William Anderson (Canadian Army officer)

William Anderson
Born	7 May 1915 Montreal, Quebec
Died	17 February 2000 Ottawa, Ontario
Allegiance	Canada
Service/branch	Canadian Army/Canadian Forces
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	Commander, Mobile Command
Awards	Officer of the Order of the British Empire Canadian Forces Decoration

Lieutenant-General William Alexander Beaumont Anderson OBE, CD (born 7 May 1915 – 17 February 2000) was the Commander, Mobile Command of the Canadian Forces.

Military career

Anderson graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1936 and from Queen's University in 1937 and then joined the Canadian Army in 1939.^[1]

He served in the Second World War with the Royal Canadian Artillery becoming Personal Assistant to General Harry Crerar in 1942, Commanding Officer of 15 Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery in 1943 and a General Staff Officer with Canadian Forces in North West Europe in 1944.^[1]

After the war he was made Director of Military Intelligence.^[1] He was appointed Commander of Western Ontario Area in 1952 and of 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade in Germany in 1953.^[1] He went on to be Vice Adjutant-General in 1957, Deputy Chief of the General Staff in 1959 and Commandant of the Royal Military College of Canada in 1960.^[1] He was made Adjutant-General in 1962 and Deputy Chief of Reserves in 1965.^[1] He was appointed Commander, Mobile Command in 1966.^[1] He retired in 1969.^[1]

In retirement he was President of the Royal Life Saving Society of Canada.^[2]

Honours

Pipe Major William Stirling composed the 'Lieutenant General W.A.B. Anderson' 2/4 march in honour of 2265 BGen William Anderson (RMC 1932), who served as Commandant of RMC in 1960.^[3]

A classroom in the School of Military Mapping in Ottawa, Ontario, is named for Major-General William Beaumont Anderson, CMG, DSO, for his contributions to military mapping.^[4]

References