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{{Short description|Canadian general (1870–1953)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Herbert Cyril Thacker
| image = File:Major-General H.C. Thacker (fragment).jpg
| caption =
| rank = [[Major general#Canada|Major General]]
| branch = [[Canadian Militia]]
| commands = [[Commander of the Canadian Army|Chief of the General Staff]]
| battles = [[Second Boer War]] [[Russo-Japanese War]] [[World War I]]
| family =
| unit = [[Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery|Royal Canadian Artillery]]
| nickname =
| allegiance = [[Canada]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1870|09|16|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1953|06|02|1870|09|16|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Poona]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| death_place = [[Victoria, British Columbia]], Canada
| placeofburial =
| serviceyears = 1891–1929
| laterwork =
| awards = [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] [[Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George]] [[Distinguished Service Order]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30716|page=6461|date=31 May 1918|supp=y}}</ref> [[Order of the Sacred Treasure|Order of the Sacred Treasure, Third Class]] [[Military Medals of Honor (Japan)|Japanese War medal]]
}}
[[Major general#Canada|Major General]] '''Herbert Cyril Thacker''' {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|size=100%|sep=,|CB|CMG|DSO}} (16 September 1870 – 2 June 1953) was a Canadian soldier and [[Commander of the Canadian Army|Chief of the General Staff]], the head of the [[Canadian Militia]] (later the [[Canadian Army]]) from 1927 until 1929.

==Military career==
Thacker was born the son of Major-General J. Thacker of the [[Bombay Staff Corps]] in 1870 in [[Pune|Poona]], [[British Raj|India]]. He attended [[Upper Canada College]] in [[Toronto]] and, in 1887, he graduated from the [[Royal Military College of Canada]].<ref name="ppmp193">[https://archive.org/stream/prominentpeopleo00stjouoft/prominentpeopleo00stjouoft_djvu.txt (1922). ''Prominent People of the Maritime Provinces,'' p. 193.]</ref> Commissioned in the [[Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery|Royal Canadian Artillery]] in 1891, he conducted survey work in western Canada for the Canadian Pacific Railway. He was promoted to [[Lieutenant]] in 1893.<ref name="ppmp193"/>

His service in the [[Second Boer War]] of 1900 in the Canadian Field Artillery<ref name="ppmp193"/> led to the award of the Queen's medal with three clasps.<ref name="trident1">[[Elizabeth Pacey|Pacey, Elizabeth]]. [http://www.tridentnews.ca/PDFArchives/Oct18_2004.pdf "Commander's residence at Royal Artillery park,"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051124090710/http://www.tridentnews.ca/PDFArchives/Oct18_2004.pdf |date=2005-11-24 }} ''Trident.'' 38:20, 7. 18 October 2004.</ref>

From 1904 to 1905 he had the unique Canadian assignment as a military attaché with the Japanese Army during the [[Russo-Japanese War]]<ref name="ppmp193"/> but he was joined by other colonials.<ref>Hitsman, J. Mackay and Desmond Morton. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/1983479 "Canada's First Military Attache: Capt. H. C. Thacker in the Russo-Japanese War,"] ''Military Affairs'', Vol. 34, No. 3 (Oct., 1970), pp. 82–84; [http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/rep-rap/doc/cfhq/cfhq014.pdf "Report No. 14,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803024013/http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/rep-rap/doc/cfhq/cfhq014.pdf |date=2016-08-03 }}, Directorate of History, Canadian Forces Headquarters, 8 September 1967; ''compare'' Australian Dictionary of Biography: [https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hoad-sir-john-charles-6686 John Hoad at ADB]</ref> Along with other Western military attachés, Thacker had two complementary missions – to assist the Japanese and to observe the Japanese forces in the field during the Russo-Japanese War.<ref>Chapman, John and [[Ian Nish]]. (2004). [http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/is/IS475.pdf "On the Periphery of the Russo-Japanese War," Part I, p. 53 n42], Paper No. IS/2004/475. Suntory Toyota International Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD), [[London School of Economics and Political Science]] (LSE).</ref>

[[File:Major-General A.C. MacDonell and staff officers, 1st Canadian Infantry Division.jpg|thumb|left|Major-General [[Archibald Cameron Macdonell|A. C. MacDonell]] and staff officers, 1st Canadian Division, sometime in 1918. (Front row, from left to right): Lieutenant-Colonel J. L. R. Parsons, Brigadier-General '''H. C. Thacker''', Major-General A. C. Macdonnell, Lieutenant-Colonel [[James Sutherland Brown|J. Sutherland Brown]], Colonel H. P. Wright. (Back row, from left to right): Lieutenant-Colonel [[Halfdan Hertzberg|H. F. H. Hertzberg]], Hon. Lieutenant-Colonel [[Frederick George Scott|F. G. Scott]], Lieutenant [[James Macdonnell (Canadian politician)|J. M. Macdonnell]].]]

In 1907, his appointment as Director of Artillery at Ottawa accompanied a promotion as [[Commanding Officer]] of the Royal Canadian Garrison Artillery (RCGA),<ref name="ppmp193"/> and he became one of the 65 to live in the Commanding Officers’ Residence at Royal Artillery Park in Halifax.<ref name="trident1"/> In 1911 he became Inspector of Coast Defense Artillery.<ref name="ppmp193"/>

At the outbreak of [[World War I]], Thacker joined the Canadian Expeditionary Forces (CEF), sailing for Europe with the [[1st Canadian Division]]. Thacker went on to command the 2nd Canadian Divisional Artillery from 1914 to 1915. After General Sir [[Henry Edward Burstall|Henry E. Burstall]] was promoted, Thacker, promoted to temporary brigadier general in June 1915,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29305|page=9395|date=21 September 1915|supp=y}}</ref> commanded the 1st Canadian Divisional Artillery from September 1915 through the end of World War and the CEF return to Canada.{{fact|date=July 2025}}

After the war, Thacker was appointed the District Officer Commanding Military District 6,<ref name="ppmp193"/> returning with his family to live at Royal Artillery Park.<ref name="trident1"/> His career was capped with service as [[Commander of the Canadian Army|Chief of the General Staff]] from 1927 to 1929.<ref name="ppmp193"/>

Thacker retired from military service in 1929. He died in [[Victoria, British Columbia]], in June 1953.{{fact|date=July 2025}}

==Honors==
For his service in the Boer War, Thacker was awarded the Queen's Medal with three clasps (1900).<ref name="ppmp193"/>

He was awarded the [[Order of the Sacred Treasure|Order of the Sacred Treasure, Third Class]] by the Japanese government for his services during the Russo-Japanese War.<ref>[http://www.editions-harmattan.fr/index.asp?navig=catalogue&obj=article&no=8245 L'Harmattan web site (in French)]</ref> He also received the [[Military Medals of Honor (Japan)|Japanese War medal]] for service during that campaign.<ref name="ppmp193"/>

For service in World War I, he was made a Companion of the [[Order of Saint Michael and Saint George]] (CMG) in 1916. Thacker was appointed to the [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO) in 1918. He was created a Companion of the [[Order of the Bath]] (CB) in 1919.<ref name="ppmp193"/>

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==See also==
* Library and Archives Canada: [https://archive.today/20130101035244/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/archivianet/cef/001042-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=274264 CEF Attestation paper]

==References==
* Hitsman, J. Mackay and Desmond Morton. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/1983479 "Canada's First Military Attache: Capt. H. C. Thacker in the Russo-Japanese War,"] ''Military Affairs'', Vol. 34, No. 3 (Oct., 1970), pp. 82–84; [http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/rep-rap/doc/cfhq/cfhq014.pdf "Report No. 14,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803024013/http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/rep-rap/doc/cfhq/cfhq014.pdf |date=2016-08-03 }}, Directorate of History, Canadian Forces Headquarters, 8 September 1967.
* Armstrong, Captain J.G., "A Gunner in Manchuria: Canada Observes the Russo-Japanese War," ''Canadian Defence Quarterly'', Vol. 12, No.4 (Spring 1983), 37–44.

==External links==
* {{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/prominentpeopleo00stjouoft|title=Prominent people of the Maritime Provinces (in business and professional life)|work=[[Internet Archive]]|year=1922}}
* [http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0007934 Herbert Cyril Thacker] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518181359/http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0007934 |date=2011-05-18 }} at [[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box|title=[[Commander of the Canadian Army|Chief of the General Staff]]|
before=[[James Howden MacBrien|Sir James MacBrien]]|
after=[[Andrew McNaughton]]|
years=1927–1929}}
{{s-end}}

{{Commander of the Canadian Army}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thacker, Herbert Cyril}}
[[Category:1870 births]]
[[Category:1953 deaths]]
[[Category:Canadian generals of World War I]]
[[Category:Canadian Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Canadian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Canadian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure]]
[[Category:People of the Russo-Japanese War]]
[[Category:Royal Military College of Canada alumni]]
[[Category:Canadian military personnel of the Second Boer War]]
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]
[[Category:Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery officers]]
[[Category:Canadian Militia officers]]
[[Category:Military attachés]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Pune]]

Herbert Cyril Thacker - Revision history

Khorang at 03:18, 12 September 2025