Andrew McNaughton - Second World War

Second World War

McNaughton went into World War II commanding First Canadian Infantry Division (part of VII Corps). He commanded VII Corps itself from July to December 1940 when it was renamed the Canadian Corps. Then under his leadership the Corps was reorganised as an army in 1942. McNaughton's contribution to the development of new techniques was outstanding, especially in the field of detection and weaponry, including the discarding sabot projectile. He was unduly blamed for the disastrous Dieppe Raid in 1942, blame better deserved by the British who failed to provide needed, requested, and promised support. Alan Brooke, his opponent since World War 1, frequently criticized him. A favourite of Churchill, he was sent as envoy for a conference with Stalin. McNaughton, then a Major-General, was cover celebrity for Life magazine in December 1939 when Canada had entered the war, but the USA had not. His support for voluntary enlistment rather than conscription led to conflict with James Ralston, the then Minister of National Defence. Due to pressure by critics and weakened by health problems, McNaughton resigned his command in December 1943.

Because of his support for a volunteer army, McNaughton remained friendly with Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, who wanted to make him the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada. Instead, McNaughton became Minister of National Defence when Ralston was forced to resign after the Conscription Crisis of 1944, as King did all he could to avoid introducing conscription. McNaughton was soon pressured into calling for conscription despite King's wishes, a popular move for some Canadians but an equally unpopular one for many others. After losing both a February by-election in the Ontario riding Grey North and, a few months later, the riding of Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan which he contested in the 1945 federal election McNaughton resigned as Defence minister in August 1945. King had made him take blame for conscription, to which both men had been opposed, and now had to replace him as Governor-General designate. King recommended to the Queen that British Field Marshal Harold Alexander be appointed Governor-General, setting back the first appointment of a Canadian to that role by seven more years.