Arthur Evans Snell

Last updated
Arthur Evans Snell
BornMarch 19, 1877
Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada
DiedSeptember 25, 1967(1967-09-25) (aged 90)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Nationality Canadian
Occupationmilitary physician

Colonel A.E. Snell CMG, OStJ, DSO (March 91, 1877 - September 25, 1967) was the tenth Canadian Surgeon General.

Biography

Born in Woodbridge, Ontario, A.E. Snell was educated at the University of Toronto, where he graduated with a Medical Degree. [1]

He joined the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) as a member of the Non-Permanent Active Militia, commissioned as a lieutenant 21 November 1905. His early career can be traced in the published Militia Lists. He qualified for his rank in 1906 and was promoted captain in 1908, all of his time as a junior medical officer being spent posted to No. XIII (Cavalry) Field Ambulance, Toronto. He transferred to the Permanent Army Medical Corps as lieutenant in 1910, captain in 1912. In the spring of 1914 he was appointed Assistant Director General Medical Services (A.D.M.S.), the senior medical officer for the Military Division No. 1, Western Ontario, with H.Q. London, Ont.

In September 1914, Snell was granted a temporary commission in 2 Canadian Field Ambulance of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (C.E.F.), and proceeded to France with that unit in February 1915. [1] He was subsequently promoted to major and appointed Deputy Assistant Director Medical Services (D.A.D.M.S.) for the Canadian Corps in France. In 1916, newly promoted to Colonel, he acceded to the position of A.D.M.S. for the new 3rd Canadian Division of the C.E.F., a position which he held until the summer of 1918 when he was elevated to Deputy Director Medical Services Canadian Corps, in charge of all medical arrangements for the Corps in France and Flanders. At the coming of peace, he returned to Canada and took up his permanent force position and medical practice in London, Ont. His post-war appointments included Acting Director General Medical Services (D.G.M.S.) January to June 1921, Deputy Director Medical Services 1922-1925, District Medical Officer for Military District 10 (Winnipeg) 1926-1930, and District Medical Officer for Military District 4 (Montreal) 1930-1933.

In 1924, Snell wrote "The C.A.M.C: With the Canadian Corps During the Last Hundred Days of the Great War", detailing medical support to the Canadian advance during the momentous closing days of the war. In contrast to the intimate approach used in contemporary accounts of the C.A.M.C. (Adami, Nasmith, Bell), Snell offered a detached, operational perspective - in short, that of the D.D.M.S., whose role it was to guide and support medical operations during the final offensive. In the Introduction of the book Major-General JT Fotheringham offers that it might be "the first contribution made by the Canadian Medical Service to the literature of training. It is full of the kind of experience that will make it valuable, if not exactly as a Manual, yet as a source from which Tactical and Administrative problems can be studied by coming generations of Medical Officers." [2]

In 1933, Snell was appointed Director General Medical Services. He retired in 1936. During his tenure as D.G.M.S. he succeeded in guiding a careful and relatively painless inter-war reduction of the Army Medical Corps, part of a larger reduction of the Canadian Militia in the face of severe budgetary constraint and changing military technology.

Colonel Snell died 25 September 1967 at the age of 91. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Canadian Regiment</span> Infantry regiment of the Canadian Army

The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. The regiment consists of four battalions, three in the Regular Force and one in the primary reserve. The RCR is ranked first in the order of precedence amongst Canadian Army infantry regiments, but in a quirk of the rules of seniority, its 4th battalion is ninth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Grenadier Guards</span> Military unit

The Canadian Grenadier Guards (CGG) is a reserve infantry regiment in the 34 Canadian Brigade Group, 2nd Canadian Division, of the Canadian Army. The regiment is the oldest and second-most-senior infantry regiment in the Primary Reserve of the Canadian Army. Located in Montreal, its main role is the provision of combat-ready light infantry troops in support of Canadian regular infantry. It is a Household Foot Guard regiment and also provides soldiers for public ceremonial duties, performing similar ceremonial duties as the Guards regiments of the British Army. This primarily entails mounting the guard at Government House, the King's and Governor General's residence, and performing the "Changing the Guard" ceremony on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, a task it shares with Canada's senior Household Foot Guard regiment, the Governor General's Foot Guards of Ottawa. The Canadian Grenadier Guards is an allied regiment to the British Grenadier Guards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment)</span> Military unit

The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment) (RHLI) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army, based at John Weir Foote VC Armoury in Hamilton, Ontario. The RHLI is part of 31 Canadian Brigade Group, which is part of 4th Canadian Division.

The history of the Canadian Army, began when the title first came into official use in November 1940, during the Second World War, and is still used today. Although the official titles, Mobile Command, and later Land Force Command, were used from February 1968 to August 2011, "Canadian Army" continued to be unofficially used to refer to the ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces, much as it has been from Confederation in 1867 to the present. The term was often even used in official military publications, for example in recruiting literature and the official newspaper of the Canadian Forces, The Maple Leaf. On August 16, 2011, the title, "Canadian Army", was officially restored, once again bringing the official designation in line with common and historical usage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps</span> Former administrative corps of the Royal Canadian Army

The Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (RCAMC) was an administrative corps of the Canadian Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Forces Health Services Group</span> Military unit

The Canadian Forces Health Services Group is a formation of the Canadian Forces within the Military Personnel Command. It includes personnel from both the Royal Canadian Medical Service and the Royal Canadian Dental Corps, fulfills all military health system functions from education and clinical services to research and public health, and is composed of health professionals from over 40 occupations and specialties in over 120 units and detachments across Canada and abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rupert Downes</span> Australian general, surgeon and historian

Major General Rupert Major Downes, was an Australian soldier, surgeon and historian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps</span> Military unit

The Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps (SLAMC) (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා යුද හමුදා වෛද්‍ය බලකාය Shri Lanka Yuddha Hamuda Vayidya Balakaya) is a specialist corps in the Sri Lanka Army which specializes in military medicine and provides medical services to all army personnel and their families in war and in peace. It is made up of 4 regular units and one volunteer unit. Headquartered in Colombo, formally at army headquarters. The corps Cap badge depicting the Rod of Asclepius. General officers and senior officers of the SLMC wear gorget patches of maroon rather than of scarlet worn by other officers of similar rank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Burston</span> Australian general (1888–1960)

Sir Samuel Roy Burston was an Australian soldier, physician, and horse racing identity.

James Lyons Biggar, was one of Canada's earliest senior military officers.

The Surgeon General is the professional head of the Canadian military health jurisdiction, the adviser to the Minister of National Defence and the Chief of Defence Staff on all matters related to health, and head of the Royal Canadian Medical Service. The Surgeon General may also be appointed the commander of the Canadian Forces Health Services Group, which fulfils all military health system functions from education and clinical services to research and public health. It consists of the Royal Canadian Medical Service, the Royal Canadian Dental Corps, personnel from other branches of the armed forces, and civilians, with health professionals from over 45 occupations and specialties in over 125 units and detachments across Canada and abroad. When appointed Director General Health Services, the Surgeon General is also the senior health services staff officer in the Department of National Defence. The Surgeon General is normally appointed to the Medical Household as Honorary Physician (KHP) or Honorary Surgeon (KHS) to His Majesty the King.

Colonel André D. Gauthier was a Canadian army officer, monument sculptor and designer in various materials including bronze. He also drew in oil paint, charcoal and watercolours.

Brigadier-General S.G.U. Shier OBE, CD, MD was the 18th Canadian Surgeon General.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilbert Lafayette Foster</span>

Major-General G.L. Foster KStJ, CB, MD, LLD, MD was the 6th Canadian Surgeon General.

Colonel Jacob Leslie Potter BStJ was the 11th Canadian Surgeon General.

Colonel John Thomas Clarke CBE, CStJ, MD was the 9th Canadian Surgeon General.

Major-General G.C. Jones was the 4th Canadian Surgeon General.

Major-General John Wilmer Browning Barr CMM, KStJ, CD, QHP, MD, CM, DHA was the 25th Canadian Surgeon General.

Brigadier Raymond Myers Gorssline DSO, OStJ, MD was the 12th Canadian Surgeon General.

XI Canadian Field Ambulance (Western Universities) was a field ambulance unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. Recruitment for the unit began during the winter of 1915/16 in universities throughout western Canada. After arriving in France in August 1916, XI Canadian Field Ambulance treated casualties at a number of major engagements, including the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the Hundred Days Offensive. It arrived back in Canada in 1919, and demobilized in May of that year.

References

  1. 1 2 Tennyson, Brian Douglas (2013). The Canadian Experience of the Great War: A Guide to Memoirs. Maryland: Scarcrow Press. p. 347.
  2. ↑ Snell, Arthur Evans (1924). The C.A.M.C: With the Canadian Corps During the Last Hundred Days of the Great War. DND, INTRODUCTION (PDF). Ottawa: Department of National Defence.
  3. ↑ "Deaths: Snell, Arthur Evans". Ottawa, Ontario: The Ottawa Journal. 26 September 1967. p. 42.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.