Letter from BGen James Howden (J.H.) MacBrien, GOC 12th Canadian Infantry Brigade to Major A.D. Wilson Acting Commanding Officer, 72nd Battalion for the Raid near Vimy Ridge on 1 March, 1917. Major General Sir James Howden MacBrien KCB, CMG, DSO, CStJ (30 June 1878 – 5 March 1938) was a Canadian soldier and Chief of the General Staff, the head of the Canadian Militia from 1920 until 1927. Educated in Port Perry, Ontario, MacBrien initially joined the Militia but then transferred to the North-West Mounted Police. During the Second Boer War, he also served the South African Constabulary. Returning to Canada he was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Dragoons. MacBrien served in World War I as a General Staff Officer and then, from 1916, as commanding officer of 12th Infantry Brigade, 4th Division, CEF. After the war he was appointed Chief of the General Staff. MacBrien also served as the eighth Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, from August 1, 1931 to March 5, 1938 when he died in office in Toronto. 1 page