2 Quotes & Sayings By John Colville
Born in Northern Ireland in 1894, Captain John Colville joined the British Army in 1910, serving in the North-West Frontier in India before being sent to France at the start of World War I. He fought at the Somme, where he was severely wounded at Flers, but continued to command a company of sappers who worked on minefields under enemy fire. He reached the rank of captain before being medically discharged in 1919. After returning home to England, he joined the family business of his father, a manufacturer of cotton-spinning machinery, and became involved in local affairs
He was elected to Parliament in 1922, representing the constituency of Carmarthen. Colville served as Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet from 1931 to 1935 and was made Governor General of Canada when it became an independent Dominion in 1936. The following year, Colville was created Baron Colville of Culross and appointed to the Privy Council.
He held several cabinet appointments throughout Canada's history and served as Secretary for Dominion Affairs from 1941 to 1945, when he retired from public life.