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Lieutenant-colonel James Ballantine DSO CMG
Born	(1876-09-03)September 3, 1876 Georgetown, Ontario, Canada
Died	January 7, 1948(1948-01-07) (aged 71) Georgetown, Ontario, Canada
Allegiance	Canada
Service / branch	Canadian Army
Years of service	1898–1917
Rank	Lieutenant-colonel
Commands	4th Battalion CEF (1915) 76th Battalion CEF (1916) 109th Battalion CEF (1917)
Battles / wars	Second Boer War World War I Second Battle of Ypres
Awards	Queen's South Africa Medal Distinguished Service Order Coaching career
Biographical details
Alma mater	Royal Military College
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
lacrosse
1917–1933	Colgate
rifle
1917–1928	Colgate
soccer
1917–1924	Colgate
ice hockey
1920–1922 1927–1928	Colgate
Head coaching record
Overall	17–62–5 (.232) 14–10–7 (.565) 2–11–0 (.154)

Lt. Col. James Ballantine DSO, CMG was a Canadian veteran of both the Second Boer War and World War I. He later served as a coach and administrator at Colgate University.

Career

Military

Born in Georgetown, Ballantine enrolled at the Royal Military College in 1894 and was a member of the 20th Halton Battalion. He received training at Aldershot and graduated in time to join the British Army for the Second Boer War. At the war's end he received the Queen's Medal for gallantry. Ballantine remained in the military after the war and served in posts within Canada until the outbreak of World War I. Then-Major Ballantine initially served as second in command of the 4th Battalion but assumed temporary control after Arthur Birchall was killed at the Second Battle of Ypres.

Ballantine was severely wounded and returned to Canada to convalesce in the summer of 1915. While recuperating, he was award the Distinguished Service Order by King George V and promoted to Lieutenant-colonel. Once he had recovered, Ballantine organized the 76th Battalion and commanded the unit when it was deployed to France in April 1916. Ballantine remained as its commander until the unit was absorbed by the 36th Battalion. Afterwards, Ballantine was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for his efforts and briefly commanded the 109th Battalion before it too was absorbed into another unit. Ballantine returned to France with the 4th Battalion and commanded troops on the RMS Empress of Britain until he was mustered out in April of 1917.

College

In August 1917, Ballantine accepted the directorship of military science at Colgate University in New York. Shortly after his appointment, he was also named as superintendent of ground and buildings as well as taking over the head coaching duties for the school's lacrosse, rifle and soccer teams. Ballantine relinquished control of the soccer team in 1924, helmed the rifle team until its dissolution in 1928 and remained the coach of the lacrosse team until his retirement in 1933. Ballantine also briefly coached the ice hockey team for three seasons.

After his tenure with Colgate ended, Ballantine returned to Georgetown where he remained until his death in 1948.

Head coaching record

Lacrosse

Soccer

Ice hockey

Decorations and medals

Ballantine's medal ribbon board

References

1. ^ "Lieutenant Colonel James Ballantine, D.S.O. 76th and 109th Battalions". The Military Scientist. February 6, 2015. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
2. "1929 Salmagundi". Colgate University. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
3. Meek, John F. Over the Top! The Canadian Infantry in the First World War. Orangeville, Ont.: The Author, 1971. ISBN 0906158109
4. "1935 Salmagundi". Colgate University. Retrieved August 9, 2023.

• 1876 births
• 1948 deaths
• Ice hockey people from Ontario
• People from Halton Hills
• Royal Military College of Canada alumni
• British Army personnel of the Second Boer War
• British Army personnel of World War I
• Canadian Expeditionary Force officers
• Canadian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
• Canadian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
• Colgate Raiders men's ice hockey coaches
• Colgate Raiders men's soccer coaches