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Normally framed beside my desk. These were passed down to me from my mother's side of the family.
Working as a Tinsmith in Toronto My GG-Grandfather enlisted in 1916 to join the 180th Sportsmen Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces.
In mid 1917, a Vickers Machine Gun was dropped on his foot causing multiple breaks and forcing him to be removed from active service and returned home.
Despite the doctor's recommendations for amputation due to the extent of damage to the foot, his wife refused and miraculously not only did his foot heal and the multiple fractures set well, but he regained full mobility with only the hint of a limp for the remainder of his life.
The medals:
The gold medal in the top right normally would have a rainbow ribbon and is the Inter Allied Victory Medal.
Recipients had to be mobilized for war service in the United Kingdom or the British Empire, in any service, and to have entered a theatre of war between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918 to qualify for the Victory Medal.
The Silver one with the intact ribbon is the British War Medal
instituted in 1919 for those who had rendered service between 5 August 1914, the day following the British declaration of war against the German Empire, and the armistice of 11 November 1918. The British War Medal could be awarded to all officers and men of British and Imperial forces who had served for the prescribed period or who had died on active service before its completion.
The family line would continue with my great grandfather serving in the Canadian 1st infantry in France in 1940, and my grandfather joining the reserves in his youth.
I was extremely close with my grandfather who passed in 2018, and I largely went to University for history because of the many evenings and afternoons we would spend talking about his experiences and the stories he had been told as a child. These represent to me my family's unwavering devotion to Canada, and the bond I shared with my Grandad.
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