Vanier: Soldier, Diplomat and Governor General: A Biography

This is the story of a great Canadian told by one who knew him personally, first as Ambassador in Paris and afterwards as Governor General, and who has had access to all his private papers. The son of a French-speaking father and an Irish mother, and educated at Loyola College in Montreal, Vanier deliberately opted for the role of a French-Canadian. He studied French under a retired professor from Paris; completed his education at Universite Laval, from which he graduated in Law; and made the grand tour in France, Germany, and Italy. Vanier never really took to the Law; and when the First World War broke out in 1914 he was active in raising the first French-Canadian regiment - the famous 'Van Doos', officially to be known as the Royal 22nd. He served with this in France from 1915, winning the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry, and losing a leg after leading his battalion in the last victorious offensive. Shortly after his return to Canada and his appointment as second in command at the Citadel in Quebec, he married Pauline Archer, herself of mixed French and Canadian parentage, and then took up his duties as A.D.C to the Governor General, Lord Byng, with whom he formed a lasting friendship. On Byng's advice he pursued his military studies in England at the Staff College, Camberley, and returned to Canada as Commanding Officer at the Citadel. After two more years of peace-time soldiering, he went to Geneva as military representative on the Canadian Delegation to the League of Nations, sitting on the Disarmament Commission and attending the Naval Conference in London. His next post was the Secretaryship of the Canadian High Commission in London, where he served under Vincent Massey; in 1939 his diplomatic career was confirmed by his appointment as Minister of France, Here he watched at close quarters the tragedy of the country which he loved next to his own; his ardent support of General de Gaulle was not always understood by his compatriots. Later, accredited to the Provisional Government in Algiers, he saw the growth of French resistance and was in the confidence of many of its leaders. This biography tells of his close friendship with General Leclerc - who was related to Madame Vanier - and contributes a vivid portrait of de Lattre de Tassigny. It describes in detail Vanier's conduct of his mission in Paris during the years following the Liberation, and his recall from retirement to become the first French-speaking Governor General of Canada. It also describes his family life and throws a valuable light on the deep religious faith which was the mainspring of everything he did. The dramatic events of the 20th century are brought to life through the career of one who played an important part in them; and it was in the light of this long experience that he never ceased to plead the cause of Canadian unity, not only in the face of certain of his own compatriots but of certain French-men whom he had supported in their darkest hour. When he died in 1967 the truth of Lester Pearson's brief encomium - 'he was a very great man' - was confirmed by the tributes paid to his memory by thousands of his fellow-countrymen, irrespective of their racial origin.