LOOMIS, Sir FREDERICK OSCAR WARREN, KCB CMG DSO, businessman, militia and army officer, was born 1 February 1870 in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Son of Daniel Gordon Loomis and Amelia Hall Burrowes. Married in 1894 to Margaret Morrison Mundell in Springfield, Mass. They had five sons and two daughters. Major General Frederick Loomis died 15 February 1937 in Montreal.
Early Life and Militia
Frederick Loomis was educated in the public schools of Sherbrooke, and Bishop’s College, in nearby Lennoxville, Quebec. In 1891, he joined D. G. Loomis and Sons, a general contractor. His partnership with his father, and brother lasted until 1912. In 1912, he became sole proprietor of the company. He had also followed his father into the militia, enlisting as a private in the 53rd (Sherbrooke) Battalion of Infantry, at the age of 16.
In 1903, when the family enterprise moved its operations to Montreal, Loomis, then a lieutenant, transferred to the prestigious 5th Regiment (Royal Scots of Canada), which became the Royal Highlanders of Canada three years later. By 1909 he held the rank of major.
Great War
Loomis was aged 44, owner of a prosperous concern, and a leading member of Anglo-Montreal society at the dawn of the Great War. He promptly enlisted and attested 23 September 1914 at Valcartier. He stood 5’10” tall, with red-blonde complexion, grey eyes, and grey hair. Colonel R.E.W. Turner, commanding IV Infantry Brigade, signed his attestation paper.
Lieutenant-Colonel F.O.W. Loomis, Commanding Officer, 13th Battalion
As an officer with experience and connections, he was noticed by the Minister of Militia and Defence, Sir Samuel Hughes. Hughes made Loomis a Lieutenant-Colonel, and appointed him C.O. of the 13th (Royal Highlanders of Canada) Battalion. He left Canada on 3 October 1914.
Second Battle of Ypres
Loomis established his credentials as a field officer at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915. His unit performed heroically in the first German gas attack of the war, on 22 April 1915. Under his steady, and courageous leadership, they managed to hold the critical ground around Saint-Julien (Sint Juliaan). His unit suffered heavily in the second German gas attack of the war, on 24 April 1915.
Brigadier-General F.O.W. Loomis, Commanding Officer, 2nd Infantry Brigade
Major-General Edwin Alfred Hervey Alderson, the British commander of the Canadian troops, successfully pressed for his promotion. Loomis became a Brigadier-General in March 1916. After holding two temporary posts, including supervision of a brigade still training in England, he finally got the 2nd Infantry Brigade, at 02h00 on 1 July 1916.
With the exception of three months’ compassionate leave in Canada in early 1918, he served as the 2nd Brigades commanding officer until September 1918. He led his troops in every major engagement fought by the Canadian Corps during that period – the Somme, Vimy Ridge (where he was slightly wounded), Hill 70, Passchendaele, Amiens, and the Drocourt–Quéant Line.
Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur William Currie, the commander of the corps during the last 17 months of the war, considered Loomis one of his best senior officers, writing to Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Ernest William Turner in December 1917. That “brigadiers like [Loomis] do not grow on gooseberry bushes [and] I would not lose him for the world.” Loomis’s men considered him aloof and stern. He was a stickler for military discipline, but fair-minded, and brave.
Battle of Vimy Ridge
During the Battle of Vimy Ridge, Loomis was slightly wounded. Very slightly, for he remained at duty, and the next day attended an Officer’s conference with Sir Arthur Currie.
Battle of Passchendaele
Among the 2nd Brigade’s singular achievements was the spearheading of the last Canadian attack at Passchendaele on 10 Nov. 1917. As an unidentified Australian officer noted simply, If the Canadians can hold on, they are wonderful troops. Hold on they did in the face of fierce enemy efforts to hurl them back. A tribute to their tenacity. But, also to their brigadier’s ability to train and inspire them. And to feel compassion for their experience with what he described as the terrible character of modern warfare.
Anzin-Saint-Aubin
Headquarters Staff
Last Hundred Days
The highlight of Major General Frederick Loomis’ career came during what would later become known as Canada’s Last Hundred Days.
Major-General F.O.W. Loomis, G.O.C., 3rd Canadian Division
To complete the all-Canadian General Staff, in 1918 Currie singled out five of his twelve brigadiers as suitable for a divisional command. He picked Loomis to lead the 3rd Canadian Division, which he took over at 10h30 on 13 September 1918. Major General Frederick Loomis would exercise his new authority in only one major battle, the Battle of Canal du Nord. The war’s end found Loomis in Mons, which his troops entered on the night of 10–11 November. Major General Frederick Loomis is to the right of Currie in MIKAN No. 3522365 below.
Demobilization
As commander of the 3rd Division, Major General Frederick Loomis did not participated in the March to the Rhine, and the Allied Occupation of Germany. He remained in Belgium, in the Namur area with thousands of troops of the 3rd, and 4th Canadian Divisions. Maj.-Gen. Loomis was on hand for a very special ceremony at Néchin, Belgium, 29 January 1919. A Colour Party, of the The Royal Highlanders of Canada, had just returned from England.
Awards
By 1919 Loomis held all a divisional commander’s expected decorations. He had been made an officer in the Legion of Honour (30 March 1916), a companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (4 June 1917), and a knight (3 June 1919). Loomis had also been granted the Distinguished Service Order in 1915, and in 1919, a bar was added.
The DSO (London Gazette No. 29202) recognized his actions at the second battle of Ypres, and the bar was for his gallantry, and brilliant leadership during the opening stages of the fighting at Amiens on 8–9 August 1918, and three and a half weeks later, during the Battle of the Drocourt–Quéant Line. In both instances “he [had] made reconnaissances under heavy fire, personally superintending the disposition of troops, and encouraging all by his coolness and ability.”
Loomis was Mentioned in Despatches 13 November 1916, and 28 December 1917. Also, awarded the Legion D’Honour (Croix d’Officier), London Gazette No. 29528.
Return to Canada
On 1 March 1919, 35 Officers and 735 Other Ranks of the Royal Canadian Regiment, along with 31 Officers, and 634 O/R of the 42nd Canadian Infantry Battalion (Royal Highlanders of Canada) left Bramshott Camp and proceeded by rail from Haslemere Station at 05h45 and 06h15 respectively for Liverpool to sail per SS ADRIATIC (White Star Line) for Canada.
Major General Sir Frederick Oscar Warren Loomis was present at the embarkation of the troops, and returned to Bramshott Camp the same evening.
![Departure of 3rd Canadian Division per S.S. "Adriatic" from Liverpool March 1st 1919. Maj-Gen Loomis has a kindly word and handshake for many officers and men as they passed [The R.C.R. officer shaking hands with Maj.-Gen. Loomis is Lt. H.R. St. C. Jones of Weymouth, N.S.]. MIKAN No. 3522991](https://i0.wp.com/cefrg.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/3522991-a005928-v8.jpg?resize=1000%2C781&ssl=1)
Later Life
Worn out by his war service, in May 1919 Major General Frederick Loomis returned to his business in Montreal, and the social life that accompanied it. During the 1920s, D. G. Loomis and Sons, in which his eldest son, Daniel McKay, worked as an engineer, specialized in the construction of industrial buildings and hydroelectric power plants.
Like many senior Canadian commanders, he was roused to action when early drafts of the British army’s official history, which would appear in 1925, seemed to disparage the performance of his troops at second Ypres, as well as the reputation of his friend Currie. Acidly dismissing the assessment as unfair, unfriendly and ungenerous, he joined with brother officers to pressure successfully the British authorities for a more acceptable version.
In 1928, Loomis testified on Currie’s behalf, when Currie launched a libel action, which he won, against an Ontario journalist, William Thomas Rochester Preston. The journalist had claimed the corps commander, in ordering the attack on Mons in the last hours of the war, had needlessly sacrificed lives to enhance his own reputation.
Loomis’s business declined significantly during the Great Depression. His health rapidly deteriorated during the 1930s. He died of heart failure, after a brief illness, at his home in Montreal, on 15 February 1937, at the age of 67.
Officer’s Claymore
On 4 March 1998, Pipe Major J.H. MacDonald CD spoke with Sgt. D. Sutherland, at 8 Wing CFB Trenton. The subject concerned the Officer’s Claymore (Sword) belonging to the late Major-General Sir F.O.W. Loomis K.C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., Commanding Officer of The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders of Canada) 1914 – 1915.
Discovery
P/M MacDonald was in 3RCR, posted to CFB Baden-Soellingen, West Germany in 1988. While emptying a tri-wall box in the Pipe Band office one day, P/M MacDonald uncovered the above mentioned Claymore. It had been lying at the bottom of the box with miscellaneous junk, and refuse. On the blade was inscribed “F.O.W. LOOMIS 5th ROYAL HIGHLANDERS OF CANADA”, along with the Boar’s head emblem of that unit. With the exception of an ill fitting, obviously unmatched scabbard of more recent addition, it was in good antique condition.
P/M MacDonald immediately knew that it was something special, and showed it to Pipe Major Murdoch Jardine, 3RCR. There as no record of it in the Battalion. Then, P/M MacDonald showed it to Pipe Major (Ret’d) John Huggan, who was then a civilian employee, working in the base tool crib section. P/M Huggan served in the Canadian Guards, The RCR, and has affiliation by direct service and/or association with several Highland Regiments in Canada and The UK. Including the Canadian Black Watch in Northern Germany during the 50s – 60s. He was well known, and highly respected by all the CF Pipers in Europe.
Huggie
“Huggie”, as he is affectionately known, is a highly experienced, knowledgeable, good-natured man, with a lot of service time. Upon seeing the sword, he exclaimed that it was a treasure, and that Loomis was the Black Watch’s first CO when the 5th Royal Highlanders re-badged to become The Watch.
P/M Jardine (retired, and living in Winnipeg as a CIC officer) agreed that P/M MacDonald would take custody of it, bring it to Ottawa on his Pipe Major’s course, care for it, and return it to The Black Watch in Montreal. Then, P/M MacDonald thought it would be fitting, and dignified, to make a formal presentation of it at a parade, or a mess dinner, where he would play the Pibroch “Lament for The Old Sword”, and then hand it over. P/M MacDonald hoped The Watch would no-doubt be grateful to have returned to them this precious heirloom.
The Black Watch Pipes and Drums landing at Saint Nazaire
So P/M MacDonald kept good care of the Claymore, and made a point of telling the story of it, and showing it to as many people as he could find. P/M MacDonald did not ever want for a situation where there could be even the perception that he was trying to hide it for myself, but rather he wanted the subject to stay out in the open, as it did. In Ottawa, at the Canadian War Museum, P/M MacDonald saw a print of a painting by Edgar Bundy, A.R.A. of The Black Watch Pipes and Drums landing at Saint Nazaire, France, 1915 while Lt.-Col. Loomis, and his officers look on.
This was a fascinating discovery, and had become part of the story as P/M MacDonald told it. Among those with whom P/M MacDonald have shared this info are, RSM Paul CD of The Watch who served full time at NDHQ in 1990, RSM (Ret’d) Don Reben CD, ex PPCLI and Ceremonial Guard, Ottawa, and in 1991 P/M MacDonald showed the sword to two Black Watch Pipers who were employed for the changing of the guard on Parliament Hill.
Loomis Family
P/M MacDonald never found out how the sword wound up at 3 Royal Canadian Regiment, but had heard that the late Maj.-Gen. Loomis had a son, or nephew, or grandson, who was either in the Canadian Guards, or RCR, or both. Recall the Cdn Guards rebadged to become 3RCR, and that it took some time for things to shake themselves out. Anyway, P/M MacDonald suspected that a descendant of Maj.-Gen. Loomis donated the Claymore to the new 3RCR Pipes and Drums (note, the Loomis family has confirmed this fact).
If this was so, P/M MacDonald believed it was a disgrace for it to end up at the bottom of a pile of junk two decades later. It’s a disgrace any way you look at it since the sword should have been treated with dignity, out of respect to the man, and as a piece of Canadian military history. – P/M MacDonald.
Claymore returns to Canada
In Oct 1991, after finishing his Pipe Major’s course in Ottawa, and while awaiting transfer the militia (Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa, where he was Pipe Major until June 97) P/M MacDonald relinquished it to P/M John Huggan, who was in town from Germany for an Octoberfest reunion party at the CFB Ottawa (Rockliffe) Sgt’s mess. As P/M MacDonald recalls, there were some bitter feelings between he two at the time, because P/M Huggan implied that it would be better, that he have proprietorship of the sword. So on a rainy 15 Oct 1991 night, while P/M Huggan kept the car running in P/M MacDonald’s driveway, P/M Huggan came into his den, and P/M MacDonald handed over the famous Claymore. Although he felt rude doing it, he had P/M Huggan sign for it.
Claymore returns to Germany
P/M MacDonald doesn’t know where it is now, or if it made its way back to the Regiment, or to any of Loomis’ surviving relatives. He wishes he could have had the opportunity to make a dignified presentation of it that Christmas, but he was uncomfortable with the thought of arguing with an old soldier, the likes of P/M Huggan. P/M MacDonald thought if the Regiment wanted to contact P/M Huggan – either to thank him or make inquiries – he might be hard to find. He may be living in Germany still, or in Western France (Brittany) with his wife who is a French nurse.
As P/M MacDonald notes, the rightful place of the sword is with the family of Major General Frederick Loomis, or with the Regiment, but sadly, this is not the case today. The whereabouts of the sword has remained a mystery for decades.
Legacy
Despite a long, and successful career in business, Sir Frederick Loomis is best remembered for his military service to Canada during the Great War. With only his pre-war militia experience to draw on, he became one of the Canadian Corps’s ablest and most respected leaders. He was noted for displaying compassion towards his men, and for bearing the heavy responsibilities of command with dignity.
Mount Loomis on the Alberta/BC border is named after him.
Epilogue
Pipe-Major (Ret’d) John Huggan first traveled to Germany in 1951 when the Canadian Forces were stationed in Hannover for some years and he returned permanently in 1971. During his 30 years of loving and working in Lahr and Baden-Soellingen, the stirring sound of his pipes made him one of the most well-known and well-loved characters in the whole of the Canadian military community. Sadly, P/M Huggan passed away on 31 August 2001. He was 70 years old.
More
Please subscribe to CEFRG to be notified by email when there are new posts. Subscription is free, and your email kept confidential.
Comments
One response to “Sir Frederick Oscar Warren Loomis in the Great War”
Another great Canadian soldier that very few have ever heard of…..