Major General Garnet Burk Hughes (22 April 1880 – 13 April 1937) was a Canadian military officer during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Although he had shown promise as a cadet officer and was politically well-connected, he was judged not to be an able combat officer and, in the latter half of the war, was shunted away from the front lines to administrative roles.

Education and pre-war career

Garnet Hughes was born on Homewood Avenue in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, the first son of Nellie Hughes (née Burk),Hughes SHS. "Steering the course". ''McGill-Queen's University Press'' (2000), pp1-15. and

Sam Hughes Sir Samuel Hughes, (January 8, 1853 – August 23, 1921) was the Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence during World War I. After a stormy tenure in the position, he was dismissed by Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden in 1916. Early life H ...

, his name possibly in honour of General Sir

Garnet Wolseley Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley (4 June 183325 March 1913) was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army. He became one of the most influential British generals after a series of victories in Canada, West Africa and E ...

, leader of the Red River Expedition of 1870. In 1892, when Garnet was 12, his father was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

; by 1911, Sam Hughes had risen to the post of

Minister of Militia The Minister of Militia and Defence was the federal government minister in charge of the volunteer army units in Canada, the Canadian Militia. From 1855 to 1906, the minister was responsible for Canadian militia units only, as the British Army was ...

in the government of

Sir Robert Borden Sir Robert Laird Borden (June 26, 1854 – June 10, 1937) was a Canadian lawyer and Conservative politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920. He is best known for his leadership of Canada during World ...

. Garnet entered the

Royal Military College of Canada The Royal Military College of Canada (), abbreviated in English as RMC and in French as CMR, is a Military academy#Canada, military academy and, since 1959, a List of universities in Canada#Ontario, degree-granting university of the Canadian ...

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

, taking the top entrance examination score. While there, he rose to battalion sergeant-major, and was awarded the gold medal, and the sword of honour. Upon graduation in 1901, he was placed on the Reserve of Officers as a Lieutenant of Engineers, and was offered a commission with the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

, England. However, his father opposed this, so for some time he worked as an engineer for the

Canadian Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canada, Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonto ...

, and later became Chief Engineer for the Dominion Department of Public Works on

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

. On arriving in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

, Hughes joined the Canadian militia as a part-time officer. He also met Elizabeth Irene Bayliss Newling and married her in 1910. The couple had one son,

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

. In 1913, Hughes, alongside his friend Lieutenant Colonel

Arthur Currie General Sir Arthur William Currie, (5 December 187530 November 1933) was a senior officer of the Canadian Army who fought during World War I. He had the unique distinction of starting his military career on the very bottom rung as a pre-war ...

, helped form the 50th Regiment (Gordon Highlanders) militia. They took the Militia Staff Course together, and on completion of this Currie was given command of the regiment, and Hughes was given a commission under him as major.

First World War

Front-line officer

With the outbreak of war in 1914, Hughes's father offered to make Currie the commanding officer of the 2nd Brigade in the 1st Division of the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF; French: ''Corps expéditionnaire canadien'') was the expeditionary warfare, expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed on August 15, 1914, following United Kingdom declarat ...

. However, Currie was considering staying behind in Victoria to take care of some financial problems and only accepted the post at the urging of Hughes. Hughes himself was promoted to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

and appointed to be brigade-major of the 3rd Brigade under Brigadier-General Richard Turner. The 1st Division spent the winter of 1914–15 training in England, and was sent to France in February 1915. After a period of indoctrination about the realities of

trench warfare Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising Trench#Military engineering, military trenches, in which combatants are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from a ...

, the Canadians took control of a section of trench in the

Ypres Salient The Ypres Salient, around Ypres, in Belgium, was the scene of several battles and a major part of the Western Front during World War I. Location Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. The city is overlooked b ...

on April 17, 1915. Only five days later, on Hughes' 35th birthday, the Germans used poison gas for the first time on the Western Front, sending clouds of chlorine wafting over the Allied trenches. French colonial troops on the Canadians' left flank broke, leaving an enormous hole in the Allied line. In the chaos that followed, both Turner and Hughes panicked and sent erroneous messages back to divisional headquarters that their line had been broken and was in full retreat, when in fact the 3rd Brigade had not even been attacked yet. Late in the evening, they ignored a message from Currie suggesting that two reserve units (the 10th and 16th Battalions) should be used to fill the hole in the Allied line. Instead, Turner and Hughes sent the soldiers on a night-time attack against a German strongpoint at Kitcheners' Wood. Hughes came forward to order the attack, but rather than waiting for proper reconnaissance and supporting artillery pieces, he merely pointed in the direction that the battalion should take and sent them marching forward at 11:48 p.m., shoulder-to-shoulder, illuminated by bright moonlight, while Hughes retired to brigade headquarters. The lack of reconnaissance proved to be deadly; in breaking through a fence while still several hundred metres from their objective, the Canadians were detected, and enfilading machine gun fire caused 75 percent casualties before the soldiers reached the Wood and drove the Germans out. Among the mortally wounded was Lieutenant-Colonel

Russell Lambert Boyle Russel Lambert Boyle (October 29, 1880 – April 25, 1915) was a Canadian rancher and soldier. Boyle served in the Second Boer War and commanded the 10th Battalion, CEF from its time at Valcartier at the beginning of the First World War, to his d ...

, the commander of the 10th. Back in the rear, Hughes had lost touch with the attack and it took hours until communications were re-established. With no reinforcements being sent forward, the Canadians could not hold their position and the survivors were forced to retreat the next day in the face of determined German counterattacks. In light of Hughes's actions during the battle, Currie considered him to be incompetent under fire, and a danger to the men under his command. After Currie was promoted to command of the entire

Canadian Corps The Canadian Corps was a World War I corps formed from the Canadian Expeditionary Force in September 1915 after the arrival of the 2nd Canadian Division in France. The corps was expanded by the addition of the 3rd Canadian Division in December 19 ...

, he refused to promote Hughes to a divisional command of his own, even though the request came from Hughes's father Sam Hughes, the Minister of Militia and Defence.

Administrative posts

Hughes was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general in November 1915 and succeeded Malcolm Mercer as commander of the

1st Canadian Infantry Brigade The 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade was a Canadian Army formation that served with the 1st Canadian Division in World Wars I and II. In 1953 it was reformed in Germany to become the 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in 1992. William Antrobus ...

. He was eventually given command of the newly formed

5th Canadian Division The 5th Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army responsible for the command and mobilization of most army units in the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador; as well as some un ...

, but it was an administrative post only, since the division was broken up as soon as it reached England. Its men were sent as reinforcements to replace battle losses in the four other divisions of the Canadian Corps. The 5th Division adopted a coloured formation patch identical in design to that worn by the four combatant divisions of the Canadian Corps. The colour selected for the patch was

garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. Garnet minerals, while sharing similar physical and crystallographic properties, exhibit a wide range of chemical compositions, de ...

, in recognition of Hughes' command of the division. With the resignation from the Canadian cabinet of his father and champion, Hughes was assigned to an obscure, non-combatant administrative post in command of the defences of London, then in 1917, was appointed as Managing Director of the British Cellulose and Chemical Manufacturing Co in England,Maxwell Craven (November 1997). "The Homestead". ''Derbyshire Life'' 62(11) p58. a position he held until 1920.

Post-war and death

After the war, Hughes worked in industrial engineering in Canada, England, Greece and Mexico. In 1922, while working in England, he was found guilty of driving while intoxicated and fined 40 shillings plus 10 guineas costs. Hughes died in Toronto at the age of 56 of

peritonitis Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and covering of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One pa ...

due to

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

. He is buried in

Lindsay, Ontario Lindsay is a community of 22,367 people ( 2021 census) on the Scugog River in the Kawartha Lakes region of south-eastern Ontario, Canada. It is approximately west of Peterborough. It is located in the City of Kawartha Lakes, and is the hub for ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Garnet Burk 1880 births 1937 deaths Canadian Expeditionary Force officers Canadian generals of World War I Canadian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Canadian Companions of the Order of the Bath Canadian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Royal Military College of Canada alumni Canadian Militia officers Military personnel from Toronto 19th-century Canadian military personnel Canadian Northern Railway