HERBERT ANGUS MOWAT February 25, 1893 – June 24, 1975

 

Herb Mowat was the only child of Thomas Johnstone Mowat, & Maude Isabel Smith Mowat, born in Brockville, Ontario and baptised at St. Peter’s Anglican Church there.

As a child he lived in various towns in Southern Ontario where his father was an employee and store manager for Neil’s Shoe Stores and his mother was a talented organist and choir director in cities such as Lindsay, Peterborough (where Herb passed his entrance exams in 1905), London, where he was a chorister in the parish of St. John the Evangelist and was confirmed, as well as Kitchener where he captained the senior football team in high school at age 16, & also Galt, where he began a swimming career by setting records which stood for many years at the Y.M.C.A..  He continued to prosper in this regard at the University of Toronto where he was a member of the U. of T. Intercollegiate swimming team.

While studying Arts, and Theology at Wycliffe College at U.of T his summers were spent on road construction out of Kitchener (Warren Bituminous Paving Co.) & on one of these summer jobs while engaged in paving the main street of Wallaceburg, Ontario,  he met his future wife, Mary Winifred Brander, whose father Alexander David Brander operated the Brander Rexall Drug Store which he founded, in 1888.

Herb joined the Canadian Army in 1916, during WWI & trained in Canada at Camp Borden and London, Ontario.  In Britain he took special training in gunnery and jiu-jitsu at Aldershot, England, before joining the front in France where he served as Lieutenant with the 118^th Battalion,(among others), Winnipeg Black Devils.  His activities included sporting events such as football and boxing throughout his army career as well as Officer training activities such as marksmanship, in all of which he excelled quite notably and with honour.  In early August of 1918 he was severely wounded, shot through the chest,  in the Battle of Amiens, more particularly at Hatchet Wood, when his regiment suffered catastrophically and most of the officers were either killed or wounded in an action which saw more V.C.’s awarded in one battle than  in any other for the CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Force)

Herb was invalided to Britain for convalescence and subsequently back home to Galt, Ontario where it took some time for him to regain  his original vigorous joie de vivre and excellent health.

Her married Winifred Brander October 2, 1919, & they were blessed with five children, three boys and 2 girls.  In the 1920’s he worked in the Insurance business where he became a manager for Traveller’s Life.  His interest in the Anglican Church was very strong and he was a Boy Scout leader in Kitchener and became General Secretary of an Anglican Men’s group, called the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, which required him to travel coast to coast in Canada, speaking at many Cathedrals and parish churches. 

During the 1930’s when times were difficult for many, he was no exception and had a very rough struggle to find his way, to look after his family..  Some of the activities he engaged in, included selling music lessons, selling encyclopaedias, working on the ‘business end of a shovel’ in construction work in Toronto and in the late 30’s as an Inspector of Highway Construction for the Ontario Department of Highways.  With the outbreak of WW II in Sept. 1939, Herb had begun to do some free-lance writing of articles for Liberty, Saturday Night, and Empire Digest magazines.  Simultaneously he was hired by DND (Department of National Defence) to be an Inspector for the building of airports for the BCATP (British Commonwealth Air Training Plan).  He served in this capacity at many sites in Southern Ontario including Arnprior, Oshawa, Camp Borden, Jarvis, St. Eugene, & Mount Hope where he knew that he was backing up 4 of his own children who had enlisted in the Armed Forces.

 

Towards the end of the war, 1945, his writing career seemed to blossom and he started a Public Relations firm.  One thing led to another and he found himself branching out on his own (in his 50’s now) working for the Zionist Organization of Canada in their representations to the U.N. for a favourable response to the Jewish quest for a national home in Palestine.  He spent many years (the rest of his life) working for the Zionists, & after the Canadian Palestine Committee, formed the Canada-Israel Association, along with Sir Ellsworth Flavelle, - a non-Jewish group of dedicated people who lobbied western governments in concert with similar national organizations in the U.S., Britain, France, etc. to support the Jewish people in their struggle to obtain a Jewish national homeland where Jews might find refuge and thrive.

 

Along with this activity, Herbert Mowat promoted the activities of the United nations and its peacekeeping role to his utmost by touring Canada and speaking to various service clubs such as Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, Canadian Clubs,  church groups – Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewish, - Labour unions, Dept. of Nat’l Defence training centres – coast to coast – Theological colleges of all denominations, and anyone else who would listen.  He was on the National Executive of the U.N. in Canada from its’ beginning, & Chairman of the Speaker’s Panel of U.N. in Toronto for many years.

He was a natural born Biblical scholar who knew the Holy Land through his Bible much to the amazement of his guides in Israel, where HE could tell THEM the what, where, how, & why of the historic sites they visited.  He was a gifted and dynamic orator and writer who did things with vim and vigour. He called a spade, a SPADE!

All through his life he maintained a close connection with his Church – the Anglican church, and he was often a guest speaker at Anglican churches & Cathedrals coast to coast, for worship services on Sundays, speaking on world peace as well as in churches of all other denominations.

In this regard he instituted, along with Canon Swanson,  an annual Ecumenical Communion service & breakfast at St. Paul’s Bloor Street  Anglican Church, Toronto, at Christmas time to which he invited people , Ministers & Priests of all denominations to worship together at the Lord’s table and afterwards eat a hearty breakfast & enjoy an interesting talk by a guest speaker, the first of which was Governor General Roland Michener..  This all began in the mid- fifties and continued until the mid seventies, carried on by Canon Archdeacon Bob Dann &  his daughter Jane, after an horrendous car crash in October, 1972 hospitalized Herb for the rest of his life.

Herb died June 24, 1975, St. John the Baptist day, the patron saint of Canada, after a dreadful 2 ½ year debilitating period following the crash.

He was predeceased by his wife Winifred in January of 1971.

Because he was rescued from the battlefield  by a young medic who saw a spark of life, in an otherwise lifeless body, & spared by the skin of his teeth, he always felt there was a reason.  The reason became evident to him when he joined the Zionist cause.  Because of his being badly wounded, he took the utmost care of his health, & was admired by all who knew him for his great physique, & robust health.  He was the first & best customer of the first health food store in Toronto – McMillans on Yorkville Avenue.  After his recovery from his battle wound, he was never ill in his life.