General Henry Duncan Graham Crerar CH, CB, , DSO, CD, PC (28 April 1888 – 1 April 1965) was a senior officer of the Canadian Army who became the country's senior field commander in the Second World War as commander of the First Canadian Army in the campaign in North West Europe in 1944–1945, having rapidly risen in rank from brigadier in 1939 to that of a full general in 1944.

He rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the artillery in the First World War, during which he was mentioned in despatches and made a member of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).

J. L. Granatstein wrote of Crerar that: "No other single officer had such impact on the raising, fighting, and eventual disbanding of the greatest army Canada has ever known.

Instead, he accepted a commission as a lieutenant in the Non-Permanent Active Militia, serving with the 4th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery, which was based in Hamilton.

The death of his father later on in 1912 prompted a career change and a move to Toronto, where he joined his brother-in-law Adam Beck as an engineer with the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario.

[15] On 7 December he left on furlough to England then returned to Canada, where he married Verse at St Paul's Anglican Church in Toronto on 14 January 1916 in a ceremony conducted by Archdeacon H. J. Cody.

In October, McNaughton became the General Officer Commanding (GOC) Canadian Corps Heavy Artillery, and Crerar succeeded him as the CBSO, a position he held during the Battle of Valenciennes in November 1918.

He completed a four-month preparatory course at the Royal Military College, passed the Camberley entrance examinations in 1922, and secured admission in January 1923.

Then in August 1938, he became the commandant of the Royal Military College,[32] and with it came the temporary rank of brigadier, although he was disappointed at not being the first choice of the CGS, Major General Ernest Charles Ashton.

He brought Colonel E. L. M. Burns from the 2nd Division staff as his DMO&I, and Brigadier Kenneth Stuart, who had succeeded him as commandant of the Royal Military College, as his VCGS.

[45] The British believed the chance of Japan going to war was remote,[46] and strong show of resolve would reassure China and help deter Japanese aggression.

[52] A vacancy occurred at the 2nd Infantry Division through Odlum's forced retirement, and Ralston was happy to replace Crerar with Stuart, whom he found much easier to work with.

On arrival in the UK he replaced Major-General George Pearkes as acting commander of the Canadian Corps in the absence of McNaughton, who was on extended medical leave, and so remained a lieutenant-general.

[57][58] In January 1943, Crerar was created a Companion of the Order of the Bath, the highest level of award permitted by Canadian government policy.

[63] A small raid was conducted on the French coastal village of Hardelot in April 1942, but the fifty Canadian troops involved did not step ashore.

On 23 April 1943, Brooke met with McNaughton and presented an alternative proposal to send the 1st Canadian Division to the Mediterranean to take part in Operation Husky, codename for the Allied invasion of Sicily.

[72] Simonds mistakenly blamed Crerar for this transfer, but it was because McNaughton and Montgomery thought this would be good preparation for elevation to command of a corps.

Crerar cautioned Simonds he was approaching a level of command where balance was as important as brilliance, and that the firing of brigadiers was a matter of concern for the Canadian government.

[77][78] Mann was appointed its chief of staff on 28 January 1944; Brigadier Alfred Ernest Walford was the Deputy Adjutant and Quartermaster General (DA&QMG), the chief administrative officer; and Colonel George Edwin (Ted) Beament, like Simonds a Kingston graduate who had served with Crerar in B Battery, was the colonel (general staff).

British I Corps would remain part of the First Canadian Army until March 1945, and, despite the rocky start, Crerar and Crocker would build a good working relationship.

His aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Finlay Morrison, would brief him at 06:30, and he would meet with his senior staff officers, Mann, Beament, Walford and the GSO1s for intelligence, air and operations.

While he was prepared to discount the opinions of British officers like Field Marshall Sir Harold Alexander, the commander of the 15th Army Group, and Lieutenant-General Sir Richard McCreery of the British Eighth Army, Brigadier Ernest Weeks reported that neither Chris Vokes of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division nor Bert Hoffmeister of the 5th Canadian (Armoured) Division had confidence in Burns.

[99][100][101] For the Battle of the Reichswald Forest in early 1945, codenamed Operation Veritable, the First Canadian Army was reinforced with the six divisions of Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks's British XXX Corps.

[102] Despite casualties in the Battle of the Scheldt, the infantry battalions were up to full strength, thanks to the quiet period from November through January, the success of the retraining program, and the arrival of National Resources Mobilization Act (NRMA) conscripts, derogatorily known as "zombies".

[105] Historian Bill McAndrew described it as "the epitome of the Canadian way of war: large scale orderly preparation, accumulation of massive resources, and meticulous planning.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander on the Western Front, wrote in a letter to Crerar, stating, "Probably no assault in this war has been conducted in more appalling conditions of terrain than was that one.

A farewell sign posted on behalf of Crerar to troops of the First Canadian Army departing from the Netherlands in 1945 read: Here's wishing you a satisfactory and speedy journey home, and that you find happiness at the end of it.

[133] Crerar arrived in Halifax on the troopship SS Île de France, with 980 Canadian World War II veterans on 5 August 1945.

[143] The appointment to the Privy Council was announced by the Prime Minister, Lester Pearson, on the 20th anniversary of the D-Day landing in Normandy, and commemorated the role of the Canadian Army in the campaign in North West Europe.

He was too concerned with non-operational matters, too inexperienced, too weak a field commander, and too determined to protect Canadian interests to gain Montgomery's confidence.