Colonel Ernest Ansell, OBE, MC, VD, ED

An illustrated portrait of Colonel Ansell.

Born in Brighton, England on 30 April 1894, Colonel Ernest Ansell emigrated to Toronto in 1908. He originally enlisted with the Regiment of the Governor General’s Bodyguard in 1911. He moved to Chatham in 1912 and transferred to the 24th Kent Regiment.

When war was declared in 1914, he joined the 1st Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, or “The Fighting First.” During World War I he was injured three times: first at Givenchy, France in 1915; then as a Sergeant at the Battle for Hill 60 in 1916; and finally at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. He eventually returned to action in July 1917 in the rank of Lieutenant after completing an officer’s training course. For his “conspicuous gallantry” at the Battle of Canal du Nord on 30 August 1918, Lt. Ansell was awarded the Military Cross (MC).

Captain Ansell returned to Canada in 1919 and began civilian work for the Department of National Revenue. When the Kent Regiment was reorganized in 1920, Major Ansell commanded “A” Company. He was then Second-in-Command of the regiment until he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and appointed Commanding Officer of the Kent Regiment in 1927, a position which he held for five years. Colonel Ansell commanded 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade, #1 Military District (Non-Permanent Active Militia) from 1938 to 1939.

When war broke out in 1939, Colonel Ansell took command of #12 (Basic) Training Centre in Chatham, later #10 (Basic) Training Centre in Kitchener and then Camp Ipperwash for four months. When Army was reorganized on 22 July 1940 Ansell had the duty of telling the officers of the Kents to begin the mobilization process. The battalion, which had been Non-Permanent Active Militia (NPAM), was mobilized to the Canadian Active Service Force (CASF) for active duty in Canada. Ansell was then transferred overseas in 1944, where he was an Officer for Training Liaison to 1946. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in January 1946. Colonel Ansell had the honour of accompanying Marina, the Duchess of Kent as Colonel-in-Chief of the Kent Regiment when she came to Chatham in 1954 for the last parades of the Kents and ceremonies related to the amalgamation of the The Essex Scottish and the Kent Regiment into The Essex and Kent Scottish.

In civilian life in Chatham he was very active in community life. Colonel Ansell died on 1 February 1979 in Chatham at the age of seventy-five. When a new armoury was opened in Chatham on 9 December 2006, it was named the Colonel E.M. Ansell, OBE, MC, VD Armoury in his honour.

Story by Nicole Pillon, Canada Summer Jobs 2022 participant
with The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment Association

Sources

• Duty Nobly Done: The Official History of the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment by Sandy Antal and Kevin R. Shackleton, 2006: Chapters 14, 15