Great Gunners

Conn Smythe was born, raised and educated in Toronto.  Although small in stature, he excelled in sport, particularly hockey.  His aggressive, determined play and hard work combined to make him a formidable opponent.  He was elected captain of the 1914-1915 Varsity Juniors. When war broke out in Europe, Conn, then nineteen, tried to enlist in […]

A native of Toronto, Major General Hebert Alan Sparling received his early education at Ottawa and Saint John, New Brunswick.  He entered the Royal Military College in the summer of 1925, graduating four years later, with the nickname “Sparky,” as his brother had before him. Upon graduation, Lieutenant Sparling posted to B Battery, Royal Canadian

In 1849, Samuel Benfield Steele was born in Purbrook, Ontario, the son of a retired Royal Navy Captain.  Following family, military tradition, he enlisted in the Simcoe Militia during the Fenian Raids of 1866.  He preferred to serve in the ranks to gain experience.  As a private, he accompanied Wolseley on his expedition to the

The second son of a Scottish officer, Thomas Bland Strange, was born in Meerut, India, on 15 September 1831, and educated at Edinburgh Academy.  Unable, for financial reasons, to follow his brother to Sandhurst, young Tom attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.  Here talent and performance were more important than good breeding.  He graduated at

Brigadier-General William Wiglesworth Turner was born in Winnipeg on 17 September 1921. His father, the late Colonel M.W. Turner, OBE, CD was badly wounded on the Somme in the First World War and repatriated to Canada where he would go on to serve 35 years as an officer in the Canadian Army. Brigadier-General Turner’s military