William Bethune Lindsay Explained

William Bethune Lindsay
Birth Date:3 November 1880
Birth Place:Strathroy, Ontario
Death Place:Toronto, Ontario
Allegiance: Canada
Rank:Major General
Branch:Canadian Corps
Commands:Chief Engineer of the Canadian Corps
Battles:World War I
Awards:Order of St Michael and St George
Order of the Bath

Major General William Bethune Lindsay (3 November 1880[1] – 27 June 1933) was a Canadian military officer during World War I.

Lindsay was born on 3 November 1880, the son of Dr. W. B. Lindsay, of Strathroy, Ontario, Canada. Lindsay was educated at Strathroy District Collegiate Institute (along with Arthur William Currie) and later enrolled at the Royal Military College of Canada.[2] In 1900, he was appointed assistant engineer of the Department of Marine and Fisheries. Lindsay was one of the original officers of the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers. During the First World War, he served as Chief Engineer of the Canadian Corps and was responsible for a major reorganization of the engineering component of the corps that proved particularly helpful in the Hundred Days Offensive near the end of the War.

Following the war Lindsay went to Alberta and became an early advocate of the commercial and industrial development of the tar sands. With government support his company sent tons of material to an Anglo-Persian Oil Company facility in Swansea, Wales for testing. In 1925, with what appeared to be limited prospects for success, he dissolved the company. He died of a heart attack at Toronto Hunt Club on 27 June 1933 and is buried at Strathroy Municipal Cemetery.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Personnel Records of the First World War . Library and Archives Canada. 29 June 2016 .
  2. Web site: LINDSAY, WILLIAM BETHUNE . 2024-07-26 . Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
  3. General Lindsay is Found Dead at Toronto Club. The Border Cities Star. June 27, 1933