Fonds MS43 - Bruce J.S. Macdonald fonds

Bruce John Stewart Macdonald was born on 2 December 1902 at Rose Bay, Nova Scotia. He graduated from the University of Alberta in 1924 with a bachelor's degree and in 1926 with a law degree. In September 1927 he moved to Windsor, Ontario and practiced law with McLarty and Fraser. From 1930 to 1937 Macdonald served as Windsor's first full-time City Solicitor. In 1937, he returned to private practice with McLarty and Fraser. On 16 September 1939 Macdonald married Norma Millard in a ceremony at All Saints' Church, Windsor. Macdonald was an officer with the Essex Scottish Regiment from 1929 to 1944, on active service from September 1939 to June 1946, and served as Company Commander and Second-in-Command until May 1943. As Commanding Officer of the Essex Scottish from May 1943 to July 1944, Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonald led his regiment during its early fighting in Normandy. In August 1944 Macdonald was appointed as the Canadian member of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces Court of Inquiry on War Crimes and from May 1945 to June 1946 headed the No. 1 Canadian War Crimes Investigation Unit, serving as Chief Prosecutor of war criminals for the Canadian Armed Forces. In December 1945 he successfully prosecuted the most famous Canadian war crimes trial, that of S. S. Brigadefuhrer Kurt Meyer. He published a book about the trial, The Trial of Kurt Meyer, in 1954. For his service in the Second World War, Macdonald was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE), the Croix de Guerre (France) and the Efficiency Decoration. After the Second World War, Macdonald was appointed Kings Counsel and returned to private practice in Windsor with Wilson and Thomson. Appointed Crown Attorney for Essex County on 1 April 1951, Macdonald also served as a member of the Windsor Police Commission- eventually becoming its chair. Macdonald was also a member of the Sandwich West, Leamington and Amherstburg police commissions, as well as president of the Association of Municipal Police Governing Authorities of Ontario. In October 1961 he was appointed a Judge of the County and District Courts of Ontario with residence at Windsor. Between April 1962 and February 1964, Macdonald took a leave of absence from this position to serve as the first chair of the Ontario Police Commission. After retiring as a Judge of the County in December 1977 he became a Judge of Small Claims Court, a position he held into the year of his death. Macdonald was very active in community service and during his life was involved with several organisations, including the Rotary Club of Windsor, the Windsor Symphony Society, and the United Nations Organisation. Bruce J. S. Macdonald died in Windsor on 2 June 1986.