Stuart, Kenneth.

Stuart, Kenneth, born 09-09-1891, in Trois Rivieres, Quebec, the son of Henry Coleridge Stuart, an Anglican clergyman, who was then the rector of St James Church and the author of The Church of England in Canada, 1759−1793, and his wife, Annie M. Stuart (born Colston). Although there was little money, Stuart went to Bishop’s College School in Lennoxville, Quebec in 1908, the same school his father had attended and where Andrew McNaughton, later destined to play a huge role in the young Stuart’s military career, was an upper classman. 1908 also saw him apply for the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC), which was accepted, despite being twenty-eighth of the thirty-eight applicants. While he was there, however, he changed significantly, growing an inch-and-a-half until he was just under six foot tall, his chest measurement increased by four inches, and he made close friendships that would be maintained throughout his life, such as James Vernon Young,   later a Major-General, and Colin William George Gibson, later a Liberal cabinet minister, and he did better at his studies as, by the time he graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1911. Kenneth served during World War I with the Royal Canadian Engineers from 1915 to 1918. In 1934 he was appointed instructor at the Royal Military College of Canada. Then in 1938 he was made Director of Military Operations & Intelligence at National Defense Headquarters  .  He also served in World War II, initially as Commandant of the Royal Military College of Canada. He was made Deputy Chief General Staff in 1940, Vice Chief General Staff in 1941 and then Chief of the General Staff  later that year. In December 1943 he was appointed Acting General Officer Commanding First Canadian Army in England and then in March 1944 Chief of Staff at Canadian Military Headquarters in England .  The First Canadian Army was the senior Canadian operational formation in Europe during the World War II.  Instrumental in removing General Andrew George Latta McNaughton   who died age 79, on 11-07-1966, commander, 1^st Canadian Army. Infantry battalions of the 1^st Division suffered 52.559 casualties during its years in the field, some 15.055 of them fatal—statistically, representing almost the original strength of the entire division. Twenty-four soldiers of the division were awarded the Victoria Cross. Stuart was sacked by McNaughton when the latter became defense minister in Nov 1944. Stuart’s miscalculations in forecasting infantry casualties helped force the government to impose conscription in Nov 1944. McNaughton died age 79, on 11-07-1966 in Montebella.

Death and burial ground of Stuart, Kenneth.

 Kenneth Stuart died age 54, on 03-11-1945, in Ottawa, Ontario and is buried on the cemetery Beechwood in Ottawa, Ontario, in the veterans section.

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