In the post office at Minnedosa, Manitoba, hangs a portrait of the late Brig.-Gen. Hugh M. Dyer, a gallant soldier who brought distinction to Canada and was honoured by his king. The portrait was presented to him by his fellow citizens in 1931, and given back to them after his death.

     More than 1,000 people thronged the armoury to see the Hon. John Bracken, then premier of Manitoba, present this token of esteem to a man who had served their district for fifty years, as pioneer homesteader, a faithful worker in the Church of England and strong supporter of many enterprises in the community and beyond.

     Further to his memory, a stained glass window in St. Mark's Church, Minnedosa, bears the inscription: "To the Glory of God and sacred to the memory of Brigadier-General H. M. Dyer, C.B., D.S.O., of this parish and Officer Commanding the 5th Battalion and the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade, C.E.F.D." The gift of old comrades in his units, the window was unveiled by F.B. Bagshaw, K.C., of Regina.

     Although Hugh Dyer was born at Kingston, Ireland, on January 28, 1861, the family was of English origin. His father, Hugh [McNeile] Dyer, had seen service with the Royal Navy in the Baltic, the Chinese war and against the slave trade on the west coast of Africa. On retirement from the service, he was appointed governor of Kilmainham jail, and died when his son, Hugh, was only five years old.

     The lad was to join the navy, but was taken ill at examination time and missed his opportunity to enlist before he was too old. His brother, Harry, trained as midshipman with Prince George, later King George V of England.

     Hugh taught school in Britain for a time, but at the age of twenty came to Manitoba with three other youths. His mother, a cousin of British prime minister Herbert H. Asquith, had been Marian Lozzin [Marianne Elizabeth LOGGIN] before her marriage, and one of those who accompanied Hugh to Manitoba was a Lozzin [LOGGIN]. That summer the four young men worked for Edward Lozzin [LOGGIN], and uncle, harvesting his crop with a scythe and cradle, and tying the sheaves by hand.

     Hugh homesteaded in the Glendale district, built a small house and returned that winter to England, where he married Helen May Pearson. The young couple moved to the homestead the spring of 1882, and Hugh started to farm with a yoke of oxen. He broadcast the seed by hand, and that autumn hauled his crop to Carberry, a journey that took two days. When the railway came through, his farm was seventeen miles from Minnedosa, but only eight miles from Neepawa.

     He filed on another quarter-section as a pre-emption, increasing his holding to three hundred and twenty acres. The land was mostly bush and scrub, but by consistent hard labour, he developed it into a fine farm. Three sons were born there: Rex in 1883, Jack in 1885, and Harry in 1891. In the fall of 1900, the Dyers moved to a farm in the Westhope district, northeast of Minnedosa, where their son, William, was born in 1907.

     Hugh Dyer was a progressive farmer, who took advantage of new inventions, such as the self-binder, and of new methods in farming. He built an attractive home and commodious barns, and he was in constant demand to judge horses at the summer fairs. His own horses and cattle took many prizes, for he took interest in fine stock.

     When the Lady Minto hospital was organized in Minnedosa in 1908, he served on the board. He was director of the Minnedosa Agricultural Society and for one term its president. He also became the director and vice-president of The Western Empire Life Association.      Reaching out to activities in the province, Hugh Dyer was one of the founders of the Manitoba Agricultural College. From 1908 to 1914 he served as chairman of the board.

     He was fond of riding and a fine billiard player. With many settlers coming to Manitoba from the British Isles, cricket was a popular game in the early days and one greatly enjoyed by Hugh Dyer.

     But he won his greatest distinction as a soldier. When a unit of the Manitoba Dragoons was organized in Minnedosa in 1914, he was made second in command of "The Fighting Fifty", a battalion of which the Dragoons were a part. He was badly wounded in the second battle of Ypres in 1915, but was able to rejoin his regiment in July of that year, when he was placed in command as a colonel. Two of his sons were also badly wounded in action - Harry serving with The Fifth, and Rex with The Engineers.

     In 1917, Col. Dyer succeeded to the command of the Seventh Canadian infantry brigade, which included the "Princess Pats". Greatly loved by his men, he was known as "Daddy Dyer", and he wrote hundreds of letters to the parents of boys who had been wounded or killed in action. In 1918, he was given command of the Seaford area of south-east England, where he remained until after the armistice.

     Brig.-Gen. Dyer had been five times mentioned in despatches, awarded the D.S.O. and Bar, and later appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath.

     After more than a century of married life, Hugh Dyer lost his wife in 1934. He died four years later, on Christmas Day, 1938. They are buried in the beautiful hilltop cemetery overlooking the town of Minnedosa.

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