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. I ...

Michael Wardell (19 June 1895 – 29 April 1978) was a British-born army officer and publisher. In the 1950s and 1960s he owned and operated a publishing company, a daily newspaper and a monthly magazine in

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. He became a Canadian citizen in 1962. He was a close associate of Lord Beaverbrook from the mid 1920s until Beaverbrook's death in 1964.

Early life and career

Wardell was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

and

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 infant ...

. He served in the 10th Royal Hussars, a British cavalry unit, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was wounded at the

Battle of Ypres The Battle of Ypres was a series of engagements during the First World War, near the Belgian city of Ypres, between the German and the Allied armies (Belgian, French, British Expeditionary Force and Canadian Expeditionary Force). During the five ...

. Wardell left military service in 1925 with the rank of captain. Wardell was "a man of high social connections", and a friend of Edward VIII, then Prince of Wales. He lost his left eye in a fox hunting accident in 1925. His eye was pierced by a thorn when his horse jumped a gate overhung with

blackthorn ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania, ...

and an operation to save his sight was unsuccessful.

Association with Lord Beaverbrook and World War II

Wardell became acquainted with Lord Beaverbrook through his social connections and started working as a manager for Beaverbrook's ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' newspaper in 1926. He became the newspaper's chairman, playing the role of "convenient middleman between eaverbrookand his editorial staff". Wardell was one of Beaverbrook's closest associates, often accompanying him on trips abroad for business and pleasure. During

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 opposing ...

Wardell returned to military service with the

Welsh Guards The Welsh Guards (WG; cy, Gwarchodlu Cymreig), part of the Guards Division, is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the First World War, by Royal Warrant of George V. ...

. He designed a multi-barrelled rocket launcher known as a

land mattress Mattress was the term applied to ground-based British-devised multiple rocket launchers during World War II. Compared with the German and Soviet counterparts (the ''Nebelwerfer'' and '' Katyusha'' launchers respectively), the western Allies depl ...

, which the British army tested in 1944 but chose not to use on the battlefield. Wardell subsequently worked with Lt. Col. Eric Harris, a Canadian artillery officer, to finish developing the land mattress in September 1944. It was first used by Canadian forces during the Battle of Walcheren Causeway. Canadians used the land mattress in every major operation of the First Canadian Army until the end of the war. Wardell left the army at the end of the war with the rank of

and went back to working for Beaverbrook, this time at the '' Daily Express''. In August 1949, while visiting Lord Beaverbrook at La Capponcina, his villa at

Cap-d'Ail Cap-d'Ail (; oc, Caup d'Alh; it, Capodaglio or ''Capo d'Aglio'') is a seaside commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 4,523. Geography Cap-d ...

, he was witness to

Sir Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

’s first stroke.

Publisher in New Brunswick

In the summer of 1950 Wardell and Beaverbrook visited Beaverbrook's home province of

to go salmon fishing on the

Restigouche River The Restigouche River (french: Rivière Ristigouche) is a river that flows across the northwestern part of the province of New Brunswick and the southeastern part of Quebec. The river flows in a northeasterly direction from its source in the App ...

at the invitation of the province's premier, John B. McNair. While in Fredericton, the provincial capital, Wardell offered to buy the local newspaper, ''

The Daily Gleaner ''The Daily Gleaner'' is a morning daily newspaper serving the city of Fredericton, New Brunswick, and the upper Saint John River Valley. The paper is published Monday through Saturday and began operating in 1880. In April 2006, the paper switch ...

''. With the financial backing of Beaverbrook and others, including

Sir James Dunn Sir James Hamet Dunn, 1st Baronet (October 29, 1874 – January 1, 1956) was a Canadian financier and industrialist during the first half of the 20th century. He is recognized chiefly for his 1935 rescue and subsequent 20-year presidency and propri ...

, he also acquired a printing company and a retail store selling books and stationery. These, and the newspaper, were absorbed by the University Press of New Brunswick Ltd. (also known as the Brunswick Press), which Wardell had incorporated in December 1950 "for the purpose of printing, publishing, stimulating the graphic arts, and carrying out the trade of printing and publishing books, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, and decorative works of all kinds." The corporation was not associated with the University of New Brunswick. Wardell invested heavily in the venture, purchasing a new headquarters building in downtown Fredericton and a sophisticated printing press which he imported from England. He recruited staff from England and the United States, including the former composing room manager at ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

''. The book publishing arm of the University Press of New Brunswick published New Brunswick authors, beginning with a novel by Grace Helen Mowat in 1951. More than 80 titles had been published by 1967. In 1956 the University Press of New Brunswick bought the publishing rights to ''The Maritime Advocate and Busy East'', a magazine that had been circulating under that name since 1933 and had its origins in ''The Busy East'', which was launched in 1916 in Sackville, New Brunswick. Wardell renamed his acquisition ''The Atlantic Advocate'' and relaunched it as a general interest monthly magazine whose purpose was "to fight the battles of the Atlantic provinces which will win for them a fair place in the life of Canada." The first seven issues contained a serialized memoir by Lord Beaverbrook in which he described his youth and early business career in New Brunswick. Wardell remained an associate and admirer of Beaverbrook and continued to be on the board of the ''Daily Express'' after moving to Canada. He looked after some of Beaverbrook's business and personal interests in New Brunswick and used the ''Atlantic Advocate'' and the ''Daily Gleaner'' to promote Beaverbrook's image. Wardell was editor in chief of both publications and used them to launch "Beaverbrook-style editorial crusades". These included opposition to restrictive liquor laws and municipal

water fluoridation Water fluoridation is the controlled adjustment of fluoride to a public water supply solely to reduce tooth decay. Fluoridated water contains fluoride at a level that is effective for preventing cavities; this can occur naturally or by adding ...

and promotion of efforts to save Fredericton's elm trees from

Dutch elm disease Dutch elm disease (DED) is caused by a member of the sac fungi (Ascomycota) affecting elm trees, and is spread by elm bark beetles. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease was accidentally introduced into Americas, America ...

. His publications usually supported the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

party. Wardell became a Canadian citizen in 1962.

Association with K. C. Irving

Beaverbrook did not approve of Wardell's lavish spending on such items as new state of the art darkroom equipment, and advised him against adding the book imprint, commercial printing operation, etc. to his holdings. Wardell relied on other backers to raise the additional capital to fund these ventures. In 1957, when he needed cash to repay a financial backer, he raised the money by selling a minority stake in the University Press of New Brunswick to the New Brunswick businessman

K. C. Irving Kenneth Colin Irving, (March 14, 1899 – December 13, 1992) was a Canadian businessman whose business began with a family sawmill in Bouctouche, N.B., in 1882. In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Biography Early life Bor ...

. Wardell made an agreement with Irving that the two "would always vote their shares together" and that each would have "the first option to buy out the other". Irving's acquisition of a stake in the company was not made public. The ''Gleaner'' and the ''Atlantic Advocate'' both became strong supporters of Irving's interests. Irving was extremely opposed to the "Equal Opportunity" social and tax reforms introduced in the 1960s by Liberal premier

Louis Robichaud Louis Joseph Robichaud (October 21, 1925 – January 6, 2005), popularly known as "Little Louis" or "P'tit-Louis", was the second (but first elected) Acadian premier of New Brunswick, serving from 1960 to 1970. With the Equal Opportunity p ...

and Wardell used the ''Daily Gleaner'' to attack Robichaud violently, publishing editorial cartoons portraying the Acadian premier as Hitler or

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

. In 1968 Irving exercised his option to buy out Wardell and gain ownership of the University Press of New Brunswick, including the ''Daily Gleaner'' and the ''Atlantic Advocate''. Like his earlier acquisition of part ownership, the buyout remained a secret until 11 March 1969 when it was revealed on the floor of the Senate of Canada by New Brunswick Liberal senator Charles McElman. Irving had already owned all the other daily newspapers in New Brunswick, so the purchase of the ''Gleaner'' gave him a

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

Later life

Wardell retired to

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

in 1975. He died of a stroke in Dolgellau on 29 April 1978 while on a visit to his family in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. He had been married three times and had three sons.

References

External links

A studio portrait of Captain Michael Wardell in 1931
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wardell, Michael 1895 births 1978 deaths Publishers (people) from London 10th Royal Hussars officers Welsh Guards officers 20th-century English businesspeople British Army personnel of World War I British Army brigadiers of World War II Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Military personnel from London People educated at Eton College British emigrants to Canada