Major-General Malcolm Smith Mercer was a Canadian general, barrister and art patron who practiced law in Toronto and led the Canadian Contingent, then later the 3rd Canadian Division, during the first two years of the First World War before he was killed in action at Mount Sorrel in Belgium. Mercer was an experienced Canadian Militia commander and had demonstrated a great flair with training and organising the raw Canadian recruits during the opening months of the war. He also demonstrated courage under fire, visiting the front lines on numerous occasions at the height of battle and personally directing his forces in the face of poison gas attacks and heavy shellfire.

The 3rd Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army responsible for the command and mobilization of all army units in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as all units extending westwards from the city of Thunder Bay.