Without regard for his own life he left the sheltered area to carry the wounded to the safety of the regimental aid post. It was as if he knew the Lord was on his side. The record states, "For eight hours Chaplain Foote boldly walked upright exposing himself to an inferno of fire with no concern for his own safety, saving the lives of many wounded men."
The preacher was Captain John Foote – A Presbyterian Minister who returned to Canada after the war to become The Honorable John Foote, Minister of Correctional Services in the government of Ontario Premier Leslie Frost.
We became friends in the 1950`s and I always thought of him as the ultimate hero. I knew him as a reserved and shy man but I also knew of the courage he displayed that day, 67 years ago. Men of his regiment told how he inspired them as he walked about collecting the wounded from the fire-swept battle area and carrying many to the beach for evacuation.
On several occasions he had the opportunity to embark but he chose to stay with his men. As the last barge left the shore he turned and walked across the beach towards the German soldiers, choosing capture, so he could stay and care for his men who were taken prisoner. In the fierce eight hours of battle almost 1000 were killed and 1874 were captured - to spend the next 3 years with their Padre in a German prison camp. John died in 1988. The only Canadian Chaplain to be awarded the Victoria Cross.
Victoria Cross
Webster’s dictionary defines a hero as "one who has great courage". The Victoria Cross is by far the world’s most coveted medal and can be won only by "actions of conspicuous bravery under circumstances of extreme danger in the presence of the enemy". The 1356 men of the old British Empire and of today`s Commonwealth who won it were not seeking to be super heroes, but indeed they were. For they cared more about preserving freedom than for their own lives. So many of them are in battleground graves around the world not knowing their courage was recognized and honoured after their death. Never to know they are remembered and deserving of the highest honor their country can give.
Today we watch wars in full color in real time on CNN from the comfort of our living room. But not in 1854. The Crimean conflict was the first war covered by the press of the day. Newspaper reporter Howard Russell of the London Times reported for the first time on the courage and endurance of the average British soldier in battle. He reported what he saw to the British public. Britons for the first time read of the bravery and of the resolve of their fighting men and of the real tragedy of war. The Victoria Cross was born in the carnage of Crimea.
A war that started in a dispute over the Holy Places in Palestine. Sound a bit familiar?
Canada`s first Victoria Cross was won in that war at Balaklava at the time of The Charge of The Light Brigade. In 1854 Lieutenant Alex Dunn, born in York, now Toronto, was cited for acts of bravery in hand-to-hand fighting with Russian Lancers. Lieutenant Dunn was 21.
Although inspired by Queen Victoria the medal got its name because Prince Albert, the Queens husband, stroked out a more cumbersome name chosen by bureaucrats, and penciled in Victoria Cross. Adopted by Royal Warrant in 1856 to recognize the bravery of those fighting in the Crimea, every medal is cast from the design chosen by the Queen. It was to read, For Bravery. She changed it to, For Valor – wisely commenting, "In case anyone should come to the conclusion that the only brave men in battle were those who won the cross. "
The Victoria Cross, made by the same London jeweler, Hancock's & Co, for close to 150 years, is fashioned from the bronze of Chinese cannons captured from the Russians at the siege of Sebastopol.
The Victoria Cross is always presented personally by the King or the Queen. The first presentation was made at Hyde Park in London and her Majesty elected to stay on horseback to present them to the first 62 recipients. All went well, until the Queen, leaning forward in the saddle to present the first one, pinned the medal on Royal Navy Commander Henry Raby. It went right through his tunic and onto his chest. It was said that the Commander, true to the spirit in which he had won the cross, stood unflinching while his Queen fastened the pin through his flesh.
Unlike earlier medals awarded only to officers, the Victoria Cross is the first truly democratic medal in that there is no barrier of color, creed, sex or rank. In the past, the combat of war has pretty much been left to men. A VC has never been won by a woman, but that could surely change now that women fight in combat zones - the rules do not preclude that possibility.
Of the 1356 men who won the Victoria Cross there are only 7 still alive. In recent years two were awarded for actions in Afghanistan, one to a New Zealander and one to an Australian. Canada`s last living Victoria Cross winner, Ernie "Smokey" Smith of British Columbia died four years ago at 91. His citation tells it all. In a few minutes of unleashed fury on a rainy October night in 1944, about 50 miles east of Florence, for Ernest Alvia Smith it was kill or be killed. Private Ernie Smith single-handedly fought off German tanks and dozens of troops on a road beside the Savio River saving an untold number of lives - and forever changed his own.
It is hard to imagine a man winning the Victoria Cross twice. There are only three. Captain Arthur Martin-Leake won his fist in the Boer War and another in The Great War. Captain Noel Chavasse won his in 1916 and another in 1917, and Captain Charles Upham won his first as a Lieutenant in Crete in 1941 and a second as Captain Upham in the North African desert in 1942.
Andrew Fitzgibbon was a young Irishman with the 67th Indian Regiment. He was 15 when he won his Victoria Cross for bravery as a medic. Another was Thomas Flinn, also an Irish lad of 15 and a drummer with The North Staffordshire Regimental band, who won his for hand- to-hand fighting with the enemy while badly wounded.
How about three crosses in one family. In India in August 1857, 25 year old Major Charles Gough won the Victoria Cross. His brother, 23 year old Lieutenant Hugh Gough won it four months later - both with the Bengal Lancers. In 1903 Charles Gough`s son, Major John Gough won a VC while fighting in Somalia and was later killed in action in 1915 in France.
Or how about the heroes of Pine Street in Winnipeg? The city changed the name to Valor Road when three residents of the same street won the coveted Cross.
When the VC was first instituted a yearly pension of 10 pounds was granted. By 1995 it had been increased to 1300 pounds or about $3000. Canadian. An expulsion clause allows for the medal to be taken away in certain "wholly discreditable circumstances" and the pension cancelled. There are 8 recorded cases of forfeiture – none since the Boer War, and only one for desertion. One for bigamy, and six for stealing, including theft of a cow, a horse and six bushels of oats.
King George V felt so strongly that the decoration should never be forfeited that in a letter written in 1920 his feelings were expressed. "Even were a VC winner to be sentenced to be hanged for murder he should be allowed to wear his Victoria Cross on the scaffold" I think I would agree with the King.
Yes, there were some great deeds done and courage shown beyond anything we can imagine, by Captain, the Reverend John Foote and the other 1355 winners of our highest honor. However cold facts and statistics tell little of the daring and the bravery of so many, and the sadness and misery and depravation they endured. Keeping their memory alive with remembrance and respect and honoring them is little to ask for those who gave so much.
We must also remember the actions of so many who fought and died as unsung heroes. So often their self-sacrifice resulted in a lonely death in an unmarked grave without a medal. They equally share in the honor and respect we have for those who fought to win and preserve our freedom. We must instill in those who come after us, that same respect, and pass on to them the responsibility of nurturing and cherishing the precious legacy of their deeds.
Wear a poppy and remember them on their day..........Wednesday, November 11th
Sixty seven years ago a preacher from Coburg jumped off a landing barge and ran ashore on the main beach at Dieppe. To be exact it was August 19,1942. Instantly this Man-of-the-Cloth became a medic saving lives. Saving souls would have to wait. All hell was breaking loose and his men were pinned down by German machine gunners. Men of The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry.
