CANADA'S FIRST AMERICAN VICTORIA CROSS

‘I'm fed up to the teeth,' said Sergeant George Harry Mullin as he handed out rum rations to his Canadian comrades on Oct. 29, 1917. ‘Tomorrow morning it's either a wooden cross or a VC for me.' He would soon be proven right on one of those counts.

Mere hours later, amid the Battle of Passchendaele, Mullin's gallantry and fearlessness, as his Victoria Cross citation reads, earned him a place among a select few awarded the British Empire's highest military accolade.

Rarer still was his unique position within the esteemed and courageous group: an American-born recipient.

Mullin was not like the tens of thousands of U.S. citizens who crossed the border prior to America's own entry into the war. The Portland, Ore., native had learned to shoot a rifle while hunting prairie chickens near Moosomin, Sask., after his family moved there when he was two years old.

After the 1914 call to arms, Mullin eventually joined Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI). Deployed to France, he quickly acquired a reputation as a skilled sniper—and for taking great personal risks.

Assaulting the Meetcheele ridge overlooking Passchendaele village, the men of PPCLI had already, in the words of one witness, been mowed down like wheat when the Canadians came across a particularly menacing German pillbox.

Lieutenant Hugh McKenzie, a PPCLI officer attached to the 7th Canadian Machine Gun Company, rallied nearby survivors and launched a frontal attack against the stronghold. Intent on distracting the enemy gunners while others flanked the pillbox, the 31-year-old subaltern was killed in the charge.

McKenzie's efforts, which had the desired effect of diverting German fire, would be posthumously recognized with the Victoria Cross. Meanwhile, Mullin was in the process of earning his own.

The American carefully inched his way toward the concrete emplacement. When the right moment came, he leapt up and tossed grenades into an enemy sniper's post; the bombs instantly knocked it out.

Bullets ripped through Mullin's clothes—somehow without hitting him—as he rushed the next pillbox. Alone, revolver in hand, he clambered onto the roof before angling the weapon inside and firing. The German gunners fell.

Finally, having saved his pinned-down comrades, Mullin edged around to the post's entrance and compelled the remaining defenders to surrender.

Including the late McKenzie, four Canadian soldiers were awarded the Victoria Cross at least in part for their actions on Oct. 30, 1917. However, of those, Mullin had the distinct honour of being the only American-born recipient.

To read the complete article, see:
Canada's First American Victoria Cross (https://legionmagazine.com/canadas-first-american-victoria-cross/)

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