The First World War
Officers of The Royal Canadian Regiment

Capt. Gerald Dwyer

Soldiers of the First World War database entry - G. Dwyer

Service:

Date of Birth - 15 Jun 1892

Captain Gerald Dwyer

25th Battalion and Royal Canadian Regiment

Gerald Dwyer was born on 15 June 1892 in Halifax Nova Scotia the son of Michael and Mary Dwyer. He was a student and served in the 66th Regiment, Princess Louise Fusiliers, since 1913. Gerald enlisted in the 40th Battalion (C.E.F.) on 18 August 1915 as a captain holding the appointment of Second in Command of "C" Company.

He proceeded overseas and arried in the U.K. On 29 October 1915. Capt Dwyer was then transfered to the 25th Battalion on April 15, 1916. He was sent to hospital with influenza on 23 July 1916 but was discharged to Duty the next day. Gerald was attached to The Royal Canadian Regiment on 25 Aug 1916 as a Temp. Captain and served with them until being wounded at Regina Trench on 8 October 1916. He was hit twice by machine gun bullets, in the upper and lower arm. The lower arm wound resulted in a fracture of the radius. After treatment in the U.K. for his wounds he was sent home to Halifax on 2 December 1916.

Capt Dwyer was found unfit for service on 2 February 1917 and discharged on 11 April 1917. Capt Gerald Dwyer continued to serve in the Princess Louise Fusiliers after the war. He earned his Law degree from Dalhousie University after which he practiced law in Kentville, N.S.

Dwyer was awarded the Canadian Humane Society Medal for saving a friend at sea on 24 August 1932 after a yachting accident. He married Marjorie Elizabeth Saunders and had at least three children. Gerald was awarded the E.D. for long service (General Order 67 of 1945) and served in Canada during the Second Word War in the Judge Advocate staff. For this later service he was entitled to the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and the 1939-45 War Medal.

After the Second World War, Dwyer was active in politics, running for the Conservatives in Nova Scotia during the 1945 election for the Halifax-Dartmouth area. He worked for the Mersey Paper Company as a legal consultant while living in Liverpool N.S. but returned to Halifax after he retired.

Gerald Dwyer passed away in Halifax in 1963. The Halifax Herald published his obit on Thursday, 4 July 1963:

"Funeral Friday for Prominent City Native Funeral service for Gerald Dwyer, last surviving member of one of Halifax's oldest and most respected families, will take place Friday at 9 a.m. in St. Mary's Basilica. Interment will be in Holy Cross cemetery. Born in 1892, he was a son of the late Mary Harrington and Michael Dwyer whose home "Brookside", stood where the Lord Nelson Hotel now stands. He retired from the army with the rank of captain after service in both world wars. During the First War, he went overseas with the 14th Battalion (should read 40th Battalion) and later joined the Royal Canadian Regiment. He was wounded in 1916 at Regina Trench. Following the war Mr. Dwyer was associated with John Tobin Company for several years and the returned to Dalhousie University to obtain his law degree. He began his long and successful legal career in Kentville where he built up a wide practice which he left when the Second World War broke out, to rejoin the army's Judge Advocate staff. In 1945 he became associated with Mersey Paper Company as legal counsel and resided in Liverpool until his retirement when he returned to Halifax and took up residence at 5867 Spring Garden Road. Prominent in politics, Mr. Dwyer was an active Conservative and ran as a candidate in the federal election of 1945 for the riding of Halifax-Dartmouth. His running mate was Hon. H. P. MacKeen, now Lieutenant-Governor of the province. Mr. Dwyer received his early education in England at Ample Forth College, York. His sporting interests included golf and yachting. He received the bronze medal of the Royal Humane Society for saving the life of a friend at sea on a yachting accident. He is survived by his wife, the former Marjorie Elizabeth Saunders; one son, Gerald David of Musquodoboit Harbor, district forester with the Department of Lands and Forests; two daughters, Patricia (Mrs. J. H. Reardon), of Halifax; and Diana (Mother Dwyer), Convent of the Sacred heart, Montreal; and eight grandchildren. The remains are resting at Snow's Funeral Home. Funeral service will take place at St. Mary's Basilica Friday in time for 9 a.m. Mass. Interment will be in Holy Cross Cemetery."