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BID TO KEEP CANUCK'S VICTORIA CROSS

Gunnar

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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.
 
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.
Ok, I'm not sure I get this. What's the complaint? Why doesn't the family just keep the damn medal if they want to keep in Canada?
 
$275,0000 reasons?

CIBC has already kicked in $25 K.  We'll see how it goes.
 
IMO, it's a blatant cash grab by the family. If the family wanted to keep it in Canada that badly, they'd donate it or permanent loan it to the Canadian War Museum ......Disappointing indeed. :army:
 
One story says the medal was not mentioned in the will, so the law says it must be sold at fair market value to settle the estate.
 
Buckahed is correct the medal was not mentioned or itemized in the will. So it has to be sold at fair market value to settle the estate. There was a piece on global News about this about a week or two ago. It would be nice to see this medal stay in Canada. There is a post on the main page at www.commando.org about the fundraising efforts.
 
Anyone interested in getting involved in the campaign to keep this piece of Canadian History in CANADA can inquire at the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada webpage;

http://www.qor.com/topham.html  

The QOR JR mess has donated $$ and are currently working on organising additional fundraising. Get in touch, get your units / comrades involved.
 
I stand corrected about the family money grab. I saw a news piece on it. It's nice to be wrong about people once in awhile. :salute:
 
why don't people ever get buried with their medals? 
 
Perhaps they do, but it's tough to justify burying an historic award like the VC (worth upwards of $300,000 each) ... they belong in museums or somewhere on public display.
CIBC has donated $25,000 to the 1 Cdn Para fund and one hopes more Canadian companies will step up to the plate as WalMart Canada did for the Juno Beach Centre. :cdn:
 
This is a cause all reporters should support!

Mon, February 21, 2005

'The beginning of the end ...'

By Peter Worthington

On March 24, the day Paratrooper Fred Topham won the Victoria Cross in World War II, the 60th anniversary of the Rhine Crossing is being celebrated by the British Parachute Regiment in Germany.

It is likely the last such memorial -- World War II vets are getting fewer and fewer -- and serving troops from countries that fought that action will be in attendance.

But no Canadian soldiers ... so far.

On that day, in Hamilton, Ont., Toppy's VC and World War II medals will be turned over to the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion Association which, with help from Sun readers, raised over $300,000 to buy the medals and save them from being auctioned in Britain.

The two functions, an ocean apart, pose a problem for the 1st Can Para vets who can't be in two places at the same time.

Ceremonial

Today's British Parachute Regiment is staging a series of ceremonial events on that weekend, centred at the German town of Hamminkeln, where Britain's 6th Airborne Division (to which the 1st Can Paras were attached) made the crossing in which Toppy earned his VC -- the only VC awarded to the 6th Airborne Division in World War II.

The British Paras are anxious for Canadian participation in events -- likely the last of such ceremonies, since vets and their families are dying out, or unable to attend.

Each year gets harder.

Last December Jan DeVries, president of the 1st Can Para Association, wrote the chief of defence staff, Gen. Ray Henault, asking his help for a contingent of serving Canadian paratroopers to attend the Rhine Crossing ceremonies -- a major event in the war.

A dozen Princess Pats would be a sufficient honour guard and show the flag for Canada.

As yet, DeVries has had no response from Henault.

He assumes his letter has been passed on to Henault's successor, Gen. Rick Hillier.

DeVries also contacted Veterans Affairs, but that's like whistling into the wind. The silence is deafening.

One has to sympathize with the 1st Para vets.

End of the war

To a man, they've never asked anything of Canada, have paid their own way, and been loyal to the army and the country.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, the Rhine Crossing on March 24, 1945, marked the beginning of the end of the war.

The 6th Airborne Division, including the 1st Can Paras, fought their way up to the Baltic Sea to make contact with the Soviet army.

No Canadian unit saw more action in Northwest Europe than the 1st Can Paras.

Since this may well be the last anniversary of its type, it'd be a pity if through bureaucratic neglect, or ignorance of its significance, or even misguided reluctance to spend money, no Canadian representation attends.

Included will be ceremonies at the Groesbeek military cemetery, where 2,338 Canadian soldiers are buried, including Aubery Cousens of the Queen's Own Rifles -- posthumously awarded the VC -- only 16 of which were won by Canadians in World War II.

As a nation, we tend to ignore our military until times of crisis -- or once a year on Remembrance Day.

Historic moment

The Rhine Crossing was a historic moment for the allies in World War II, and if our government ignores the 60th anniversary, especially when the famed British Parachute Regiment urges our involvement, well, it'll be another slap at our military.

Surely the new chief of defence staff, who has commanded Canadian troops in the combat zone of Afghanistan, can find some way to send a dozen serving paratroopers over to show that we remember, as do the Brits.

It would also be a tribute to Fred Topham and those who served -- and still serve -- that Canada is an ally for whatever the future holds.


 
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