Malcolm Mercer
Encyclopedia
Major-General Malcolm Smith Mercer, CB (17 September 1859 – 3 June 1916) was a Canadian general, barrister and art patron who practiced law in Toronto
and led the 3rd Canadian Division
during the first two years of the First World War before he was killed in action at Mount Sorrel in Belgium
. Mercer was an experienced militia commander and had demonstrated a great flair with training and organising the raw Canadian recruits during the opening months of the war. He also demonstrated courage under fire, visiting the front lines on numerous occasions at the height of battle and personally directing his forces in the face of poison gas attacks and heavy shellfire.
Mercer remains the most senior Canadian officer ever to die in combat and was unfortunate to be killed at the opening engagement of the largest battle of his career, when he was trapped by shellfire during a front line reconnaissance and overrun during the subsequent German attack. The division Mercer created and trained remained one of the best units of the Canadian army under his successor Louis Lipsett
and Mercer was remembered by the men under his command, many of whom attended his funeral in the aftermath of the Battle of Mount Sorrel.
in Ontario
, Canada. He was the third of nine children to Thomas and Mary Mercer and was raised in Delmer and St Catharines. During his childhood he was educated at local schools and worked on the family farm before enrolling at the University of Toronto
in 1881 to study philosophy. He graduated in 1885 and turned his attention to law, being called to the bar three years later. He established a practice in Toronto and had several partners, forming a highly successful but discreet firm which he managed until 1914. Mercer never married or had children and reportedly he was "quiet and unobtrusive. He avoided publicity, moved little in society and in his legal practice preferred to keep his clients out of court, if he could."
During his years in the law, Mercer used his substantial income to support the arts and amassed a large art collection including many pieces by Carl Ahrens, of whom Mercer was a close friend and admirer. This art collection was auctioned off in 1925 and was found to contain a selection of art, porcelain, sculpture and antique furniture from around the globe. Mercer was also a keen amateur painter himself and was also an excellent sportsman who represented Canada and the Canadian Army in shooting contests both at home and in Britain.
as a private soldier, Mercer devoted much time and energy to the unit and became an excellent soldier and first-rate shot. Mercer rose steadily through the ranks of the militia, being made an officer in 1885 and a captain in 1891. In 1903 as a brevet
major, Mercer led a company to Sault Ste. Marie
to calm a riot by striking dock workers, his only deployment before 1914. In 1911, Mercer was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the regiment and in 1913, Mercer was aide-de-camp to Defence Minister Sam Hughes
during a military tour of Europe, during which he inspected the German army first-hand and became convinced that war was imminent.
. Ordered to take his regiment to Camp Valcartier near Quebec City
at 12.30 on the 4 August, Mercer worked in his law office until 12.00 before arriving on time at the barracks in uniform. Within days he had been promoted to Temporary Brigadier-General in command of the 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade which consisted of the first four battalions of the Expeditionary Force recruited in Ontario. Amongst these men his militiamen were dispersed, intended to spread experience and morale amongst the raw recruits. At the end of September, after just under two months training, the brigade departed on the 20-day sea voyage to Britain as the first installment of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
On arrival at Plymouth
a British officer took overall command of the "Canadian Contingent" as the Expeditionary Force was then known and Mercer was despatched to Camp Bustard on Salisbury Plain
, where he oversaw the training and organising of the Canadian Force to ready it for fighting in Belgium and Northern France. Mercer performed well at this task and an inspection of his camp on the 4 November by King George V
, Queen Mary
, Lord Roberts
and Lord Kitchener
drew the compliment "No finer physique in the British Army. A fine brigade. Splendid." Mercer's fellow brigadiers in the Expeditionary force, Richard Turner, VC and Arthur Currie
commanded similar training camps and together the officers prepared their men for departure to France on 9 February 1915.
, the Canadian Contingent was initially deployed near the Belgian town of Ypres
where on the 22 April Mercer's men became embroiled in the Second Battle of Ypres
. A German attack on French lines had caused massive casualties through the use of poison gas
and Mercer's brigade was fed piecemeal into the battle as reinforcements by poorly coordinated staff officers. In a confused and bloody encounter the untested Canadian forces held back the Germans despite being forced to wrap urine-soaked cloths around their faces to counteract the chlorine
gas. The next day, Mercer's men were directed to attack an escarpment named Mauser Ridge, an operation which failed because French troops ordered to support the Canadian line did not arrive. Mercer himself travelled to the front line to witness the battle and came under fire for the first time before retiring in order to remonstrate with the French officers intended to support him. The Canadian Contingent took very heavy casualties in the battle and subsequently all three Canadian brigadiers were made Companions of the Order of the Bath for their courage and generalship in the action.
During the year the Canadian Contingent was involved in further fighting, assaulting German lines in the unsuccessful battles of Festubert
and Givenchy. In the aftermath of these engagements, the Canadian Contingent was reorganised into the Canadian Corps, consisting of two divisions led by Turner and Currie who were under the overall command of British Lieutenant-General Edwin Alderson
. Mercer was detached from his Brigade and placed in charge of coordinating the mass of small and independent Canadian units which were steadily arriving from Canada. During the autumn of 1915 Mercer was able to shape this force (which included dismounted cavalry regiments and British Indian
artillery) into an effective infantry unit and in January 1916 he was confirmed as Major-General in command of the 3rd Canadian Division
, as this disparate force became.
, was inspecting the Corps positions in front of a German-held rise named Mount Sorrel and noted that the Canadian troops were overlooked by German positions and under constant danger of enemy fire. The Germans also seemed to be digging new sap trenches which implied that an assault was intended. Byng ordered Mercer to make a reconnaissance of the front line and draw up a plan to overrun the more dangerous German positions in a local attack. Mercer complied on the 2 June, conducting a standard inspection of front line Canadian trenches at 08:30.
Shortly after Mercer had arrived in the trenches, a massive German artillery bombardment began, heavy calibre shells destroying trenches and caving in dugouts, killing many Canadian soldiers. Mercer was trapped in a dugout and then stunned by a huge shell burst which wounded most of his staff and the officers of the battalion he was inspecting. The more badly wounded among the officers were transported to an underground field hospital but Mercer was left behind with wounded aide Captain Lynam Gooderham, and so was not present when the hospital was buried by the explosion of four mines
which preceded a large-scale German attack. In the confused situation, Mercer and Gooderham attempted to escape the advancing enemy but inadvertently ran into crossfire, where Mercer's leg was broken by a bullet.
Mercer and Gooderham sheltered from the continued artillery bombardment in a battered trench, both suffering from the effects of their wounds, until 01:00 on the 3 June. By this stage of the battle an artillery duel had begun between the armies who were still mixed together, Mercer and Gooderham trapped in between. At approximately 02:00 a shrapnel shell exploded in the trench in which they were hiding, further wounding Gooderham and killing Mercer instantly with shrapnel wounds to the heart. Gooderham stayed with his commanding officer's body until captured by advancing German troops who buried the general's corpse in a shallow grave at Gooderham's request. The buried field hospital was also captured by the advancing Germans and as a result nobody who knew of the general's whereabouts on the day returned to Allied lines. A staff officer later claimed that the shell which killed Mercer was British in origin, although it is unclear how this conclusion was reached.
Believing Mercer to have been captured, General Currie assumed command of the battle and with the use of saturation bombardment was able to retake the lost trenches and drive the Germans back to Mount Sorrel despite heavy casualties. On the 21 June a Canadian burial party found 30 bodies in a sector of trench, amongst them General Mercer's remains, only recognisable by his uniform decoration. Mercer was buried in a military grave at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, later surmounted with a Commonwealth War Grave headstone. Mercer's funeral was attended by many men of his Division and from his old regiments as well as numerous Canadian and British officers who had worked alongside him. Mercer was posthumously mentioned in dispatches
for his courage under fire, the third time he had been so mentioned, and his division was taken over by Major-General Louis Lipsett
who was himself killed in action two years later. Mercer is remembered as an efficient and capable organiser who never got the opportunity to demonstrate the tactical nous he had shown in training and exercises. He also remains the highest ranking Canadian officer to ever be killed in combat.
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and led the 3rd Canadian Division
3rd Canadian Division
The 3rd Canadian Division was a formation of the Canadian Corps during the First World War.The 3rd Canadian Division was formed in France in December 1915 under the command of Major-General M.S. Mercer. Its members served in both France and Flanders until Armistice Day...
during the first two years of the First World War before he was killed in action at Mount Sorrel in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. Mercer was an experienced militia commander and had demonstrated a great flair with training and organising the raw Canadian recruits during the opening months of the war. He also demonstrated courage under fire, visiting the front lines on numerous occasions at the height of battle and personally directing his forces in the face of poison gas attacks and heavy shellfire.
Mercer remains the most senior Canadian officer ever to die in combat and was unfortunate to be killed at the opening engagement of the largest battle of his career, when he was trapped by shellfire during a front line reconnaissance and overrun during the subsequent German attack. The division Mercer created and trained remained one of the best units of the Canadian army under his successor Louis Lipsett
Louis Lipsett
Major General Louis James Lipsett CB, CMG , was a senior officer in the British Army and Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. He commanded the 3rd Canadian Division during some of the bitterest battles of the war, taking over in 1915 after his predecessor was killed...
and Mercer was remembered by the men under his command, many of whom attended his funeral in the aftermath of the Battle of Mount Sorrel.
Early years
Mercer was born in September 1859 in Etobicoke, a small town to the west of TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada. He was the third of nine children to Thomas and Mary Mercer and was raised in Delmer and St Catharines. During his childhood he was educated at local schools and worked on the family farm before enrolling at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
in 1881 to study philosophy. He graduated in 1885 and turned his attention to law, being called to the bar three years later. He established a practice in Toronto and had several partners, forming a highly successful but discreet firm which he managed until 1914. Mercer never married or had children and reportedly he was "quiet and unobtrusive. He avoided publicity, moved little in society and in his legal practice preferred to keep his clients out of court, if he could."
During his years in the law, Mercer used his substantial income to support the arts and amassed a large art collection including many pieces by Carl Ahrens, of whom Mercer was a close friend and admirer. This art collection was auctioned off in 1925 and was found to contain a selection of art, porcelain, sculpture and antique furniture from around the globe. Mercer was also a keen amateur painter himself and was also an excellent sportsman who represented Canada and the Canadian Army in shooting contests both at home and in Britain.
Military service
Mercer's greatest passion however was reserved for the Canadian militia, which he joined as a student in 1881. Posted to The Queen's Own Rifles of CanadaThe Queen's Own Rifles of Canada
The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada is a militia regiment within the Canadian Forces, based in Toronto, Ontario. The regiment is part of Land Force Central Area's 32 Canadian Brigade Group. It is the only Primary Reserve regiment in Canada to have a parachute role. The regiment consists of the reserve...
as a private soldier, Mercer devoted much time and energy to the unit and became an excellent soldier and first-rate shot. Mercer rose steadily through the ranks of the militia, being made an officer in 1885 and a captain in 1891. In 1903 as a brevet
Brevet (military)
In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...
major, Mercer led a company to Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie is a city on the St. Marys River in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948. The community was founded as a French religious mission: Sault either means "jump" or "rapids" in...
to calm a riot by striking dock workers, his only deployment before 1914. In 1911, Mercer was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the regiment and in 1913, Mercer was aide-de-camp to Defence Minister Sam Hughes
Sam Hughes
For other people of the same name see Sam Hughes Sir Samuel Hughes, KCB, PC was the Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence during World War I...
during a military tour of Europe, during which he inspected the German army first-hand and became convinced that war was imminent.
Outbreak of World War
At the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Mercer was amongst those immediately called upon by Hughes to establish and build a Canadian Expeditionary ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
The 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 divided into field formation in France, where they were organized first into separate divisions and later joined together into a single...
. Ordered to take his regiment to Camp Valcartier near Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City 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 Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
at 12.30 on the 4 August, Mercer worked in his law office until 12.00 before arriving on time at the barracks in uniform. Within days he had been promoted to Temporary Brigadier-General in command of the 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade which consisted of the first four battalions of the Expeditionary Force recruited in Ontario. Amongst these men his militiamen were dispersed, intended to spread experience and morale amongst the raw recruits. At the end of September, after just under two months training, the brigade departed on the 20-day sea voyage to Britain as the first installment of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
On arrival at Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
a British officer took overall command of the "Canadian Contingent" as the Expeditionary Force was then known and Mercer was despatched to Camp Bustard on Salisbury Plain
Salisbury Plain
Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in central southern England covering . It is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation and largely lies within the county of Wiltshire, with a little in Hampshire. The plain is famous for its rich archaeology, including Stonehenge, one of England's best known...
, where he oversaw the training and organising of the Canadian Force to ready it for fighting in Belgium and Northern France. Mercer performed well at this task and an inspection of his camp on the 4 November by King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
, Queen Mary
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....
, Lord Roberts
Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts
Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Bt, VC, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, KStJ, PC was a distinguished Indian born British soldier who regarded himself as Anglo-Irish and one of the most successful British commanders of the 19th century.-Early life:Born at Cawnpore, India, on...
and Lord Kitchener
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
drew the compliment "No finer physique in the British Army. A fine brigade. Splendid." Mercer's fellow brigadiers in the Expeditionary force, Richard Turner, VC and Arthur Currie
Arthur Currie
Sir Arthur William Currie GCMG, KCB , was a Canadian general during World War I. He had the unique distinction of starting his military career on the very bottom rung as a pre-war militia gunner before rising through the ranks to become the first Canadian commander of the four divisions of the...
commanded similar training camps and together the officers prepared their men for departure to France on 9 February 1915.
Second battle of Ypres
Dispatched for the Western FrontWestern Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
, the Canadian Contingent was initially deployed near the Belgian town of Ypres
Ypres
Ypres is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote...
where on the 22 April Mercer's men became embroiled in the Second Battle of Ypres
Second Battle of Ypres
The Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used poison gas on a large scale on the Western Front in the First World War and the first time a former colonial force pushed back a major European power on European soil, which occurred in the battle of St...
. A German attack on French lines had caused massive casualties through the use of poison gas
Poison gas in World War I
The use of chemical weapons in World War I ranged from disabling chemicals, such as tear gas and the severe mustard gas, to lethal agents like phosgene and chlorine. This chemical warfare was a major component of the first global war and first total war of the 20th century. The killing capacity of...
and Mercer's brigade was fed piecemeal into the battle as reinforcements by poorly coordinated staff officers. In a confused and bloody encounter the untested Canadian forces held back the Germans despite being forced to wrap urine-soaked cloths around their faces to counteract the chlorine
Chlorine
Chlorine is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is the second lightest halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17. The element forms diatomic molecules under standard conditions, called dichlorine...
gas. The next day, Mercer's men were directed to attack an escarpment named Mauser Ridge, an operation which failed because French troops ordered to support the Canadian line did not arrive. Mercer himself travelled to the front line to witness the battle and came under fire for the first time before retiring in order to remonstrate with the French officers intended to support him. The Canadian Contingent took very heavy casualties in the battle and subsequently all three Canadian brigadiers were made Companions of the Order of the Bath for their courage and generalship in the action.
During the year the Canadian Contingent was involved in further fighting, assaulting German lines in the unsuccessful battles of Festubert
Battle of Festubert
The Battle of Festubert was an attack by the British army in the Artois region of France on the western front during World War I. It began on May 15, 1915 and continued until May 25.-Context:...
and Givenchy. In the aftermath of these engagements, the Canadian Contingent was reorganised into the Canadian Corps, consisting of two divisions led by Turner and Currie who were under the overall command of British Lieutenant-General Edwin Alderson
Edwin Alderson
Lieutenant General Sir Edwin Alfred Hervey Alderson KCB was a senior British Army officer who served in several campaigns of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries...
. Mercer was detached from his Brigade and placed in charge of coordinating the mass of small and independent Canadian units which were steadily arriving from Canada. During the autumn of 1915 Mercer was able to shape this force (which included dismounted cavalry regiments and British Indian
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
artillery) into an effective infantry unit and in January 1916 he was confirmed as Major-General in command of the 3rd Canadian Division
3rd Canadian Division
The 3rd Canadian Division was a formation of the Canadian Corps during the First World War.The 3rd Canadian Division was formed in France in December 1915 under the command of Major-General M.S. Mercer. Its members served in both France and Flanders until Armistice Day...
, as this disparate force became.
Death at Mount Sorrel
In early June 1916, the Canadian Corps was again posted to trenches around the Belgian town of Ypres. The new commander of the Canadian Corps, Julian ByngJulian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy
Field Marshal Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy was a British Army officer who served as Governor General of Canada, the 12th since Canadian Confederation....
, was inspecting the Corps positions in front of a German-held rise named Mount Sorrel and noted that the Canadian troops were overlooked by German positions and under constant danger of enemy fire. The Germans also seemed to be digging new sap trenches which implied that an assault was intended. Byng ordered Mercer to make a reconnaissance of the front line and draw up a plan to overrun the more dangerous German positions in a local attack. Mercer complied on the 2 June, conducting a standard inspection of front line Canadian trenches at 08:30.
Shortly after Mercer had arrived in the trenches, a massive German artillery bombardment began, heavy calibre shells destroying trenches and caving in dugouts, killing many Canadian soldiers. Mercer was trapped in a dugout and then stunned by a huge shell burst which wounded most of his staff and the officers of the battalion he was inspecting. The more badly wounded among the officers were transported to an underground field hospital but Mercer was left behind with wounded aide Captain Lynam Gooderham, and so was not present when the hospital was buried by the explosion of four mines
Land mine
A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
which preceded a large-scale German attack. In the confused situation, Mercer and Gooderham attempted to escape the advancing enemy but inadvertently ran into crossfire, where Mercer's leg was broken by a bullet.
Mercer and Gooderham sheltered from the continued artillery bombardment in a battered trench, both suffering from the effects of their wounds, until 01:00 on the 3 June. By this stage of the battle an artillery duel had begun between the armies who were still mixed together, Mercer and Gooderham trapped in between. At approximately 02:00 a shrapnel shell exploded in the trench in which they were hiding, further wounding Gooderham and killing Mercer instantly with shrapnel wounds to the heart. Gooderham stayed with his commanding officer's body until captured by advancing German troops who buried the general's corpse in a shallow grave at Gooderham's request. The buried field hospital was also captured by the advancing Germans and as a result nobody who knew of the general's whereabouts on the day returned to Allied lines. A staff officer later claimed that the shell which killed Mercer was British in origin, although it is unclear how this conclusion was reached.
Believing Mercer to have been captured, General Currie assumed command of the battle and with the use of saturation bombardment was able to retake the lost trenches and drive the Germans back to Mount Sorrel despite heavy casualties. On the 21 June a Canadian burial party found 30 bodies in a sector of trench, amongst them General Mercer's remains, only recognisable by his uniform decoration. Mercer was buried in a military grave at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, later surmounted with a Commonwealth War Grave headstone. Mercer's funeral was attended by many men of his Division and from his old regiments as well as numerous Canadian and British officers who had worked alongside him. Mercer was posthumously mentioned in dispatches
Mentioned in Dispatches
A soldier Mentioned in Despatches is one whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which is described the soldier's gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy.In a number of countries, a soldier's name must be mentioned in...
for his courage under fire, the third time he had been so mentioned, and his division was taken over by Major-General Louis Lipsett
Louis Lipsett
Major General Louis James Lipsett CB, CMG , was a senior officer in the British Army and Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. He commanded the 3rd Canadian Division during some of the bitterest battles of the war, taking over in 1915 after his predecessor was killed...
who was himself killed in action two years later. Mercer is remembered as an efficient and capable organiser who never got the opportunity to demonstrate the tactical nous he had shown in training and exercises. He also remains the highest ranking Canadian officer to ever be killed in combat.