Tag: victoria-cross
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27th Battalion (City of Winnipeg) in the Great War
The 27th Canadian Infantry Battalion organized in October 1914 initially under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Irvine Robinson Snider (served previously in the Northwest Rebellion 1885 and in the Boer War). Mobilized at Winnipeg, and recruited in Brandon, Portage La Prairie, Rainy River, Kenora and Winnipeg. The 27th embarked from Quebec 17 May 1915 aboard CARPATHIA…
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Lieutenant Frederick Maurice Watson Harvey VC in the Great War
Lieutenant Frederick Maurice Watson Harvey, VC, MC an Irish-born Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, Canadian soldier and rugby union player. During the Great War, while serving in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, Lieutenant Frederick Harvey awarded the Victoria Cross, the Military Cross and the French Croix de Guerre. Harvey, born in Athboy, County Meath, Ireland,…
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Lieutenant Gordon Muriel Flowerdew VC in the Great War
Lieutenant Gordon Flowerdew VC, farmer, rancher, soldier, born on 2 January 1885 in Billingford, Norfolk, England. During the Great War, Lieutenant Flowerdew led one of the last great cavalry charges in history and posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for bravery among troops of the British Empire. Early Life of Gordon Flowerdew Gordon…
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22nd Battalion (French Canadian) in the Great War
Van Doos Royal 22e Régiment The 22nd Battalion (French Canadian) also known as Royal 22e Régiment, or more familiarly, The Van Doos (English translation of vingt-deux). Organized in October 1914 under the command of Colonel Frédéric-Mondelet Gaudet, CMG. Mobilized at St-Jean, Québec. Recruited throughout the province of Québec. Second in command, Lt-Col Charles Tarien Tarieu De Lanaudière.…
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Battle of the Scarpe in the Great War
Nomenclature Battle of the Scarpe a battle honour incorporating the tactical incident Capture of Monchy-le-Preux, formally entitled the Battle of the Scarpe, 1918, and itself part of The Second Battles of Arras, 1918. Background Following the brilliant success of the Canadian Corps at Amiens on 8 August 1918, the Corps moved back north to rejoin…
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Piper James Cleland Richardson VC in the Great War
Piper James Cleland Richardson died the day after his actions, for which he earned the Victoria Cross. He had inspired his comrades shortly before the bloody capture of Regina Trench. “Things looked very bad and then it was that the piper asked if he would play his pipes—“Wull I gie them wund (wind)?” was what…
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Lieutenant Samuel Lewis Honey VC in the Great War
Lieutenant Samuel Lewis Honey, teacher, soldier, and officer, born 9 February 1894 in the hamlet of Conn, Ontario, eldest child of the Reverend George Edward Honey and Metta Blaisdell. Early Life of Samuel Lewis Honey Honey’s father served several Methodist churches in the area around Conn, with the Honeys moving frequently. Lewis attending school at Drayton in…
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Private Charles Aumond in the Great War
Honour and Disgrace Was Private Charles de Bellefeuille Aumond the most undisciplined soldier in the CEF during the Great War? Or was he a whistleblower, and victimized by his fearless, hard-drinking Commanding Officer (a VC recipient in the Boer War), and his two brothers in Borden’s Armoured Battery? Is this a story of honour and…
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Captain Thain Wendell MacDowell VC, DSO in the Great War
Ultimate Badass Captain Thain Wendell MacDowell VC, DSO awarded his Victoria Cross for valour in the presence of the enemy at Vimy Ridge. It was during this battle that Captain MacDowell would prove himself to be among the ultimate badasses of the Great War. Early life of Thain Wendell MacDowell Son of John Vincent MacDowell…
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CSM Robert Hill Hanna VC in the Great War
The fourth Irish-Canadian Victoria Cross of the CEF CSM Robert Hill Hanna VC born on his father’s farm in Aughnahoory Townland, near Hanna’s Close, Kilkeel, County Down in the north of Ireland on 6 August 1887, the second of 11 children born to Robert Hill Hanna Snr and his wife Sarah Hanna. Kingdom of Mourne…