Brigadier-General W. O. H. Dodds Donation
The Royal Canadian Artillery Museum recently received a significant donation from Dale Murray. We are very grateful to receive the Brigadier-General W. O. H. Dodds medals, and we will place them on public display. Over the past few years, Dale Murray donated several other significant Canadian Gunnery medal sets, including Colonel C. E. Montizambert, Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Burstall, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., Major-General Thomas Benson, M.C.G., and Lieutenant-Colonel F. M. Benson. We display (Great Gunner) Lt-Gen Sir Harry Burstall’s military decorations in the museum and Lt-Col Benson’s A Battery photo collection on our website. Thank you, Dale Murray, for these generous donations that advance the history and heritage of The Regiment.
William Okell Holden Dodds was born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, on 3 July 1867. He completed his education in Yarmouth, then became a prominent businessman in Montreal, becoming the Manager of the Mutual Life Insurance Company. Dodds was the Vice-President of the Montreal Board of Trade and Director of National Breweries. He was a strong supporter of local sports and became President of the Canadian Amateur Athletic Union. He married Jean Hamilton Holt Tyre in 1910.
From the left: Distinguished Service Order – George V Issue; 1914-1915 Star; 1914-1920 British War Medal; Victory Medal with Mention in Despatches WW1 Issue; The Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers` Decoration George V Issue; The Most Distinguished Order St Michael & St George Companion (CMG); A Society of American Wars of the United States Membership Badge & miniature.
Dodds started his military service when he was seventeen in 1884, serving with the Canadian Garrison Artillery. Captain Dodds served with the 5th Royal Highlanders (Royal Scots of Canada) from 1897 to 1905. In January 1912, he joined the Canadian Grenadier Guards of Canada. The Grenadier Guards remember him as one of their first officers. In early 1914, recently promoted, Major Dodds served with the 3rd Montreal Battery.
After the outbreak of WW1, he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Major Dodds Commanded the 1st Battery, C.F.A., at Camp Valcartier. Before sailing to England in October 1914, Lt-Col Dodds became Adjutant of the 1st Brigade, C.F.A., under the command of Col E. W. B. Morrison. He commanded the 1st Brigade, C.F.A., in France with the 1st Canadian Division. He then commanded the 5th Brigade, C.F.A., in England and France with the 2nd Canadian Division.
In September 1916, Lt-Col Dodds commanded the 8th Canadian Training Brigade in England. A month later, newly promoted, Brigadier-General Dodds commanded the Royal Artillery of the 4th Canadian Division, later renamed the 5th Canadian Division. In October 1916, he received the prestigious Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (C.M.G.). Also, he was mentioned in dispatches four times for distinguished service from 1916 to 1918. In summer 1917, the 5th Canadian Divisional Artillery, led by BGen Dodds, went to France and fought in all major campaigns until the Armistice on 11 November 1918.
BGen Dodds then served in Germany in the Occupation Forces and was a Military Governor of Bonn, Germany. In January 1919, he received the Distinguished Service Order. In June 1919, Dodds returned to Montreal and resumed his civilian career in the insurance industry. In the 1920s, he was an active leader in amateur sport, notably at the Royal Montreal Golf Club and the Montreal Curling Club.
A photo from the funeral of General Dodds in Montreal, 1934.
BGen Dodds was the Honourary Colonel of the 14th Royal Montreal Regiment starting in 1920. In 1924, Dodds was the President of the R.C.A.A. He was the third Colonel Commandant of the Canadian Artillery from March 1928 to August 1934. A portrait of BGen Dodds, as Colonel Commandant, is currently in the Officers Mess at C.F.B. Shilo.
Brigadier-General Dodds had an exemplary military career over fifty years from 1884 to 1934. During the Great War, BGen Dodds held many senior appointments, including commanding the 5th Canadian Divisional Artillery from 1916 to 1918. As a prominent member of the Montreal business community, he earned the respect of his peers, and as the third Colonel Commandant, he championed the Canadian Artillery. Dodds died at the age of sixty-seven on 25 August 1934.
By Andrew Oakden