Military Career
Harvey first arrived in Canada in 1908 where he worked as a surveyor in northern Alberta and High River. In 1915 he enlisted in the 13th Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles, at Fort Macleod, Alberta. He was subsequently commissioned as a lieutenant and posted to the Western Front in 1916. He then transferred to Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians), part of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade. Harvey was awarded the Victoria Cross following an incident on March 27, 1917 at the village of Guyencourt.
During an attack by his regiment on a village, a party of the enemy ran forward to a wired trench just in front of the village, and opened rapid fire and machine-gun fire at a very close range, causing heavy casualties in the leading troop. At this critical moment, when the enemy showed no intention whatever of retiring, and fire was still intense, Lt. Harvey, who was in command of the leading troops, ran forward well ahead of his men and dashed at the trench, skilfully manned, jumped the wire, shot the machine-gunner and captured the gun. His most courageous act undoubtedly had a decisive effect on the success of the operations
Harvey was originally awarded the Distinguished Service Order but this was later upgraded to a VC. In March 1918, Harvey was also awarded the Military Cross for the same action that earned Lt. Gordon Flowerdew the VC.
After the war Harvey remained with Lord Strathcona’s Horse and was promoted to captain in 1923. He then served as the Instructor in Physical Training at the Royal Military College of Canada from 1923 to 1927. In 1938, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and became the commanding officer of Lord Strathcona’s Horse. In 1939, he was made a brigadier general and commander of the 13th Alberta Military District.
Read more about this topic: Frederick Maurice Watson Harvey
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