Major George Henry Needler, PhD, was born in 1866, in Millbrook and attended Port Hope High School. He received his BA from University College in 1886 and later his PhD from Leipsig. He eventually became a Professor at the University of Toronto where he taught German. 

Needler served as a corporal with the Queen’s Own Rifles in the North West Field Force in 1885 and rose to the rank of Major during the First World War, when he commanded the Overseas Training Company at the University of Toronto. When he died on January 1, 1962, he was the only surviving QOR veteran of the 1885 expedition.