Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

George Kitching (9 September 1910 − 15 June 1999)

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, DSO, CD was a senior

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the 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 respo ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

who saw active service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early life and military career

George Kitching was born on 9 September 1910 in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

(Canton),

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. He died on 15 June 1999 in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

, Canada. He was the guest of

Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld , house = Lippe , father = Prince Bernhard of Lippe , mother = Armgard von Cramm , birth_date = , birth_name = Count Bernhard of Biesterfeld , birth_place = Jena, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Germany , death_date = ...

a couple of days before when he fell ill. He never recovered. Kitching received his military training at the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, joining the

Gloucestershire Regiment The Gloucestershire Regiment, commonly referred to as the Glosters, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994. It traced its origins to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, which was raised in 1694 and later became the ...

. The

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

gave him several postings in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, including

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, Malaya and India. In 1938 he resigned his commission in order to join the Canadian Army. In 1939 he joined

The Royal Canadian Regiment , colors = , identification_symbol_2 = Maple Leaf (2nd Bn pipes and drums) , identification_symbol_2_label = Tartan , identification_symbol_4 = The RCR , identification_symbol_4_label = Abbreviation , mar ...

in the Canadian Army . He was appointed to several positions before attending

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which i ...

to become a senior officer. Again he held several positions, mainly at the staff of Headquarters

1st Canadian Division The 1st Canadian Division (French: ''1re Division du Canada'' ) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very short ...

and Headquarters

I Canadian Corps I Canadian Corps was one of the two corps fielded by the Canadian Army during the Second World War. History From December 24, 1940, until the formation of the First Canadian Army in April 1942, there was a single unnumbered Canadian Corps. I C ...

, before he got his first command in August 1942. Within a few months he was back at the Headquarters of the 1st Canadian Division for the preparations of the invasions of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. In November 1943 he was promoted to

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

to command the 11th Canadian Infantry Brigade, followed by the 4th Canadian Armoured Division.

Normandy and after

Kitching brought the division to Normandy where they were involved in the battle around the Falaise Pocket, in the final stages of the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norma ...

. According to the historian Angelo Caravaggio, Kitching was then victimized for the poor performance of the division in Normandy. Caravaggio claims that essential contemporary sources were altered after the sacking of Kitching and are therefore unreliable. To him it seemed that

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Guy Simonds Lieutenant-General Guy Granville Simonds, (April 23, 1903 – May 15, 1974) was a senior Canadian Army officer who served with distinction during World War II. Acknowledged by many military historians and senior commanders, among them Sir Max Has ...

, commanding

II Canadian Corps II Canadian Corps was a corps-level formation that, along with I (British) Corps (August 1, 1944 to April 1, 1945) and I Canadian Corps (April 6, 1943 to November 1943, and April 1, 1945 until the end of hostilities), comprised the First Canad ...

, stripped his sub-commanders of authority, did not take the lack of experience into account and expected unrealistic results. Kitching could hardly command his own division due to the constant interference from Simonds. Caravaggio comes to the conclusion that Kitching and his inexperienced division performed very well under the difficult circumstances and confusing orders they had to work in. The result of the battle was that Kitching was demoted to

and sent off to command a training unit. Charles Foulkes, commander of

, had more confidence in his abilities and brought him in as Brigadier, General Staff. He was involved in all operations of the I Canadian Corps until the surrender of the German Forces in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. After the war he stayed in the military until 1965. He held in that time positions including Quartermaster General and Director General of Army Personnel. In 1956 he was promoted to major-general for the second time in his career.

Senior Positions Held

Post Military

Kitching served as head of the

LCBO The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation that retails and distributes alcoholic beverages throughout the Provinces of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It is accountable to the Legislati ...

from 1970 to 1984.

Trivia

* Kitching is a former patron and member of the Board of Trustees of Lester B. Pearson College in Victoria.History of the Board
/ref>

Books

* ''Mud and Green Fields: The Memoirs of Major-General George Kitching'' (1986)

Notes

External links

Major-general George Kitching, CBE, DSO, CD

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitching, George 1910 births 1999 deaths Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley People from Guangzhou Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst National War College alumni Canadian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Canadian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order History of Wageningen Gloucestershire Regiment officers Canadian Army generals of World War II The Royal Canadian Regiment officers Canadian generals