Canadian Personallities
Lieutenant-Colonel Charles W. Drury (1856-1913)
Commanding Officer, Brigade Division, Royal Canadian Field
Artillery
Lieutenant-Colonel Charles W. Drury, Commanding Officer, Brigade
Division, Royal Canadian Field Artillery in South Africa, February
December 1900.
A popular and efficient officer, Drury was known as the "Father of
Modern Field Artillery in Canada" for his many innovations. After
service in the militia artillery in New Brunswick, he joined the
permanent force artillery in 1877, and served in the Northwest Campaign
in 1885. At the outbreak of the South African War he was in command of
the Permanent Force artillery at Kingston. He was one of the officers
who accompanied the first Canadian contingent to study military
developments during the war. He saw action with British forces and was
present at the battle of Magersfontein.
Drury took command of the Canadian artillery when it arrived in South
Africa in early 1900. After initial operations in March and April 1900,
however, the Canadian artillery was split up and its component batteries
served independently with different British forces. Drury and his
headquarters, along with
"C" Battery, formed part
of Major-General
Robert Baden Powell's operations in the western Transvaal. The
artillery proved its efficiency, although the batteries were mostly
employed in the frustrating task of pursuing the Boers in remote
areas.
After his return to Canada, Drury became military commander of the
Maritime Provinces region. In 1905-06, his command took over the large
fortress at Halifax from the departing British garrison, and Drury thus
became responsible for the largest military establishment in the
country.