General Jean-Victor Allard
General Jean-Victor Allard CC, CBE, GOQ, DSO & Two Bars, ED, CD was the first French Canadian to become Chief of the Defence Staff, the highest position in the Canadian Forces, from 1966–1969. He was also the first to hold the accompanying rank of general.
Born in 1913, the only boy among seven children, and orphaned at age seven, Allard joined the Canadian Militia’s Regiment des Trois-Rivières in 1933. As part of the expansion of Canada’s forces after Dunkirk he was sent to the UK for training in armoured warfare, joining 4 CLY for several months in 1940-41.
He served with the Regiment as it patrolled the Kent coast during the invasion scare of Autumn 1940 and, during visits to London, saw the effects of the German Air Force’s Blitz at first hand.