Andrew McNaughton

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Andrew George Latta McNaughton, PC, CH, CB, CMG, DSO, CD (February 25, 1887 - July 11, 1966) was a Canadian army officer, politician and diplomat.

Born in Moosomin, Saskatchewan (at the time in the Northwest Territories), McNaughton was a student at Bishop's College School in Lennoxville, Quebec. He earned a B.A. from McGill University in Montreal in 1910 and an M.Sc. in 1912. He enlisted in the militia in 1909 and went to Europe with the Canadian Expeditionary Force at the outbreak of World War I in 1914. While there he helped make advances in the science of artillery, and was wounded twice. By the end of the war he was in command of all of the Canadian Corps artillery. In 1920 he enlisted in the regular army and became Chief of the General Staff in 1929. In that position, he terminated Defence Scheme No. 1. In 1935 he became president of the National Research Council of Canada.

In 1939 he led the Canadian army into World War II, but despite his scientific capabilities he was also partially responsible for the disastrous Dieppe Raid in 1942. The British generals frequently criticized him, and his support for voluntary enlistment rather than conscription led to conflict with James Ralston, the Minister of National Defence. McNaughton resigned his command in 1943.

Because of his support for a volunteer army, McNaughton remained friendly with Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, who wanted to make him the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada. Instead, McNaughton became Minister of National Defence when Ralston was forced to resign after the Conscription Crisis of 1944, as King did all he could to avoid introducing conscription. McNaughton was soon pressured into calling for conscription despite King's wishes, a popular move for some Canadians but an equally unpopular one for many others. McNaughton was unable to win a seat in Parliament and resigned in 1945.

After the war he served on the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission and as Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations, as well as many other international committees, until his death in 1966.

His grandson Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie is Chief of the Land Staff of the Canadian Forces.

The only high school in Moosomin, Saskatchewan, is named McNaughton High School, after General McNaughton.

[edit] External links

• Juno Beach Centre biography
• McNaughton Archives at McGill

Military offices
Preceded by Herbert Cyril Thacker	Chief of the General Staff 1929-1935	Succeeded by Ernest Charles Ashton
Political offices
Preceded by James Ralston	Minister of National Defence November 2, 1944 - August 20, 1945	Succeeded by Douglas Abbott
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by position created	Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations January, 1948 - December, 1949	Succeeded by John W. Holmes