Reverend Major Mike Dalton (May 5, 1902 – April 6, 2009) was a Canadian Roman Catholic military chaplain who was the most decorated Roman Catholic chaplain in Canadian military history. In 1939, at the outbreak of the Second World War, Father Mike volunteered to join the Essex Scottish Regiment of the Canadian Army and served the regiment in England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. He is believed to be the oldest Catholic priest in Canada and the oldest surviving Canadian soldier from the Second World War.
Father Mike was known to work on the front lines of military combat and often marched with his regiment, but never carried a weapon. He was known to drive his jeep, often against orders, to the front lines of battle to hear confessions. Father Mike was with the Essex Scottish Regiment during the ill-fated Dieppe raid in 1942. He was present with the regiment when their first two landing attempts were aborted, but missed their third successful landing attempt due to a chaplains’ meeting. Learning that the regiment had landed without him, Father Mike asked to be allowed to land, but his request was denied. Only 44 of the 588 men who landed at Dieppe returned, the rest having been killed or captured. Father Mike took on the task of writing letters to inform the families of the dead. In all, he estimates he wrote 1,000 such letters during the war. Most were from men he knew personally.
In 1943, on the occasion of the King’s birthday, Father Mike became the first Catholic priest to be appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire. The award was presented to him by King George VI. He cared for thousands of Canadians in rehabilitation before returning to Canada in 1946. The City of Windsor named him Veteran of the Year and Citizen of the Year in 1967, while in 2005 the City of London, Ontario, created a “Father Dalton Avenue” to honor his military service. Father Mike’s grand-nephew (and namesake), Mike Marsman, is participating in the 2023 Army Run Half Marathon.