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Master Gunner James Maher, the son of a Trumpet-Major in the Royal Horse Artillery, was born in Portobello, near Dublin, Ireland, on 13 August 1839. Exposed to the ways of army life as a child, he enlisted in the Royal Artillery at Woolwich, 8 November 1852.  His initial documentation records him as “Age – 13 […]

Arthur Hair was born in London, England, on 14 June 1873 and immigrated to Canada at age 13.  Hair’s military career began in 1889 when at the age of 16, he enlisted as a trumpeter in the militia in Quebec City.  In 1891, he transferred to the Permanent Force as a Gunner in “B” Battery

John Ross Matheson was born in Arundel, Quebec, on 14 November 1917. John grew up as the only son and eldest of four children to parents Reverend Dr. A. Dawson Matheson and Gertrude Matheson of Quebec City. At age 18, John trained at the Royal Military College in 1936 and graduated from Queen’s University in

Major-General Albert Bruce Matthews, the son of Ontario’s 16th Lieutenant-Governor, was educated at Upper Canada College and the University of Geneva.  After graduation, he became a partner in the family business.  Enrolling in the 3rd Field Brigade (Non-Permanent Active Militia) in 1928, he spent the next decade on regimental duty.  While serving as adjutant of

John McCrae was born in Guelph, Ontario, on 30 November 1872.  He studied medicine at the University of Toronto, served as the residence house officer at Toronto General Hospital and at Baltimore’s John Hopkins Hospital. Strongly influenced by his father Lieutenant-Colonel, David McCrae, he became keenly interested in military matters.  As a schoolboy, he was