Major General Huntly Douglas Brodie Ketchen, , (May 22, 1872 – July 28, 1959) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

soldier and politician. He served in the

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba () is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at List of Manitoba genera ...

as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

representative from 1932 to 1945.

Military career

Ketchen was born to a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

family living in Sholopore,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. His father, Major James Ketchen, served in the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

. The younger Ketchen was educated at

Wellington College, Berkshire Wellington College is a co-educational public school providing education for boarding and day pupils in the village of Crowthorne, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. Wellington is a registered charity and currently educates roughly 1,100 pu ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

, England, and was commissioned into the British Army as a second lieutenant in the

Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was an Ireland, Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot and the 108th (Ma ...

, but resigned after a couple of years. He came to

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in 1894, serving for a time with the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian paramilitary police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory to ...

. Following the outbreak of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

, Ketchen volunteered for service with Lord Strathcona's Corps, a privately funded unit of Canadian soldiers, and was commissioned a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 17 March 1900 as the corps embarked for

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. He later saw active service in

World War I 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 ...

, commanding the Sixth Canadian Infantry Brigade in

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from 1915 to 1918. Ketchen, promoted to temporary brigadier general in June 1915, was nearly dismissed after being used as a scapegoat for following orders from the British. The Battle of St-Eloi in April 1916. After British troops had taken a large crater near the ruins of the

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

town of St Eloi, his brigade was ordered to hold the gain against German counter-attacks. Due to dreadful mismanagement of the Canadian forces by Ketchen and his divisional commander Richard Turner, German soldiers overran the crater, causing 1,400 Canadian casualties and retaking the land around the crater, negating the gains made at heavy cost just a few days before. General Sir Herbert Plumer, the commander of the Second Army who was responsible for the front, demanded Ketchen's immediate dismissal. When Turner claimed that if Ketchen was dismissed he would resign, the commander of the

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 ...

, Lieutenant-General Alderson, sought Turner's dismissal as well. Both officers were supporters of Militia Minister Sir

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 ...

, who made it clear in no uncertain terms to Commander in Chief,

Sir Douglas Haig Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front from late 1915 until t ...

, that if Turner went then Haig could no longer rely on Canadian support. This led to the diplomatic compromise of Alderson being relieved of his command and replaced by

Julian Byng Field Marshal Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, (11 September 1862 – 6 June 1935), was a British Army officer who served as Governor General of Canada, the 12th since the Canadian Confederation. Known to friends as "Bu ...

, while Turner and Ketchen retained their commands.Alderson, Sir Edwin Alfred Hervey
''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'' article by Desmond Morton, Retrieved 5 November 2007

Political career

Ketchen reached the rank of Major-General in 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 ...

and retired on pension in 1929. From 1920 to 1923, he served as president of the

Canadian Legion The Royal Canadian Legion is a non-profit Canada, Canadian veterans' organization founded in 1925. Members include people who served in the military of Canada, military, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canadian province, provincial or municipal ...

in Manitoba and was also president of the South Winnipeg Conservative Association. He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1932 provincial election for the constituency of

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, which elected ten members by a

single transferable ballot The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vo ...

. Ketchen finished seventh on the first ballot, and was declared elected. Running for re-election in the

1936 election The following elections occurred in the year 1936. Africa * 1936 Egyptian parliamentary election Asia * 1936 Ceylonese State Council election Europe * 1936 Belgian general election * 1936 Bielsko municipal election * 1936 Danish Landsting elec ...

, he finished eighth on the first ballot and was declared elected on the sixteenth count. The Conservative Party was the primary opposition party in Manitoba during this period, and Ketchen sat with his party caucus on the opposition benches. In 1940, the Conservative Party joined with the Liberal-Progressive Party and other parties in a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

. Ketchen initially sat as a government backbencher, but soon became disillusioned with the coalition arrangement. In the 1941 provincial election, he ran as a dissident Conservative opposing the coalition. He finished sixth on the first count, and was again declared elected on the sixteenth. The coalition supporters won 50 of 55 seats in the legislature in the 1941 election. Ketchen appears to have served as

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

in the legislature from 1941 to 1943. The Conservative Party remained a part of the coalition throughout the 1940s. Ketchen did not run for re-election in 1945. He died in hospital in Winnipeg at the age of 87. He married, in 1905, Margaret Elizabeth Robinson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ketchen, Huntly 1872 births 1959 deaths Canadian Militia officers 19th-century British Army personnel Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba MLAs People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Canadian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers officers Canadian generals of World War I Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Lord Strathcona's Horse officers Canadian Expeditionary Force officers Canadian military personnel of the Second Boer War Military personnel of British India British people in colonial India British emigrants to Canada 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba