Crawford, John Nielson, b. 1906 : Brigadier John Neilson Crawford, was born in Winnipeg and educated at the University of Manitoba and in New York. He specialized in pediatrics and practised in Winnipeg, 1932-1939. As a lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (Non-Permanent), he served as Medical Officer for the 10th Machine Gun Battalion, Winnipeg Grenadiers, 1933-1939. Crawford was placed on active service as a captain and accompanied the Grenadiers to Jamaica as Medical Officer in 1940 and 1941. This Unit formed part of "C" Force sent to Hong Kong in 1941, with Major Crawford as its Senior Medical Officer.
He was a prisoner of war of the Japanese, 1941-1945. Following the war, Crawford received a number of senior military medical appointments, until his retirement from the Army in 1956. He then joined the Department of Veterans' Affairs and in 1965, he became Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare. He retired in 1970.
See: Canadian Who's Who, 1980, p. 212.