F. F. Worthington

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Frederic Franklin Worthington
1890 - 8 December 1967

Nickname	Worthy, Fighting Frank
Allegiance	Canada
Rank	Major-General
Commands held	Canadian Armoured Fighting Vehicle School, Canadian Tank School, Canadian Armoured Corps, 1st Canadian Tank Brigade, 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division, CFB Borden, Royal Canadian Armoured Corps

Major-General Frederic Franklin Worthington (1890 - 8 December 1967), nicknamed "Worthy" and "Fighting Frank", is considered the father of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps.

Worthington served in the Canadian Machine Gun Corps in 1918. After the First World War, he was a proponent of adopting armoured fighting vehicles. As a captain, Worthington started the Canadian Armoured Fighting Vehicle School at Camp Borden in 1930, equipped with twelve Carden Loyd machine gun carriers. In 1936, then Major Worthington was assigned to organize the Canadian Tank School in London, Ontario, and moved it to Borden in 1938. Thanks to Worthington's determination, Canada acquired its first tanks in 1938: two Vickers light tanks, and ten more the following year.

In 1940, the Canadian Armoured Corps was formally established (the Royal prefix was granted in 1945). As its first senior officer, Colonel Worthington bought 265 US-built Renault tanks of First World War vintage to use in training. Because U.S. neutrality laws prohibited the sale of weapons to Canada, these antiques were bought for $120 each as scrap metal from the Rock Island Arsenal by the "Camp Borden Iron Foundry". During the Second World War Worthington organized the 1st Canadian Tank Brigade (later the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade, an independent formation) and then converted the 4th Canadian Infantry Division to an armoured division in only five months. The division served overseas under the designation 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division and included the 4th Canadian Armoured Brigade and the 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade. Worthington commanded the division in Europe, though not in action. In 1944 he returned to Canada to administer Camp Borden, where replacements were trained for the Canadian Armoured Corps and Infantry, as well as the Royal Army Service Corps and the Canadian Provost Corps.

After the war, he became the first Colonel-Commandant of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps.

After Worthington's death, he was buried at Canadian Forces Base Borden according to his wishes. His wife was eventually buried beside him. The Major-General F.F. Worthington Memorial Park is also home to the tank collection of the Base Borden Military Museum. The Worthington Trophy for best Canadian armoured regiment was named after him. His son is newspaper editor Peter Worthington.