Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

Gilles-Antoine Turcot (9 December 1917 – 15 December 2010) was the Commander, Mobile Command of the

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

Military career

Educated at the

Séminaire de Québec The Seminary of Quebec (French: , ) is a Catholic Church, Catholic community of Secular clergy, diocesan priests in Quebec City founded by Bishop François de Laval, the first bishop of New France in 1663. History The Séminaire de Québec is ...

and

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

, Turcot enlisted in the

Canadian Militia The Canadian Militia is a historical title for military units raised for the defence of Canada. The term has been used to describe sedentary militia units raised from local communities in Canada; as well as the regular army for the Province of Ca ...

in 1935.Veterans Affairs Canada
/ref> He served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, joining Royal 22^e Régiment, part of the

1st Canadian Division The 1st Canadian Division (French: ) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very short notice, and is staffed and ...

under Major General

Andrew McNaughton General (Canada), General Andrew George Latta McNaughton (25 February 1887 – 11 July 1966) was a Canadian Electrical engineering, electrical engineer, scientist, army officer, Minister (government), cabinet minister, and diplomat. Before th ...

, in 1939. After training in England for several years and defending the coast, the Regiment was sent in on the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as the Battle of Sicily and Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allies of World War II, Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis p ...

, where Turcot was injured.General was first Canadian to lead NATO forces in Europe
Globe and Mail, 7 January 2011 He later fought as a

company commander A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 100–250 soldiers and usually commanded by a major or a captain. Most companies are made up of three to seven platoons, although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and struc ...

in Eastern Italy, notably at the bitterly fought

Battle of Ortona The Battle of Ortona (20–28 December 1943) was fought between two battalions of elite German ( paratroops) from the German 1st Parachute Division under Richard Heidrich, and assaulting Canadian troops from the 1st Canadian Infantry Divisi ...

where his regiment was out-numbered but held off a determined German attack aimed at encircling the 1st Canadian Division. He was promoted to command the Regiment when it was redeployed to fight in the liberation of Holland, liberating several Dutch towns. After the war, he attended the Canadian Army Staff College and later the

Imperial Defence College The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

in London. In 1952 he was appointed Director of Military Operations and Planning at

National Defence Headquarters National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) ( French: ''Quartiers généraux de la Défense nationale'' (''QGDN'')) was created through the integration of the Canadian Armed Forces Headquarters (CAF HQ) with the civilian Department of National Defence ...

and in 1957 he was transferred to the International Commission for Supervision and Control of

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

. Then in 1958 he was put in charge of administration at Quebec Command Headquarters in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. He became Commanding Officer of

1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (1 CMBG; French: '')'' is a Canadian Forces brigade group that is part of the 3rd Canadian Division of the Canadian Army. Originally headquartered at CFB Calgary, it is currently based in CFB Edmont ...

CFB Calgary Canadian Forces Base Calgary, also CFB Calgary, was a Canadian Forces Base in Calgary, Alberta. Currie Barracks The Canadian Militia opened the Currie Barracks on the southwestern edge of Calgary in 1935, occupying a property on the level pla ...

in 1959 and Director General of Military Training for the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...

in 1962. In 1964 he was made

General Officer Commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

the

Land Force Atlantic Area 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 ...

and in 1967 was appointed Commander of Allied Command Europe ("ACE") Mobile Force, a multinational NATO flank force based in Seckenheim, Germany. In 1969, he became Commander, Mobile Command. which included all Canadian Land Forces. He led the military response to the

October Crisis The October Crisis () was a chain of political events in Canada that started in October 1970 when members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cross f ...

when the

Front de libération du Québec The (FLQ) was a Quebec separatist terrorist group which aimed to establish an independent and socialist Quebec. Founded sometime in the early 1960s, the FLQ conducted a number of attacks between 1963 and 1970,Reich, Walter. ''Origins of Terror ...

initiated

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

s in October 1970.A 'mere rustle of leaves', Canadian Strategy and the 1970 FLQ Crisis
Canadian Military Journal, Summer 2000 Subsequent to retirement he led the administration of the Montreal Olympics and later served as Honorary Colonel of the Royal 22^e Régiment.

Family

He married Helen Mitchell and had two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turcot, Gilles 1917 births 2010 deaths Canadian generals Members of the Order of Canada Military personnel from Quebec City Commanders of the Order of Military Merit (Canada) Canadian Army personnel of World War II Canadian Militia officers Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Commanders of the Canadian Army Royal 22nd Regiment officers Canadian military personnel from Quebec