{{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = Major General | name = Harry Letson | honorific_suffix = CB CBE MC ED CD | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | citizenship = | birth_name = Harry Farnham Germain Letson | birth_date = {{birth date|1896|09|26}} | birth_place = Vancouver | death_date = {{death date and age|1992|04|10|1896|09|26}} | death_place = Ottawa | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | education = McGill University, London University | spouse = Sally McKee Lang | parents = James Moore Letson and Mary Barbara McIntosh | children = | module = {{Infobox engineering career | discipline = Mechanical Engineering | institutions = Canadian Army | practice_name = Letson & Burpee | employer = University of British Columbia | significant_projects = | significant_design = | significant_advance = | significant_awards = }} | signature = | signature_alt = }}
Major General '''Harry Farnham Germain Letson''', CB, CBE, MC, ED, CD (September 26, 1896 – April 10, 1992) was an engineer, educator and Canadian Army officer who served in both World War I and World War II.
==Early life==
Letson was born in Vancouver in 1896. He was the son of James Moore Letson, a founder of the engineering firm Letson & Burpee, and Mary Barbara McIntosh,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/Hamilton/DMB/SearchResults.aspx?culture=en-CA&action=0&page=558 |title=Letson, Henry Farnham (1824–1874) |work=Dictionary of Miramichi Biography}}</ref>
==World War I military service==
Letson joined the Canadian Militia in 1910. He was serving with the Western Universities Battalion at the start of World War I, soon afterwards became a non-commissioned officer and went with them to France in 1916. In 1917, he became a lieutenant in the 54th Battalion. He was severely wounded by machine gun fire during a raid near Vimy Ridge and was awarded the Military Cross.
==Interwar period==
Following the war, he returned to Vancouver. He received an engineering degree from the Vancouver campus of McGill University (later the University of British Columbia) where he was the first ever graduate in mechanical engineering.<ref name=prize>{{cite web |url=https://students.ubc.ca/enrolment/finances/award-search/vancouver/faculty-applied-science/department-mechanical-engineering/2134 |title=UBC Letson Prize|date=23 October 2023 }}</ref> He went on to earn a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from London University. From 1923 to 1935, Letson was an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of British Columbia.<ref name=twiston>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NvuqiLBmSGQC&pg=PA16 |title=Canada from Afar: The Daily Telegraph Book of Canadian Obituaries |pages=16–17 |last=Twiston-Davies |first=David |year=1996 |publisher=Dundurn |isbn=1459714377}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.memorybc.ca/major-general-harry-letson-fonds-2 |title=Major-General Harry Letson fonds |work=University of Victoria Libraries Special Collections}}</ref> He was president of the Professional Engineers Association of British Columbia from 1935 to 1936. He later took over the management of Letson & Burpee, one of the largest engineering firms in Western Canada.<ref name=mccreery>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4f_dQFXQpVkC&pg=PA307 |title=The Order of Canada: Its Origins, History, and Development |page=207 |last=McCreery |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher McCreery |year=2005 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=0802039405}}</ref><ref name=alumni>{{cite web |url=http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/pdfs/chronicle/AL_CHRON_1955_2.pdf |title=Graduate Profile - Harry Letson |work=UBC Alumni Chronicle |date=Summer 1955 |pages=8–9 |publisher=University of British Columbia}}</ref>
In 1926, he married Sally McKee Lang.<ref name=twiston/>
==World War II and later military service== In 1927, he became commanding officer of the militia unit The British Columbia Regiment. From 1930 to 1935, he was commanding officer of the Officer Training Corps at the University of British Columbia. In 1940, during World War II, he was posted to Washington, D.C. as military attaché to the Canadian joint staff mission. Letson helped conceive the CANLOAN scheme while visiting Canadian Military Headquarters in London in October 1943.<ref>{{cite book|title=Code Word CANLOAN|year=1992|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=9781550021677|last=Smith|first=Wilfred I.|page=5}}</ref> He was named adjutant general in Ottawa in 1942. In 1944, he returned to Washington as chairman of the Canadian joint staff mission. He served as secretary to Governor General of Canada Sir Harold Alexander from 1946 to 1952. He was advisor to the army on militia from 1954 to 1958. In 1963, Letson was named honorary colonel for the British Columbia Regiment.<ref name=twiston/>
Letson excelled at shooting and attended the Army Operational Shooting Competition at Bisley five times, once as captain of the Canadian team.<ref name=twiston/> He served as president of the Dominion of Canada Rifle Association and of the British Columbia Rifle Association.<ref name=alumni/> The Letson Trophy is awarded to the winning team in the Canadian Forces Small Arms Concentration.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dcra.ca/fame.php |title=Hall of Fame |publisher=Dominion of Canada Rifle Association |access-date=2017-12-10 |archive-date=2012-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321092614/http://www.dcra.ca/fame.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Letson was invested as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in January 1944,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36310|page=50|date=31 December 1943|supp=y}}</ref> and, in April that year, was conferred with the Legion of Merit by the United States,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36482|page=1879|date=21 April 1944|supp=y}}</ref> and invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1946.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37408|page=133|date=28 December 1945|supp=y}}</ref> He was also awarded the Efficiency Decoration and the Canadian Forces' Decoration.<ref name=twiston/> He was nominated for the Order of Canada but died before the appointment could have been made.<ref name=mccreery/>
== Legacy ==
Letson died in Ottawa at the age of 95.
Letson and his wife Sally helped establish the annual Sally Letson Symposium for the field of ophthalmology, first held in 1967.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cos-sco.ca/sallyletson/history.php |title=History of the Sally Letson Symposium |publisher=Canadian Ophthalmological Society}}</ref> Letson Hall at the CNIB in Ottawa was also named in honour of Harry Letson.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Ottawa Journal |date=May 15, 1970 |page=2 |title=Fund Drive Nets CNIB $610,000}}</ref>
Letson endowed an award to the University of British Columbia department of mechanical engineering.<ref name=prize/> The Letson Prize is awarded annually in equal amounts to the head of the graduating class in each option of the undergraduate mechanical engineering program.
== References ==
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==External links== *[https://generals.dk/general/Letson/Harry_Farnham_Germaine/Canada.html Generals of World War II]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Letson, Harry}} Category:1896 births Category:1992 deaths Category:Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Category:University of British Columbia alumni Category:Alumni of the University of London Category:Canadian mechanical engineers Category:Canadian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Canadian Companions of the Order of the Bath Category:Canadian recipients of the Military Cross Category:Canadian Expeditionary Force officers Category:Canadian Army generals of World War II Category:Military attachés Category:Canadian Militia officers Category:Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit Category:Military personnel from Vancouver Category:British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) Category:Commanders of the Legion of Merit