Who am I? (By E3161 Victoria Edwards (RMC ‘03)
- I was born in Constance, Germany, June 11, 1872.
- I was the eldest son and heir of a nobleman of high rank and the representative descendant of a distinguished family. The estates in the municipality of Péruwelz, Hainaut (province), Walloon Region, Belgium and the title to count were granted to my ancester by the Empress Maria-Theresa in 1750 and confirmed by the King of Holland in 1822.
- I was educated in Stoneyhurst, England.
- I studied at the Royal Military College of Canada.
- My wife Agnes Mary Robertson and I had two daughters Valérie and Joan. We lived in Artillery Park, Quebec, Quebec
- I entered the Royal Regiment of Artillery, in 1892. I was promoted to Captain in 1900.
- I was Garrison Adjutant in St. Lucia from 1902-05.
- I returned to the Royal Military College of Canada as Professor of Mathematics from 1905-10.
- At the time of my father’s death in 1910, I had recently gazetted a brevet major.
- On November 19, 1910, I received Royal License to use the title to Count in the British Realms. King George V granted the application for Royal Licence for the use of a Foreign title, which was “limited to grantee and heirs male of his body in succession upon whom the title should descend”.
- I retired from the Royal Regiment of Artillery and joined the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps in 1911.
- I served as Aide de Camp to the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, 1912-16.
- I was elected president of Royal Military College Club of Canada in 1913.
- I was a Lieutenant-Colonel commanding a Canadian Field Artillery Brigade, Expeditionary Force during the First World War, and later became director of Canadian ordnance service in France during the First World War.
- I served as Director of Dominion Arsenals from 1920 to 1936.
- In 1936, I retired as a Colonel.
- I rejoined the army in 1940 and served as district ordnance officer for the duration of the Second World War and retired in 1946.
- I was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.)
- I died in 1958.
a) 221 C.M. Dobell (RMC 1890)
b) 229 E.M. McDougall (RMC 1886)
c) 268 H.R.V. de Bury (RMC 1892)
d) 293 C.J. Armstrong (RMC 1893)
Answer: c) 268 Colonel Count Henry Robert Visart de Bury et de Bocarmé C.B.E. (RMC 1892)
Source #1: H16511 Dr. Richard Arthur Preston “Canada’s RMC – A History of Royal Military College” Second Edition 1982
Source #2: Prominent People of the Province of Quebec, 1923-24, Montreal, Biographical Society of Canada