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Archiver > LATTA > 1999-09 > 0937752265


From: St.Agnes Press< >
Subject: Re: [LATTA] Re: General Andrew George Latta McNaughton
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 12:14:25 -0230


Keith Latta wrote:
>
> Hi Alex,
>
> I have long had an interest in General McNaughton, but haven't been able to
> pin down his branch.
>
> As you probably are aware, his mother was a Latta - and Latta was included
> in his name for that reason.
>
> His parents were born in Scotland, and he was born in Sask shortly after his
> parents came to Canada. I read somewhere that his mother died when he was a
> baby and his mother's sister came out from Scotland and raised him. (I
> don't know whether she married his father, her brother-in-law, but assume
> she did.)
>
> There are a lot of details about his military career in two books that I
> have - VIMY by Pierre Berton, and GAUNTLET TO OVERLORD by Ross Munro, who
> was a war correspondent during WW2. Munro (now deceased) later became
> editor of the Edmonton Journal and was my sister's boss for many years.
>
> Both authors agree that McNaughton was the greatest military leader ever
> produced by Canada. He graduated as an engineer from McGill University, but
> his career was almost entirely in the military.
>
> During WW1, the French and then the British tried for weeks to take Vimy
> Ridge which had great strategic importance. They both failed to do so with
> enormous troop losses. Finally, the Canadian Army under McNaughton was
> ordered to have a go at it.
>
> McNaughton was a genius in the use of artillery. For months (unknown to the
> Germans) he had his troops tunnel under Vimy Ridge, and planned a brilliant
> artillery barrage that was the most devastating of WW1. When the artillery
> barrage ended abruptly, surprise, the Canuck troops mysteriously appeared on
> the Ridge. It was all over in a couple of days.
>
> He was appointed commander of the Canadian Army at the start of WW2 - but
> was fired by the Prime Minister when they disagreed over conscription. The
> PM was opposed to conscription for political reasons - because Quebec
> opposed it. McNaughton did not feel that an army of volunteers could
> continue to provide the manpower required to win the war. He was eventually
> proven to be right. (Shades of the firing of General McArthur by President
> Harry Truman.)
>
> Sorry for the tedious facts but, as you can gather, McNaughton is one of my
> heroes.
>
> Keith
>
> ________________________________
> At 08:10 PM 09/16/99, you wrote:
> >
> >Dear Kieth;
> > Thank you for your ghostly observations. I think we all get them from
> time to time. Would you happen to know which branch that Gen.
> >Andrew George Latta McNaughton belongs to? He was born at Moosomin, Sask.,
> in 1897, died in 1966.
> > I will be returning to Ireland this October, for research on the Abercorn
> Papers. It is mentioned in the last Newsletter. We are gradually
> >piecing things together, and hopefully, will united more branches soon.
> > The best. Alex.
> >
> >
> >
>
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Dear Friends:
Just to add a little trivia to this branch, there is a Mc Naughton St
here in St John's, lined w wartime pre-fab houses. McNaughton spent
some time here during the Second WW. My uncle recalled an incident when
posted here during those days (along w the late Clyde Gilmour). One
typically foggy night my uncle saw a fellow approaching but could not
distinguish him in the gloomy atmosphere, except for some brassy pips he
mistook for someone of lesser rank, so he kept along his path w/o
acknowledgement. He was quickly called back to the stranger who
demanded to know why he had passed w/o the proper salute. It was in fact
Gen AGL McNaughton.
Cheers
Peter Latta
St John's

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