Charles Herman Rogers was born in Grafton, Ontario, in 1876. At the age of 13 years, he became the bugler for Number 6 Company, 40th Northumberland Battalion, the regiment commanded by his father Robert Zacheus Rogers. He later enlisted in the 3rd Prince of Wales Canadian Dragoons. In 1904, Herman was a major in the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles and served in the Boer War. He subsequently succeeded his uncle, Henry Cassidy Rogers, in command of the 3rd Prince of Wales Canadian Dragoons with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In 1913, Herman and a number of other officers were invited to observe British Army Manoeuvers in England and France. Just a year later, the First World War broke out.

Upon the outbreak of war, Herman enlisted immediately, although forced to take a reduction in rank, and was appointed 2IC of the 2nd Battalion with the rank of major. Heber Symonds Rogers, the youngest son of a distant cousin Richard Birdsall Rogers, served under Herman’s command and on April 23, 1915 was listed as missing in action. Herman rode out into “no man’s land” to try to find him and a sniper’s bullet grazed his temple leaving a visible scar. He returned from his fruitless search and sent a cable that Heber was missing and presumed dead. It was several months later that it was learned Heber was a prisoner of war in Germany. Appointed Lieutenant-Colonel in April 1915, he commanded at the battalion level and received a commendation from the Division Commander for the actions of his battalion at the Battle of the Somme. Herman was wounded in action on May 13, 1917, during the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Herman was later made a colonel and put in charge of the Eastern Ontario Regimental Depot (EORD), as well as the 4th Reserve Battalion. Herman was twice Mentioned in Dispatches, and received the Order of the British Empire.

After the war, the family settled in Toronto where Herman tried with some difficulty to work in the brokerage business and during the winter months sell visual aids to schools and universities in the southern United States. He died of leukemia in on February 13, 1946.

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