Robert Moncel

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Robert William Moncel , OC , DSO , OBE , CD (born April 9, 1917 in Montreal , Québec ; † December 10, 2007 in Halifax , Nova Scotia ) was a Canadian officer who was promoted to Brigadier General on August 17, 1944 at the age of 27 becoming the youngest general in Canadian military history. Most recently, as Lieutenant General , he was Deputy Chief of Defense Staff of the Armed Forces of Canada between 1965 and 1966 .

Life

Military training and World War II

Robert William Moncel began studying at McGill University after attending Selwyn House School in Westmount and Bishop's College School in Lennoxville . He then completed an officer training and became an officer in the Victoria Rifles of Canada infantry regiment . After the beginning of the Second World War he was transferred to Europe as a member of The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) in May 1940 to help the local British Expeditionary Force BEF ( British Expeditionary Force ) during the Western campaign against the German Wehrmacht at the Battle of Dunkirk ( May 26 to June 5, 1940). He was platoon leader one with Bren - machine guns equipped train on the west coast of France. Although he had received the order to destroy his weapons before the evacuation in order to save them from the Germans, he managed to save his train and its armament. Despite the alleged " disobedience ", the rescue of the machine guns found attention from his superiors, whereupon he was promoted to captain .

On his return, Moncel completed a course for staff officers at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston in 1941 . In 1942 carried his promotion to Major , and he commander ( Commanding Officer ) of the 18th Motorized Regiment (12th Manitoba Dragoo) was. After his promotion to lieutenant colonel in January 1943, he became a general staff officer of the first degree in the general staff of the II Corps. From 1944 to 1945 he was the commander of the 4th Tank Brigade and, after Operation Overlord (June 6 to August 25, 1944), he took part in the Allied operations in Normandy and later in France and north-western Europe. On August 17, 1944, at the age of 27, he was promoted to brigadier general, becoming the youngest general in Canadian military history. On February 1, 1945 he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) with effect from December 23, 1944 . During the battle in the Reichswald (February 7-22, 1945) he was also the combat commander of the so-called "Tiger Group", with which he also joined the II. Corps in the subsequent Blockbuster Operation (February 26 to March 3, 1945) on the Lower Rhine supported. For his services there, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). For his services during the Second World War he was also mentioned in the war report on June 23, 1945 ( Mentioned in dispatches ).

Post-war period and deputy chief of the defense staff

After the end of the war, Brigadier General Robert Moncel first became director of the Panzer Corps in 1946 and was then director of military training at the Army Headquarters in Ottawa between 1947 and 1949 . After attending the National War College (NWC) at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, DC between 1949 and 1950 , he served as Army Liaison Officer in the United Kingdom from 1951 to 1953. After his return, he was Deputy Chief of the Army General Staff from 1954 to 1956 and then served as Canada's Chief Military Officer in Indochina from 1957 to 1958 , before he was employed as commander of the 3rd Infantry Brigade stationed at the Camp Gagetown military base from 1957 to 1960 .

Subsequently, Moncel was Quartermaster General of the Army between 1960 and 1963, Commanding General of the Army Eastern Command from 1963 to 1964 and General Controller of the Armed Forces headquarters between 1964 and 1965. Most recently he became Lieutenant General in 1965, succeeding Lieutenant General Geoffrey Walsh as Deputy Chief of Defense Staff of the Armed Forces of Canada . He stayed in this position until he retired from active military service in 1967, whereupon Lieutenant General Frederick Ralph Sharp succeeded him. He then served as the civilian co-coordinator for visits by heads of state to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1967. On December 22, 1967, he was appointed “for his services as coordinator of state visits and in the Canadian Army “Appointed Officer of the Order of Canada (CC).

Robert William Moncel, the occasion of the 60th jubilee of 2002 Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee Medal was awarded, died at Camp Hill Veterans' Memorial Building in Halifax .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ At that time the commandant of the Royal Military College was Brigadier General Henry Crerar , who was Chief of the Army General Staff between 1940 and 1941. The command of the staff course was Major Guy Simonds , who was also Chief of the Army General Staff between 1951 and 1955.
  2. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 36917, HMSO, London, January 30, 1945, p. 675 ( PDF , accessed January 18, 2019, English).
  3. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 37213, HMSO, London, August 7, 1945, p. 4060 ( PDF , accessed January 18, 2019, English).
  4. ↑ LIEUTENANT GENERAL ROBERT MONCEL, OC, DSO, OBE, CD, LL.D. on the Governor General Honors Homepage of Canada
  5. ↑ LIEUTENANT GENERAL ROBERT W. MONCEL on the Honors of the Governor General of Canada
predecessor Office successor
Geoffrey Walsh Deputy Chief of Defense Staff of the Armed Forces of Canada
1965–1966 		Frederick Ralph Sharp
personal data
SURNAME Moncel, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Moncel, Robert William (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian Lieutenant General
DATE OF BIRTH April 9, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Montreal , Quebec
DATE OF DEATH December 10, 2007
Place of death Halifax , Nova Scotia