Duncan Sayre MacInnes (1870-1918)
Brigadier-General Duncan Sayre MacInnes, C.M.G., D.S.O., C-de-G
He was born at Hamilton, Ontario, and grew up at Dundurn Castle. He was a maternal grandson of Sir John Beverley Robinson, 1st. Bt., Chief Justice of Upper Canada. He was educated in England at Westminster College before graduating from Royal Military College of Canada where he won both the Governor General’s Gold Medal and the Sword of Honour and Spur. He was commissioned into the British Army as a Lieutenant with the Royal Engineers and served in the Ashanti (West Africa) Expedition and the South African (Boer) War (1899-1902) when he was mentioned twice in Despatches and awarded the D.S.O. From 1905 to 1908, he held senior staff positions in Halifax, Nova Scotia, before transferring to England where he was appointed General Staff Officer for Military Training at the War Office and at the Staff College at Sandhurst, reorganizing the Army Signal Service and helping to establish the Royal Flying Corps.
On the outbreak of World War I, he was posted to the Western Front with the Royal Engineers with the rank of Major. During the retreat from Mons (1914) he was injured, permanently losing the use of his fingers on right hand. In 1915, he was returned to the War Office as Assistant-Director of Military Aeronautics with the Brevet rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. His senior officer, William Sefton Brancker, wrote of him that he'd, “never met another man so devoted, so hard-working, so utterly self-sacrificing, and so loyal.... All our great output, wonderful workmanship and high efficiency in performance obtained towards the end of the war can ultimately be put down to his work”. Overwork led to him having a breakdown in late 1916, when he was awarded the C.M.G.
Having reached the rank of Brigadier-General, he relinquished his rank in March, 1917, to return to the Front as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 42nd Royal Engineers. He was appointed Inspector of Mines in 1918 and was restored to the rank of Brigadier-General. In that capacity he was accidentally killed while at the Front, possibly while working on a mine. Russia appointed him to the Order of St. Stanislaus First Class and France named him an Officer of the Legion of Honour and also awarded him the Croix de Guerre. In 1902, he married Millicent, daughter of F. Wolferstan Thomas of Montreal. They lived at "The Ridge" Crawley Bridge, Camberley, Surrey, and were the parents of a son and a daughter.
On the outbreak of World War I, he was posted to the Western Front with the Royal Engineers with the rank of Major. During the retreat from Mons (1914) he was injured, permanently losing the use of his fingers on right hand. In 1915, he was returned to the War Office as Assistant-Director of Military Aeronautics with the Brevet rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. His senior officer, William Sefton Brancker, wrote of him that he'd, “never met another man so devoted, so hard-working, so utterly self-sacrificing, and so loyal.... All our great output, wonderful workmanship and high efficiency in performance obtained towards the end of the war can ultimately be put down to his work”. Overwork led to him having a breakdown in late 1916, when he was awarded the C.M.G.
Having reached the rank of Brigadier-General, he relinquished his rank in March, 1917, to return to the Front as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 42nd Royal Engineers. He was appointed Inspector of Mines in 1918 and was restored to the rank of Brigadier-General. In that capacity he was accidentally killed while at the Front, possibly while working on a mine. Russia appointed him to the Order of St. Stanislaus First Class and France named him an Officer of the Legion of Honour and also awarded him the Croix de Guerre. In 1902, he married Millicent, daughter of F. Wolferstan Thomas of Montreal. They lived at "The Ridge" Crawley Bridge, Camberley, Surrey, and were the parents of a son and a daughter.
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Contributed by Mark Meredith on 24/02/2022 and last updated on 24/02/2022.