Henry Duncan Graham Crerar, born in Hamilton, Ontario, on April 28, 1888, who died in Ottawa on April 1, 1965. Canadian Army officer and diplomat.
Harry Crerar studied at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario from 1906 to 1909 and served in the Militia during the last years of peace. During the First World War he distinguished himself as an officer of the Canadian Field Artillery on the battlefields of France and Flanders and was awarded the Order of Distinguished Service. At the end of hostilities, Crerar was Lieutenant-Colonel at the headquarters of the Canadian Corps.
Back in Canada, Crerar chose the military career and joined the Permanent Force. He serves as an Artillery Staff Officer in Ottawa. In 1923 he enrolled at Staff College in Camberley, England, but did not return to Canada immediately after completing the course. Instead, he accepted a position as a General Staff Officer, Class 2 at the War Office in London. In 1929, Crerar was appointed a General Staff Officer, Class 1 at National Defense Headquarters in Ottawa. He planned a major reorganization of the Militia.
In 1934 Crerar attended the Imperial Defense College in London and, on his return to National Defense Headquarters, was transferred to the position of Director of Intelligence and Military Operations. He is known for being a particularly intelligent man and is the best officer in the Canadian Army. In March 1939, after a few months as commander of the Royal Military College, Crerar was summoned back to Ottawa to plan mobilization for the likely resumption of hostilities.
At the beginning of the war, Crerar was sent to London as General Brigadier General of the Canadian Army Headquarters. It must ensure that equipment, neighborhoods and training programs are in place for the arrival of Canadian troops. In July 1940 he was called back to Ottawa to assume the duties of Deputy Chief of the General Staff, but a few days after his appointment, Defense Minister JL Ralston appointed him Chief of Staff . It immediately takes steps to increase the effectiveness of National Defense Headquarters and is urging the reception and training of recruits for territorial defense, as they are coming in after the adoption, on June 21, 1940 , Of the National Resource Mobilization Act. Finally, it implements a training plan for the training of officers and soldiers who are to join the ranks of the army overseas.
Crerar returned to England to take on December 23, 1941, the operational post of Commanding Officer of the 1st Canadian Corps. He was thus plunged into the crisis following the Dieppe raid, as the Canadian troops that participated in the operation of August 19, 1942 were part of the 1st Canadian Corps. As no Canadian officer was involved in the planning of the raid, Crerar can only rationalize the Canadian losses by demonstrating the importance of the lessons learned during the operation.
Crerar lacked experience on the battlefield and he hoped to acquire it when the 1st Canadian Corps joined the 1st Canadian Infantry Division in Italy in October 1943. This hope did not materialize since in March 1944, In England to take command of the 1st Canadian Army, replacing General McNaughton.
The 1st Canadian Army was reunited in Normandy on July 23, 1944. Under Crerar's command, it played an important role when the Allied armies surrounded the Germans in the Falaise pocket in August 1944. Sick, Crerar would have to give up his command temporarily Major-General Guy Simonds at the Battle of the Scheldt (October-November 1944). In February 1945, the 1st Canadian Army returned, under the orders of Crerar, to the advanced lines. During the campaign of the Rhineland, General Crerar commanded an imposing army of 450,000 men. Including allied units under the command of the 1st Canadian Army.Crerar retired from military life in October 1946. He then assumed various diplomatic functions in Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands and Japan. Harry Crerar turned out to be a remarkable staff officer. He imprinted his mark on the largest army that Canada has ever raised by giving Canadian Army Headquarters its organizational structure, organizing the training of troops to increase ranks and commanding the 1st Army during the The last major campaigns. At the end of hostilities, it was he who defined the rules for demobilization.
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