Quote:
Originally Posted by Voltigeur
Lieutenant Colonel William Antrobus Griesbach DSO. Unit: 49th Battalion, Canadian Infantry, Canadian Expeditionary Force.© IWM (HU 115454)
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Quite an accomplished man. Probably one of the premier personalities to emerge from Northern Alberta. Born in Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan, on January 3, 1878, he was the son of Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Henry Griesbach of the RNWMP. Arthur Henry was the first member of the RNWMP to receive his badge, in effect, Canada's first Mountie.
Griesbach the younger served in South Africa with 2 CMR. He received the Queen's Medal with four clasps.
He returned to Edmonton and had a very distinguished civilian life. He became a lawyer, and in 1906 was elected the Mayor of Edmonton (at the young age of 28 years).
He joined the 19th Alberta Dragoons and received a commission as a Lieutenant. In 1910 he was promoted Major. When the war broke out, he volunteered, at the age of 36, for the CEF becoming a temporary Lieutenant Colonel on attestation. He organized and led the 49th Overseas Battalion, commanding it until February, 1917. He finished the war as a brigade commander. Along with DSO, he was awarded a CB and a CMG.
After the war, he was elected the Member of Parliament for Edmonton West. On September 16, 1921, he was promoted to Major General in the CM. The same year, at age 43, he was appointed to the Senate, where he remained until his death on January 21, 1945, aged 68.
In 1928 he was appointed as Honorary Colonel for both The Edmonton Regiment and the 19th Alberta Dragoons. The former Griesbach Barracks, in the northern part of the city, were named for him. A mounted statue of him commemorates the site.
Cheers,
Dan.