The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 45, October 23, 2005, Article 10

CANADIAN VICTORIA CROSS FINDS A HOME

Another Victoria Cross has found a home in a museum,
this time in Canada:

"The Canadian War Museum has unveiled a new attraction --
the First World War Victoria Cross of Captain Francis
Scrimger.

A Montreal native who studied medicine at McGill University
before the war, Scrimger served with the Royal Montreal
Regiment (14th Battalion) during the Second Battle of Ypres.

Scrimger was the first medical officer to receive the British
Commonwealth's highest military decoration for bravery and
gallantry, after he conducted the evacuation of a medical station
in what is believed to have been the first use of poisonous
gas in battle.

In April 1915, When German forces unleashed the deadly
chlorine gas on Allied forces in Belgium, Scrimger instructed
the men in his battalion to breathe through moistened
handkerchiefs.

Because the gas was water-soluble, his advice was credited
with saving many lives."

On Monday, Scrimger's descendants donated his rare medal
-- alongside two other medals he received -- to the War
Museum in Ottawa."

"Only 94 Canadians have ever been honoured with the
Victoria Cross."

To read the full article, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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