Sherwood Lett, (August 1,1895 – July 24,1964) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

soldier, lawyer, diplomat, and jurist.

Early life

Sherwood Lett was born in Iroquois, Ontario, but the family then moved to British Columbia. His university studies occurred at a time of transition: he entered McGill University College of British Columbia just as it became the independent

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thr ...

and in 1915, he became the first President of the UBC Alma Mater Society. He received his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in 1916. In private life, he was married to Evelyn Story.

World War I

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, he volunteered for the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 15 August 1914, with an initial strength of one infantry divisi ...

and served with The Irish Fusiliers of Canada. He was wounded in 1918 and he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

Between the wars

In 1919 he was awarded a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

and received a Bachelor of Arts in jurisprudence at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. In 1923 he joined the law firm of Davis & Company, where he practiced corporate and taxation law. He practised at the same firm until 1963. He was a member of the Senate of the University of British Columbia from 1924 to 1957 and was a member of the Board of Governors from 1935 to 1940 and from 1951 to 1957.

World War II

In 1939, he rejoined the

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 ...

as a

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. ...

and was the Commanding Officer of the

South Saskatchewan Regiment The South Saskatchewan Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces formed in 1936 by the amalgamation of The Weyburn Regiment and The Saskatchewan Border Regiment. It was reduced to nil strength and placed on the Supplementary Ord ...

in England in 1941. In 1942, he was the commander of the

4th Canadian Infantry Brigade The 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the Canadian Army active during World War I and World War II. Raised in 1915, the brigade formed part of the 2nd Canadian Division and fought on the Western Front between 1916 an ...

and took part in The Battle of Dieppe. He was wounded in the battle but his leadership was recognized with the award of the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

. After his recovery he was, from 1943 to 1944, the Deputy Chief of the General Staff. In 1944, he resumed command of the 4th Canadian Brigade and took part in 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 Norm ...

; he received a further wound in this campaign. For his war-service overall, he was made a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire 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 ...

Post-war

After the war, he re-joined his law practice at Davis & Company. ;Canadian Commissioner of ICC: In 1954, he became the Canadian Commissioner for the

International Control Commission The International Control Commission (ICC), or in French la Commission Internationale de Contrôle (CIC), was an international force established in 1954. More formally called the International Commission for Supervision and Control, the organisati ...

, in charge of the Canadian delegation and with

Saul Rae Saul Forbes Rae (December 31, 1914 – January 9, 1999) was a Canadian diplomat during the Pearsonian era of Canadian foreign policy. Life and career Rae's father was born Goodman Cohen. in Palanga, Lithuania. The Cohen family had moved to ...

as his deputy. The ICC was the international monitoring force established in 1954 to oversee implementation of the Geneva Accords which ended the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

and brought about the

Partition of Vietnam Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of ...

. ;Chancellor of UBC: From 1951 to 1957, he was the Chancellor of the University of British Columbia. He was awarded an honorary LL.D from the University of British Columbia in 1945. ;CJ of Supreme Court of BC: In 1963, he was appointed Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court of British Columbia Supreme may refer to: Entertainment * Supreme (character), a comic book superhero * ''Supreme'' (film), a 2016 Telugu film * Supreme (producer), hip-hop record producer * "Supreme" (song), a 2000 song by Robbie Williams * The Supremes, Motow ...

; he died in office the following year.

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Lester Pearson Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, and politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of ...

said of him: ''"I know of no Canadian who has served his country in war and peace with greater distinction and more unselfishly."''

References

* * * * Stacey, Col. C.P. (1960). ''The Victory Campaign: The Operations in Northwest Europe, 1944-45''. Queen's Printer.

External links

Sherwood Lett
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

Generals of World War II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lett, Sherwood 1895 births Canadian military personnel from Ontario 1964 deaths Canadian generals Judges in British Columbia Lawyers in British Columbia Canadian King's Counsel Canadian Rhodes Scholars Chancellors of the University of British Columbia Canadian Expeditionary Force officers Canadian military personnel of World War I Canadian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Canadian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order People from the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Canadian recipients of the Military Cross University of British Columbia alumni Canadian Army personnel of World War II Irish Fusiliers of Canada (The Vancouver Regiment) The Irish Fusiliers of Canada (The Vancouver Regiment) officers The South Saskatchewan Regiment officers