the 1st Canadian Corps.“Uncle Harry”, as his senior staff affectionately called him, assumed command of the First Canadian Army on 20 March 1944, less than three months before the allied assault on Normandy. By August, after Caen had fallen and while the battle for Falaise was developing, it was announced that Crerar was in the field and in command of the Canadians. As well as three Canadian Divisions (the 2nd, 3rd and 4th), the Polish First Armoured Division, the British 49th (West Riding) and 51st (Highland) Divisions were to remain with him almost to the end of hostilities. During his campaigns elements of the American, Belgian, Czech, Dutch and French forces were attached to his army; he was adept at getting the best from these widely-differing forces.
After the Canadians broke the Caen “hinge”, General Crerar directed one of the great battles of the war, throwing his formations into Falaise and closing the Trun Gap. This was followed by the great pursuit through France and Belgium, an action that extended from Le Havre to the Scheldt estuary and Antwerp. This extended front necessitated that he spent much of his time in his aircraft visiting, in turn, the British divisions hammering at Le Havre, the 3rd Canadians assaulting Boulogne and Calais, the 4th Canadians at Bruges and Ostende, the Poles at Terneuzen, the Americans near Turnhout and the 2nd Canadians at Antwerp. This was an outstanding feat by any measure.
After the bloody battles of the Leopold Canal, the Breskens Pocket and Walchern Island, he led his army into the Nijemgen salient to prepare for the final assault into Germany.
In February, he threw his army against the Northern flank of the Siegfried Line, a prelude to winning the great battles of the Reichswald and Hochwald forests, thereby setting the stage for the great British and American drives into the Ruhr and the plains of northern Germany.
With the addition of the 1st Canadian Corps from Italy, General Crerar launched his forces through western and northern Holland and into north-western Germany. It was here that the war ended for Crerar’s First Canadian Army. The King honoured General Crerar by appointing him to the Order of the Companions of Honour.
General Crerar was the first Canadian to gain the rank of General while on active service at the front. The contribution of his First Canadian Army and the forces of the many nations who fought with the Army was immense. Their victories had significant bearing on the Allied advance through France, Belgium, Holland and into Germany.
General Crerar retired in 1946 after serving Canada for more than 35 years. His career spanned two world wars and he was decorated by France, Belgium, the USA, Poland and Holland.
One of the most distinguished military leaders produced by Canada, General Crerar died in Ottawa in 1965.
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Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Currie GCMG, KCB (1875 – 1933)
Arthur Currie was born on 5 December 1875 near Strathroy, Ontario, and he moved to Victoria at age eighteen. He secured a position as a school teacher, later working in insurance and real estate.He joined the local Militia, serving first in artillery and then in infantry. An energetic officer, he quickly rose in rank and by 1909 commanded the 5th Regiment, Canadian Garrison Artillery. In 1913 he transferred to command the 50th Regiment, Gordon Highlanders.
The call of August 1914 brought Colonel Currie to Valcartier where the Canadian Expeditionary Force was being trained and organized; here he gained command of the 2nd Infantry Brigade. After training in England, his brigade deployed to France as part of the 1st Canadian Division. Although previously he had commanded only a few hundred militiamen, he was recognized quickly as an accomplished student of war.
On 22 April 1915 the Canadians manning the Ypres salient found themselves consistently exposed to enemy fire; the enemy then launched the first major gas attack on the two French divisions on the left. Their panic-induced flight left the Canadian flank dangerously exposed. Two days later the Canadians were gassed but, instead of falling back, they drove off the attackers. At the height of the battle, when it seemed that Currie’s brigade must be overwhelmed, he walked over a shell-swept road to divisional headquarters to plead for reinforcements. Although the brigade on his left had retreated, the 2nd Brigade grimly held to its forward position. After losing more than half his brigade, Currie ordered his men to withdraw to the Gravenstafel Ridge. That night they were relieved by British troops – the Canadians had held!
Colonel Currie’s leadership attracted immediate attention. He repeatedly identified the enemy’s intent and took steps to counter the threat. He was everywhere in the line, maintaining personal contact with his forward battalions and with flanking units.
After the battles of Festubert and Givenchy, he was promoted Major-General and, at age 39, became one of the youngest to hold that rank in the British Army. With the formation of the 2nd Canadian Division, Canada fielded a Corps; a Canadian Commander was necessary for this important national symbol. After his success of Ypres, Currie was chosen as Commander for this new division. In a few short months Arthur Currie had risen from an obscure militia colonel to one of the most senior posts in the British Army.
As Divisional Commander he was no stranger to the front lines; the men appreciated his willingness to share their danger. Word that the commander personally assessed the difficulties they would face in the attack spread rapidly. He disapproved loudly of the popular notions of hasty, unprepared counterattacks, large-scale trench raids and frontal assaults. Only when preparations were complete and massive bombardments finished did he commit solders.
The Canadian assault on Vimy Ridge was planned meticulously; “silent” batteries were deployed and infantry platoons were reorganized into self-contained combat units. Detailed maps and plasticine models were used to brief the men; each soldier knew what he was expected to do. Vimy Ridge fell to the Canadians on the first day, Easter Monday, 1917, with relatively light casualties. Soon after, Currie was knighted and given command of the Canadian Corps.
When the Canadians were assigned the capture of Passchendaele, Currie protested, advising Field Marshall Haig of impossible conditions, doubtful value of the operation and expected high casualties. The ultimate cost of Haig’s decision was 15,654 casualties to achieve a largely symbolic victory. Plans were made to split the Canadian Corps to reinforce British formations – again Currie protested, this time he won.
Currie’s return to Canada on 17 August 1919 was not the hero’s welcome one might expect. Public resentment was evidenced in caustic remarks by Sir Sam Hughes. He accused Currie of incompetence, of glory seeking and alleged that Canadian lives had been squandered.
Much controversy surrounded Currie and much still remains. His accomplishments are unparalleled and he was unquestionably the embodiment of the Canadian people larger than life; awkward in his naivety, direct and forthright, a civilian-soldier, just the right man to lead a nation at war.
Arthur Currie died in Montreal on 30 November 1933 at the age of 58
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Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire OC, CMM, GOQ, MSC, CD (1946- )
Lieutenant-General Roméo A. Dallaire was born in Denekamp, Holland in 1946 and enrolled in the Canadian Army in 1964 after four years in the Cadets and the Reserves Force. He attended Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean, Québec, and graduated with a Bachelor of Sciences from Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario. He also attended the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College in Kingston, Ontario, and the United States Marine Corps Command and Staff College in Virginia.He has held various command, staff and training appointments in Canada and Germany, including command of the 5e Régiment d’artillerie légère du Canada, Valcartier, Québec, Director of Land Requirements responsible for all operational equipment requirements for the Canadian Land Force and Director of Artillery.
In 1989, he assumed command of the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean. After studying at the British Higher Command and Staff Course in 1991, he was appointed Commander 5e Groupe-brigade mécanisé du Canada at Valcartier. In 1993 he took command of the United Nations Observer Mission – Uganda and Rwanda (UNOMUR) and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). It is for this mission that he was awarded the Meritorious Service Cross.
From September 1994 to October 1995, he was simultaneously Deputy Commander of Land Force Command in St. Hubert, Québec, and Commander of the 1st Canadian Division. In June 1995, he was presented with the Vimy Award by the Conference of Defence Associations. Later that year he assumed command of the Land Force Québec Area.
In January 1996, Lieutenant-General Dallaire was awarded the United States Legion of Merit. Later that year he became Chief of Staff to the Assistant Deputy Minister (Personnel) Group and in 1998 he became Assistant Deputy Minister (Human Resources-Military).
In 1999, he was appointed to the position of Special Advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff on Officer Professional Development.
Lieutenant-General Dallaire retired from the Canadian Armed Forces on April 18th, 2000. Since his retirement, he has worked to bring an understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder to the wider Canadian public. He is currently a Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and continues as a special advisor to the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) on matters relating to war affected children around the world and to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade on the non-proliferation of small arms.
He has been named Fellow of the Ryerson Polytechnic University and has received Honoria causa doctorates from numerous Canadian universities.
Lieutenant-General Dallaire received the Order of Canada in 2002. His internationally-recognized book “Shake Hands With the Devil – The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda” was awarded the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction in 2004. It also garnered numerous international literary awards, and was the basis of a full-length feature film. He was presented with the United Nations Association in Canada’s Pearson Peace Medal by Canada’s then Governor-General, Adrienne Clarkson. - Read more...
Colonel The Right Honourable RGB Dickson PC, CC, KStJ, CD (1916-1998)
Robert George Brian Dickson was born in Weyburn, Saskatchewan on 25 May 1916 of Irish parents. His father was a banker and his mother had taught school before moving to the Prairies. The studious elder of two boys, Dickson joined Scouts where he enjoyed the mock courts at camp.After matriculating in Regina he entered directly into second year Arts at the University of Manitoba. He left its Law School in 1938 first in his class, earning the Gold Medal. He was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1940.
By then Canada was mobilizing for war and Mr. Dickson joined 38 Field Battery in June 1940. That August he volunteered as a lieutenant for active service and sailed in February 1941 for Britain with 3rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment.
His disciplined intellect and hard work were noticed and he was chosen for staff training. He leapt at the offer of a course in Canada early in 1943, also returning to Winnipeg to marry. Staff training was enlightening for Captain Dickson. The lessons in team problem-solving remained with him for life.
A tour in British Columbia as a Brigade Major, Royal Canadian Artillery followed, but Major Dickson volunteered to return to Europe in May 1944 as a Captain.
Posted to 2nd Canadian Army Group, Royal Artillery, Captain Dickson distinguished himself in Normandy and was Mentioned-in-Despatches, but his good luck did not hold. Near Falaise they came under Allied air attack in error and the brigadier asked him to disperse the vehicles to avoid damage. Captain Dickson was directing the work when he was wounded severely in the right leg. He was taken to an aid post, but was nearly overlooked as he was so badly wounded. He called out to a doctor he knew and was rushed to treatment, but they could not save his leg. He returned to England in late August, only weeks after arriving in France. By November he was well enough to return to Canada for discharge by April 1945.
Back in Winnipeg Mr. Dickson joined a leading law firm where his intellect, ability to organize and appetite for work brought him professional success and prominent corporate directorships. On the urging of a law partner and the assurance that it only involved a few meetings a year, he became head of Manitoba’s Red Cross in 1950, the year the Red and Assiniboine Rivers set flood records. He took charge of relief work for evacuees and support of the flood fighters. With a small staff he mobilized 4000 volunteers, evacuated thousands of people and provided comfort to those working the dykes. He did not see his office for six weeks and, by his own admission, ran the volunteers like an army.
He involved himself in his community, church and law practice, and by the 1960s was at the top of his profession, but seeing little of the argument that had drawn him to law. So, when the Chief Justice asked him to sit on a short‑handed Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench in 1963, he accepted. This raised eyebrows among partisan members of the Bar due to his invisible politics. His approach set him apart; he wrote a great number of judgments and showed a progressive streak. He judged the Criminal Code’s vagrancy section unreasonable and, when police charged a couple for exercising their marital prerogatives in their living room, he ruled the case an invasion of privacy. Such cases earned him the nickname of the “Red Judge” and notice in Ottawa.
In 1973, when government policy was the creation of a “just society,” Prime Minister Trudeau appointed Mr. Justice Dickson to the Supreme Court of Canada, where he was often the non Quebec judge on panels hearing Quebec cases, thanks to his own effort to learn French.
In Ottawa Mr. Justice Dickson renewed his ties to the military; in 1983 he accepted the Honorary Lieutenant-Colonelship of the 30th Field Regiment, RCA, and was its Honorary Colonel from 1988 to 1992.
In 1984 Mr. Trudeau was replacing retiring Chief Justice Laskin and wanted a vital, hard-working justice at the helm of the Court as it dealt with challenges to the Charter of Rights. He disregarded the custom of alternating English and French and gave Mr. Justice Dickson the job. Chief Justice Dickson came to national attention by speaking out and giving lower courts an idea of how he saw the Court implementing the Charter and often led its justices to unanimous decisions.
When he retired in 1990 to March Township near Ottawa, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada to recognize his service.
Mr. Chief Justice Dickson was behind judgments that chart Canada’s change from laws based in Victorian values to a modern constitution. His leadership of the Court in interpreting the Charter made both relevant to the citizenry.
Mr Chief Justice Dickson came out of retirement to recommend changes to the Canadian Military justice system in 1997. His report was the basis for reforms to the National Defence Act that will ensure the viability of military justice in Canada well into the future.
Canadians for many generations will benefit from his love of justice, diligence and country. Mr Chief Justice Dickson passed away at his home outside of Ottawa in 1998
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Colonel The Honourable GA Drew PC, VD,CD (1894-1974)
Named for his grandfather, a member of Sir John A. MacDonald’s Confederation Cabinet, George Alexander Drew was born at Guelph, Ontario, on 7 May 1894. His father was a prominent lawyer and president of the South Wellington Conservative Association. Both his father and grandfather were active in the local militia so young George was raised in daily contact with the law, politics and the military.After attending public school and the Guelph Collegiate Institute it seemed natural that he would attend Upper Canada College and enrol in the militia. Having joined the 16th Field Battery in 1909 at age 15, he rushed to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force at the outbreak of war in 1914. A courageous, efficient and dedicated Gunner officer, he quickly gained a reputation for excellence.
Early in 1916 while serving in Flanders, his left forearm was shattered by shrapnel and in January the following year he was invalided to Canada, spending nearly three years in hospital undergoing 13 bone graft operations. He never regained the use of his left arm. Continuing to serve in uniform, he assumed command of the 64th Field Battery and later on its reorganization in 1920, of Guelph’s 16 Field Battery. In 1929 he was appointed to command the 11th Field Artillery Brigade where his devotion to duty, infectious enthusiasm and insistence on high standards earned the formation the Shaughnessy Cup in 1930, 1931 and 1932. The cup was awarded annually for general efficiency. Concurrent with his military activities he attended the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall; he was called to the Bar of the Province of Ontario in 1920 and practiced law in Guelph immediately thereafter. He made his entry into local politics in 1921, and won a seat as alderman; by 1925 he was Mayor of Guelph – at age 31 the youngest chief magistrate in Canada.
In 1926 he was appointed Assistant Master of the Supreme Court of Ontario and three years later was elevated to Master-in-Chambers, once again the youngest to hold this post in the province’s history. This job involved the hearing of minor cases and the screening of cases for Supreme Court hearings. In 1931 he was appointed Chairman of the Ontario Securities Commission for the administration of the Ontario Securities and Fraud Act.
By the late 1920s his entry into Ontario provincial politics was clearly underway and in 1934 he began his political activities in earnest. Within two years he was serving as chairman of the provincial Conservative Campaign Committee. His initial efforts to win the party leadership were unfruitful, but the job was his by 1938. The following year, in a by-election he was elected to the Ontario Legislature representing Simcoe East. He led the Ontario Conservative Party in 1939 and in the general elections of 1943 and 1945 was re-elected as a member for High Park. During his term as Premier he demonstrated that he was a capable administrator and an able political tactician; in an unusual move he also retained the provincial education portfolio.
In early October 1948 he was chosen leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and, slightly more than two weeks later, resigned as Premier of Ontario. In December of that same year he was elected to the House of Commons as the member for Carleton. He spent the next eight years in the House of Commons leading Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. In 1953 he was appointed to the Privy Council, the first to gain such a distinction while in opposition.
Ill health following a number of demanding parliamentary sessions triggered his resignation as leader of the official opposition in 1956. Not willing to withdraw from public service entirely he accepted appointment as Canada’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, a position held until early 1964.
In 1949 he reaffirmed his link with the Gunner family by accepting the appointment of Honourary Colonel in Guelph’s 11th Field Regiment, RCA.
During his career of public service he also served as President of the Canadian Artillery Association, as President of the Toronto Branch the League of Nations and as Vice President of the Dominion Command Royal Canadian Legion. He also earned wide recognition as an author with his books: “Canada’s Fighting Airmen”, “The Truth About the Great War”, “Canada’s Part in the Great War”, “Tell Britain” and “The Truth About War Debts”. An article dealing with wartime profiteering in the munitions industry titled “Salesmen of Death” has been translated into more than 30 languages.A dedicated soldier and remarkable politician, George Drew died on 4 January 1974 in Toronto and was buried in Guelph. With service spanning both World Wars he made a unique and lasting contribution to Canada and to the Royal Regiment.
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Major-General CW Drury CB (1856-1913)
Often referred to as the “Father of Modern Artillery in Canada”, Charles William Drury maintained the interests of Canadian Gunners foremost throughout his life. Commissioned in January 1874 at eighteen years of age in the New Brunswick Garrison Artillery Brigade at Saint John, his aptitude for technical field artillery work and his ability to put this knowledge to work in a practical fashion was recognized immediately.As a Captain he served during the North-West Rebellion (1885) commanding the field division of “A” Battery Royal Canadian Artillery (RCA). His unflagging efforts to introduce indirect fire techniques despite the inherent unsuitability of his equipment was a clear indication of his progressive thinking. For his splendid work and constant vigilance during this campaign he was Mentioned-in-Dispatches.
As a junior officer he fully appreciated the difficulties of winter mobility experienced by the field artillery. His innovative and practical design for field gun and ammunition sleighs allowed identical “Into Action” drills in both winter and summer.
At the time of the Permanent Artillery re-organization in 1893, General Drury, then a lieutenant-Colonel, was appointed to command “A” Battery, Royal Canadian Field Artillery at Kingston and simultaneously appointed Commandant of the Kingston-based Royal School of Artillery. In 1893 he attended the opening of the Imperial Institute in London and while in England, studied the new system of fire discipline then us use by the British Army. Upon his return he lost no time in teaching the new system to his instructional staff in preparation for that winter’s courses and the annual training concentrations in the summer of 1894. This particular summer’s training activities incorporated General Drury’s realistic, moveable and automatically appearing targets, a system later adopted and used by cavalry and infantry.
During the South African War Lieutenant-Colonel Drury was dispatched on special duty with the 1st Canadian Contingent and was appointed to command the Canadian Field Brigade of Artillery. As the nature of the war dictated the dispersal of artillery formations, he was appointed to command various mixed arm organizations. For his services in this theatre he was Mentioned-in-Dispatches and appointed Companion of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath.
Throughout this campaign the experiences of this practical and technically proficient gunner fostered many innovations. He recognized the need to increase the lethality of artillery ammunition and the requirement to develop smokeless propellants as an aid to concealment. He advocated the deployment of artillery behind cover or on reverse slopes where the gunners could work unobserved and unimpeded by enemy actions. He believed that indirect fire should become the artillery’s normal method of deployment. On his return to Canada the adoption of these improvements remained his constant goal.In April 1905 Colonel Drury was appointed to command Military District Number 6 at Halifax. The withdrawal of the British troops from Halifax was a politically sensitive matter and his steady hand was needed at the helm.
Colonel Drury was promoted to Major-General in June 1912 and sadly, less than one year later at the age of fifty-seven, Canada lost of its ablest gunners. Two years later officers of his competence and enthusiasm would sorely be needed during the Great War.
