PHOTO:
General Andy McNaughton
Andrew George Latta McNaughton, born in Moosomin (then North-West
Territories, now in Saskatchewan) February 25, 1887, died in Montebello (Quebec)
July 11, 1966.
Andrew McNaughton graduated in physics and engineering from McGill University
in Montreal (B.S., 1910, M.S., 1912). He enlists in the Militia in 1909, then in
1914, in the 4th Battery of the Canadian Expeditionary Corps. Applying his
scientific knowledge to artillery, he is rapidly promoted and when the war ends,
he is at the head of the Canadian Artillery Corps.
After the Great War, he remains with the Canadian Permanent Forces as Chief
of the General Staff. He works at mechanizing the armed forces and modernizing
the Militia. He returns for a few years to civilian life and from 1935 to 1939
is head of the National Research Council of Canada.
When war breaks out, McNaughton becomes commanding officer of the First
Canadian Infantry Division. Under his leadership, the Division grows and is
reorganized as a corps (1940), and then as an army (1942). McNaughton’s
contribution to the development of new techniques is outstanding, especially in
the field of detection and weaponry, including the discarding sabot projectile.
He is however criticized for his poor judgment regarding military strategy
especially his approval of the ill-fated operation against Dieppe. His obstinate
opposition to the fragmentation of Canadian troops stationed in Great Britain
antagonized both the British senior Staff and the Canadian government. Pressured
by critics and weakened by health problems, McNaughton resigned his command in
December 1943.
Prime Minister King’s trust towards McNaughton remains unabated and he is
appointed Minister of Defence in 1944, with the specific mandate to solve the
conscription issue. He will prove unable to find a solution, and Canadians deny
him the support he needs to be elected to the House of Commons.
After WWII, Andrew McNaughton is Canada’s Representative to the United
Nations’ Atomic Energy Commission; he chairs the Canadian Atomic Energy Control
Commission from 1946 to 1948. He acts as Permanent Representative to the UN from
1948 to 1949, then between 1950 and 1959, he is the President of the Canadian
section of the International Joint Commission.
McNaughton interviewed about Dieppe raid:
"The responsibility was mine and
nobody else's. The final decision was mine. I said yes. And I say quite frankly
that if I were in exactly the same position I would do exactly the same thing
tomorrow."
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