Henry Beckles Willson, known as Beckles Willson, (26 August 1869, Montreal – 1942) was a Canadian journalist, World War I veteran, historian, and prolific author. Born in Montreal, he was educated in Kingston, Ontario. Willson joined the staff of The Boston Globe in 1887 and was its correspondent in Cuba during the following year. He became the correspondent in Georgia for the New York Herald in 1889. He traveled to England in 1892 and joined the staff of the London Daily Mail. He returned to Canada and married Ethel Grace Dudley on 28 June 1899, they returned to England settling in London at Talbot Road Paddington. They had two sons Gordon Beckles (b.1902) and Robert (b.1908) and one daughter Clare (b.1906) -all became journalists. Later on, he became a freelance writer and a prolific author. Several of his books explored Canadian history and issues. The family lived for a while at Quebec House Westerham Kent in 1911, once the childhood home of James Wolfe (1727-1759). He served as a senior officer with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the Great War and recounted his experiences in the Battle of Ypres in two books, In the Ypres Salient (1916) and Ypres (1920). He served as an (acting) Major attached to the HQ staff and invalided out in 1916. He became a prolific author, mainly of historical and political works. He was instrumental in the creation of the Imperial War Museum in his role as the museum’s field agent, where he believed the collections should reflect the detail of battle and involvement of ordinary soldiers at ground level. Grace died at Quebec House Westerham Kent in 1920. He re-married French-born Ida Lavinia Parkes in Chelsea in the spring of 1924. During WW2 Beckles was interned in France and died in Beaulieu-sur-mer in September 1942 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, aged 73. Ida died in March 1965. Less