F . F . Worthington Major - General Frederic Franklin Worthington , MC , MM , CD ( September 17 , 1889 – December 8 , 1967 ) , nicknamed " Worthy " and " Fighting Frank " , is considered the father of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps . Worthy ' s military career began , somewhat unofficially , as a mercenary . He served in the Nicaraguan Army in the war against San Salvador and Honduras , but when the Nicaraguan Republican government fell , the army dissolved and Worthy left the country to avoid capture . He later found work sailing on cargo steamers . The life of a mercenary was appealing to Worthy , and he soon found himself back in the thick of things , this time gunrunning to Cuba for which he was imprisoned in Cuba in 1908 . In 1913 , Worthy fought on the side of Francisco Madero in the Mexican Civil war against the Dias government . His war service was short lived however , as he was wounded in a battle . Worthington served in the Canadian Machine Gun Corps in 1917 . He was awarded the Military Medal for actions near Vimy Ridge , on 6 January 1917 for holding his position during a German advance . After the First World War , he was a proponent of adopting armoured fighting vehicles . As a captain , Worthington took an eight - month course in the Canadian Armoured Fighting Vehicle School at Camp Borden in 1930 , equipped with twelve Carden Loyd machine gun carriers . In 1936 , then Major Worthington became an instructor at the Royal Tank School in Bovington Camp near Dorset , England , returning to Borden to assume the post of Commandant of the Canadian Armoured Fighting Vehicle School in 1938 . Thanks to Worthington ' s determination , Canada acquired its first tanks in 1938 : two Vickers light tanks , and ten more the following year . In 1940 , the Canadian Armoured Corps was formally established ( the Royal prefix was granted in 1945 ) . As its first senior officer , Colonel Worthington bought 265 US - built Renault tanks of First World War vintage to use in training . Because U . S . neutrality laws prohibited the sale of weapons to Canada , these antiques were bought for $ 120 each as scrap metal from the Rock Island Arsenal by the " Camp Borden Iron Foundry " . During the Second World War Worthington organized the 1st Canadian Tank Brigade ( later the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade , an independent formation ) and then converted the 4th Canadian Infantry Division to an armoured division in only five months . The division served overseas under the designation 4th Canadian ( Armoured ) Division and included the 4th Canadian Armoured Brigade and the 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade . In early 1944 , Worthy was forced to relinquish command of the 4th Armoured Division , " officially " due to poor health , but in fact it was due to changes in Canada ' s Army commanders . Worthy supported Lieutenant - General Andrew McNaughton , but it was Lieutenant - General Guy Simonds who got command of II Canadian Corps . Worthy was simply edged out in favour of others . It was the biggest regret of his career that he never commanded a Division in war . Simonds would later admit that he had made a mistake taking Worthy ' s command away from him ( Ref : " " Worthy " : A Biography of Major - General F . F . Worthington CB , MC , MM " by Larry Worthington ) . In 1944 he returned to Canada to administer Camp Borden , where replacements were trained for the Canadian Armoured Corps and Infantry , as well as the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps and the Canadian Provost Corps . Worthy soon discovered that other things had changed since he left in 1942 . Black market selling was out of control by this time , with fuel , food and building materials being the hot items . Worthy as usual had an unconventional method of stopping the stolen items from leaving the camp . He posted Provost Marshals at the gates to search vehicles leaving , forcing the thieves to take the back roads and trails to get out of camp . Worthy had the engineers dig trenches to make it impossible for vehicles to get through . The most unconventional method however , was having the engineers lay landmines on the back trails , with the trigger points set back about 50 yards , thus ensuring that no one would actually get hurt . The troops got the message though , as no one wanted to take any chances with a commander who mined roadways . The National Resources Mobilization Act ( NRMA ) of 1940 made military service compulsory for in - country service , but overseas service remained voluntary . Those who still refused to go active service met with Worthy ' s unconventional methods of training and persuasion , including being virtual targets of live - fire exercises and being forced to work so hard around the camp that they " volunteered " because it was the lesser of the evils . Worthington served as General Officer Commander in Chief of Pacific Command from 1 April 1945 to 26 January 1946 . Later he was appointed the first Colonel - Commandant of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps . Worthy died on 8 December 1967 at Ottawa ’ s Military Hospital . After his funeral in Ottawa , Worthy ’ s body was flown by a RCAF Caribou aircraft to Camp Borden and in accordance with his wishes , was interred in Worthington Park . Four Centurion tanks fired a 13 gun salute and three RCAF Chipmunk aircraft did a low - level “ fly - past ” , in tribute to a great soldier and Canadian . One of the things that his son , noted Toronto Sun columnist and founding Editor Peter Worthington always remembers about his father is that he used to say , " Until Vimy Ridge he really never felt Canadian , but after Vimy Ridge never felt he was anything but a Canadian . " Today Worthington Park remains as a strong reminder of the birthplace of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps and a tribute to its father , Frederic Franklin " Fighting Frank " “ Worthy ” Worthington . After Worthington ' s death , he was buried at Canadian Forces Base Borden according to his wishes . His wife was eventually buried beside him . The Major - General F . F . Worthington Memorial Park is also home to the tank collection of the Base Borden Military Museum . The Worthington Trophy for best Canadian armoured regiment was named after him .