Harry Letson

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,

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. 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. 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.

In 1926, he married Sally McKee Lang. 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.

Letson was invested as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in January 1944, and, in April that year, was conferred with the Legion of Merit by the United States, and invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1946. He was also awarded the Efficiency Decoration and the Canadian Forces' Decoration. Letson Hall at the CNIB in Ottawa was also named in honour of Harry Letson.

Letson endowed an award to the University of British Columbia department of mechanical engineering. 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.