Major GeneralMajor General or Major-General is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of Sergeant Major General. A Major General is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of Lieutenant General and senior to the ranks of Brigadier and Brigadier General...
Sir David Watson KCBThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the medieval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
,
CMGThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent whilst he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III. It is named in honour of two military saints, St. Michael and St...
(7 February 1869 – 19 February 1922) was a
CanadianCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
journalist, newspaper owner, and general.
Born in
Quebec CityQuébec , is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in the province – after Montreal, about to the southwest...
,
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, the son of William Watson and Jane Grant, Watson was a journalist with the
Quebec Morning Chronicle (later called just
Quebec Chronicle). He later became general manager of the paper and general manager of its publisher.
He started his military career as a private in the 8th Regiment, Royal Rifles.
Discussion
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Major GeneralMajor General or Major-General is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of Sergeant Major General. A Major General is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of Lieutenant General and senior to the ranks of Brigadier and Brigadier General...
Sir David Watson KCBThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the medieval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
,
CMGThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent whilst he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III. It is named in honour of two military saints, St. Michael and St...
(7 February 1869 – 19 February 1922) was a
CanadianCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
journalist, newspaper owner, and general.
Born in
Quebec CityQuébec , is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in the province – after Montreal, about to the southwest...
,
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, the son of William Watson and Jane Grant, Watson was a journalist with the
Quebec Morning Chronicle (later called just
Quebec Chronicle). He later became general manager of the paper and general manager of its publisher.
He started his military career as a private in the 8th Regiment, Royal Rifles. He was promoted to lieutenant and then to captain in 1903, major in 1910, and lieutenant-colonel in 1912. In 1914, he enlisted in the
Canadian Expeditionary ForceThe Canadian Expeditionary Force was the designation of the field force created by Canada for service overseas in the First World War. Units of the C.E.F. were further divided into field formation in France, where they were largely organized into divisions and eventually a Canadian Corps within...
and was soon given command of the
2nd Battalion, CEFThe 2nd Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force was created in response to the First World War. The battalion comprised local militia in many regions of Ontario . Men came from as far away as Sault Ste. Marie to join in Canada’s military endeavor...
. He was promoted to Brigadier General in 1915 and took command of the 5th Brigade,
2nd Canadian DivisionThe 2nd Canadian Division was an infantry formation that saw service in the First World War. A 2nd Canadian Infantry Division was raised for the Second World War.-History:...
. In 1916, he was promoted to Major-General and took command of the
4th Canadian DivisionThe Canadian Corps - 4th Canadian Division – World War I:The 4th Canadian Division was formed in the Britain in April of 1916 from several existing units and others scheduled to arrive shortly thereafter. Under the command of Major-General David Watson, the Division embarked for France in August of...
. He fought in most of the major Canadian battles of World War I including
Second Battle of YpresThe Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used poison gas on a large scale on the Western Front in World War I and the first time a former colonial force pushed back a major European power on European soil, which occurred in the battle of St...
,
Battle of Vimy RidgeThe Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military engagement fought as part of the Battle of Arras, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the Canadian Corps against three divisions of the German Sixth Army...
, Battle of Passchendaele, Battle of Amiens,
Battle of Arras• United Kingdom
• Canada
• Australia
• New Zealand
• |combatant2= German Empire
• Prussia
• Bavaria|combatant3=|commander1= Douglas Haig,
Edmund Allenby,
Hubert Gough,
Henry Horne...
, and
Battle of CambraiThe Battle of Cambrai was a battle between troops of the British First, Third and Fourth Armies and German Empire forces during the Hundred Days Offensive of World War I. The battle took place in and around the French city of Cambrai, between 8 October and 10 October 1918...
.
After the war, he resumed his job at the
Quebec Chronicle and became the majority owner. He was also chairman of the Quebec Harbour Commission. He died in 1922.
Honours
- Croix de guerre
The Croix de guerre 1914-1918 is a French military decoration.-Creation:Soon after the outbreak of World War I, French military officials felt that a new military award had to be created...
- France
- Croix de Guerre
The croix de guerre is a military decoration of both France and Belgium, where it is also known as the Oorlogskruis . It was first created in 1915 in both countries and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins...
- Belgium
- C.M.G.
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent whilst he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III. It is named in honour of two military saints, St. Michael and St...
, 1917.
- C.B.
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the medieval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, 1916.
- K.C.B.
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the medieval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, 1918.