Malcolm Mercer

Malcolm Smith Mercer
Born	17 September 1859 Etobicoke, Canada
Died	3 June 1916 Mount Sorrel, Belgium
Allegiance	Canada
Service/branch	Canadian Army
Years of service	1881 to 1916
Rank	Major General
Unit	The Queen's Own Rifles
Commands held	The Queen's Own Rifles, 1st Canadian Brigade, 3rd Canadian Division
Battles/wars	First World War - 2nd Ypres, Festubert, Givenchy, Mount Sorrel,
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath

Major-General Malcolm Smith Mercer, CB (17 September 1859 – 3 June 1916) was a Canadian general, barrister and art patron who practiced law in Toronto and led the 3rd Canadian Division during the first two years of the First World War before he was killed in action at Mount Sorrel in Belgium. Mercer was an experienced militia commander and had demonstrated a great flair with training and organising the raw Canadian recruits during the opening months of the war. He also demonstrated courage under fire, visiting the front lines on numerous occasions at the height of battle and personally directing his forces in the face of poison gas attacks and heavy shellfire.

Mercer remains the most senior Canadian officer ever to die in combat and was unfortunate to be killed at the opening engagement of the largest battle of his career, when he was trapped by shellfire during a front line reconnaissance and overrun during the subsequent German attack. The division Mercer created and trained remained one of the best units of the Canadian army under his successor Louis Lipsett and Mercer was remembered by the men under his command, many of whom attended his funeral in the aftermath of the Battle of Mount Sorrel.

Mercer was born in September 1859 in Etobicoke, a small town to the west of Toronto in Ontario, Canada. He was the third of nine children to Thomas and Mary Mercer and was raised in Delmer and St Catharines. During his childhood he was educated at local schools and worked on the family farm before enrolling at the University of Toronto in 1881 to study philosophy. He graduated in 1885 and turned his attention to law, being called to the bar three years later. He established a practice in Toronto and had several partners, forming a highly successful but discreet firm which he managed until 1914. Mercer never married or had children and reportedly he was "quiet and unobtrusive. He avoided publicity, moved little in society and in his legal practice preferred to keep his clients out of court, if he could."

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