Colonel Jacob Leslie Potter BStJ (16 April 1877 – ) was the 11th Canadian

Surgeon General Surgeon general (: surgeons general) is a title used in several Commonwealth countries and most NATO nations to refer either to a senior military medical officer or to a senior uniformed physician commissioned by the government and entrusted with p ...

. Potter joined the Non-Permanent Army Militia Medical Corps in 1907 as a lieutenant and the following year, transferred into the permanent force in the rank of captain. During World War I, by this time holding the rank of major, he remained at Canadian Headquarters and held the post of Acting Director General Medical Services from 1915 to 1917 with the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel. He later served as Deputy DGMS 1917-18 under Maj.-Gen. John Taylor Fotheringham and was ultimately taken on strength of the CEF in the rank of colonel in 1918, and assumed command of No. 11 Stationary Hospital, which was a newly assembled unit from

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. That same year, the unit was sent overseas to

Vladivostok, Russia Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

as commanding officer of 11 Canadian Stationary Hospital, part of the Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force (CSEF). Colonel Potter’s wife, Nursing Matron Grace Elrida Potter was also sent at the same time to

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

as part of the Siberian Expedition; in fact, she was the sole woman in the contingent, being the Red Cross representative with the force. Shortly after arriving in

, Potter was appointed to the staff of the Commander of the CSEF as Assistant Director of Medical Services, remaining until the force returned to Canada in the late spring of 1919. He was appointed Director General Medical Services in 1936.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Jacob Leslie Surgeons general of Canada 1877 births Year of death missing Canadian military personnel of the Russian Civil War Canadian military personnel of World War I Canadian Expeditionary Force officers Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps officers