Garnet Hughes Major General Garnet Burk Hughes CB , CMG , DSO , ( April 22 , 1880 - April 13 , 1937 ) was a Canadian military officer during the First World War . Although he had shown promise as a cadet officer and was politically well - connected , he was judged not to be an able combat officer and , in the latter half of the war , was shunted away from the front lines to administrative roles . Education and pre - war career . Garnet Hughes was born on Homewood Avenue in Toronto , the first son of Nellie Hughes ( née Burk ) , and Sam Hughes . In 1892 , when Garnet was 12 , his father was elected to the House of Commons ; by 1911 , Sam Hughes had risen to the post of Minister of Militia in the government of Sir Robert Borden . In 1902 , Garnet entered the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston , Ontario , taking the top entrance examination score . Whilst there , he rose to battalion sergeant - major , and was awarded the gold medal , and the sword of honour . He was offered a commission with the Royal Engineers at Woolwich , which his father opposed , so for some time he worked as an engineer for the Canadian Northern Railway , and later became Chief Engineer for the Dominion Department of Public Works on Vancouver Island . On arriving in Victoria , British Columbia , Hughes joined the Canadian militia as a part - time officer . In 1913 , he , alongside his friend Lieutenant - Colonel Arthur Currie , helped form the 50th Regiment ( Gordon Highlanders ) militia . They took the Militia Staff Course together , and on completion of this Currie was given command of the regiment , and Hughes was given a commission under him as major . First World War . Front - line officer . With the outbreak of war in 1914 , Hughes ' s father offered to make Currie the commanding officer of the 2nd Brigade in the 1st Division of the Canadian Expeditionary Force . However , Currie was considering staying behind in Victoria to take care of some financial problems and only accepted the post at the urging of Hughes . Hughes himself was promoted to colonel and appointed to be brigade - major of the 3rd Brigade under Brigadier - General Richard Turner . The 1st Division spent the winter of 1914 - 15 training in England , and was sent to France in February 1915 . After a period of indoctrination about the realities of trench warfare , the Canadians took control of a section of trench in the Ypres Salient on April 17 , 1915 . Only five days later , on Hughes ' 34th birthday , the Germans used poison gas for the first time on the Western Front , sending clouds of chlorine wafting over the Allied trenches . French colonial troops on the Canadians ' left flank broke , leaving an enormous hole in the Allied line . In the chaos that followed , both Turner and Hughes panicked and sent erroneous messages back to divisional headquarters that their line had been broken and was in full retreat , when in fact the 3rd Brigade had not even been attacked yet . Late in the evening , they ignored a message from Currie suggesting that two reserve units ( the 10th and 16th Battalions ) should be used to fill the hole in the Allied line . Instead , Turner and Hughes sent the soldiers on a night - time attack against a German strongpoint at Kitcheners ' Wood . Hughes came forward to order the attack , but rather than waiting for proper reconnaissance and supporting artillery pieces , he merely pointed in the direction that the battalion should take and sent them marching forward at 11 : 48 p . m . , shoulder - to - shoulder , illuminated by bright moonlight , while Hughes retired to brigade headquarters . The lack of reconnaissance proved to be deadly ; in breaking through a fence while still several hundred metres from their objective , the Canadians were detected , and enfilading machine gun fire caused 75 percent casualties before the soldiers reached the Wood and drove the Germans out . Back in the rear , Hughes had lost touch with the attack and it took hours until communications were re - established . With no reinforcements being sent forward , the Canadians could not hold their position and the survivors were forced to retreat the next day in the face of determined German counterattacks . In light of Hughes ' s actions during the battle , Currie considered him to be incompetent under fire , and a danger to the men under his command . After Currie was promoted to command of the entire Canadian Corps , he refused to promote Hughes to a divisional command of his own , even though the request came from Hughes ' s father Sam Hughes , the Minister of Militia and Defence . Administrative posts . Hughes was promoted to brigadier - general in 1916 and was eventually given command of the newly formed 5th Canadian Division , but it was an administrative post only , since the 5th Division was broken up as soon as it reached England . Its men were sent as reinforcements to replace battle losses in the four other divisions of the Canadian Corps . With the resignation from the Canadian cabinet of his father and champion , Hughes was assigned to an obscure , non - combatant administrative post in command of the defences of London , then in 1917 , as was appointed as Managing Director of the British Cellulose and Chemical Manufacturing Co in England , which in the inter - war period , employed over 20000 men . Post - war and death . Hughes spent the rest of his life seeking revenge for his lacklustre war record by attacking Currie ' s reputation through editorials published in newspapers owned by his family , although he was a pallbearer at Currie ' s funeral . He died in New York City at the age of 56 .