Gunnar
Army.ca Veteran
- Reaction score
- 483
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- 1,030
Saving our history
BID TO KEEP CANUCK'S VICTORIA CROSS
By BRIAN GRAY, TORONTO SUN
CANADA SHOULD look in its own backyard for heroes instead of to our neighbours to the south, a World War II veteran said yesterday. Jan de Vries was telling students at King George Junior Public School about Cpl. Fred Topham's heroic efforts in the war.
"Canadians have every reason to be proud," said de Vries who served in the same battalion and now is president of the group representing its veterans.
Topham was a medic with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion whose valour under enemy fire in 1945 won him the Victoria Cross -- the most prestigious honour awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He worked for Ontario Hydro after the war and died in 1974.
"Why is it we hear about the American heroes?" asked de Vries, 80. "Here we've got one in Canada and his medals are going to leave the country unless we do something about it."
Topham's Victoria Cross -- one of only 16 won by Canadians in the World War II -- is being sold by the family but they're making every effort to keep it in Canada, Topham's nephew Michael Durant said.
A fundraising effort hopes to come up with $275,000 by the end of this year to keep the medal on public display in Canada.
"I'm learning so much about my uncle," Durant said. "He never talked about (the Victoria Cross.)"
Topham was known as a shy, quiet person "who got along with everybody and everybody liked him." He was a 27-year-old medic in March 1945 when he braved German artillery to move wounded men to safety and saved three soldiers when a vehicle exploded after being hit. He did it all after being shot through the bridge of his nose.
Cheques or money orders made out to: 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion Museum Trust can be mailed to the Cpl. Fred Topham VC Fundraising Project, c/o The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, 130 Queen St. E. Toronto, Ont. M5A 1R9.
BID TO KEEP CANUCK'S VICTORIA CROSS
By BRIAN GRAY, TORONTO SUN
CANADA SHOULD look in its own backyard for heroes instead of to our neighbours to the south, a World War II veteran said yesterday. Jan de Vries was telling students at King George Junior Public School about Cpl. Fred Topham's heroic efforts in the war.
"Canadians have every reason to be proud," said de Vries who served in the same battalion and now is president of the group representing its veterans.
Topham was a medic with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion whose valour under enemy fire in 1945 won him the Victoria Cross -- the most prestigious honour awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He worked for Ontario Hydro after the war and died in 1974.
"Why is it we hear about the American heroes?" asked de Vries, 80. "Here we've got one in Canada and his medals are going to leave the country unless we do something about it."
Topham's Victoria Cross -- one of only 16 won by Canadians in the World War II -- is being sold by the family but they're making every effort to keep it in Canada, Topham's nephew Michael Durant said.
A fundraising effort hopes to come up with $275,000 by the end of this year to keep the medal on public display in Canada.
"I'm learning so much about my uncle," Durant said. "He never talked about (the Victoria Cross.)"
Topham was known as a shy, quiet person "who got along with everybody and everybody liked him." He was a 27-year-old medic in March 1945 when he braved German artillery to move wounded men to safety and saved three soldiers when a vehicle exploded after being hit. He did it all after being shot through the bridge of his nose.
Cheques or money orders made out to: 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion Museum Trust can be mailed to the Cpl. Fred Topham VC Fundraising Project, c/o The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, 130 Queen St. E. Toronto, Ont. M5A 1R9.