Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Urquhart, D.S.O.

43rd (Cameron Highlanders of Canada) Battalion

There remains but to refer lightly to the characteristics typical of the Canadian soldier in that crisis which probed into the innermost recesses of character. This is not to claim that the Canadian possessed merits not shared by his comrades in arms everywhere; the soldierly virtues is the birthright of the true fighting man in all lands. But the soldiers of the Dominion exhibited those instincts in their own way. They were hidden under an exterior of independence, which sometimes misled the casual observer as to the soldierly spirit, potent in its strength, lying beneath this mask. (Urquhart, History of the 16th Battalion CEF, 1932, 332)

A native of Scotland, Hugh McIntyre Urquhart was born on 13 August 1880 and immigrated to Canada in 1909. He originally enlisted with the 16th Battalion at Valcartier in August 1914. In recognition for his courage in the field, he was awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order.

Urquhart later served as aide to General Julian Byng and assumed temporary, command of the 43rd Battalion on 23 December 1917. He received a D.S.O. Bar for displaying “leadership and skillful handling of the highest order, and outmaneuvered the enemy. On subsequent occasions he made daring personal reconnaissances which resulted in complete defeat of the enemy. On the last enterprise he was severely wounded.”

Urquhart wrote the history of the 16th Battalion in 1932 and the official biography of General Arthur Currie in 1950, which was published shortly after his death.