- Location
- Algoma, ON
Courtesy of the Great War
The Best Sniper Of World War 1 - Francis Pegahmagabow I WHO DID WHAT IN WW1?
- Thread starter matthunt101
- Start date
Finally starting to get some well deserved attention, it seems.
A small mention as well for a sniper from your own country. John Shiwak, a native Labradorian and soldier with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, killed by a German shell in November 1917.
A small mention as well for a sniper from your own country. John Shiwak, a native Labradorian and soldier with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, killed by a German shell in November 1917.
I've read that the Germans would triangulate on the source of the sniper shots and hit the spot with artillery shells. A very hazardous occupation indeed.
Finally starting to get some well deserved attention, it seems.
A small mention as well for a sniper from your own country. John Shiwak, a native Labradorian and soldier with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, killed by a German shell in November 1917.
Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Francis was one tough gentleman indeed!
BTW, Sgt Tommy Prince has his reserve band office/schoolhouse named after him near East Selkirk, just north east of Winnipeg.
One can see the large lettering from quite a distance.
BTW, Sgt Tommy Prince has his reserve band office/schoolhouse named after him near East Selkirk, just north east of Winnipeg.
One can see the large lettering from quite a distance.
There was a YouTube thread on the 5 or 10 top snipers. I believe it was a Finn who took top honours in the post. I read all the accolades and put in my 2 cents worth regarding "Peggy" as he was called. It kind of ticked me off that he wasn't mentioned when, if you read the post, he sure deserved to be there. So what? He was aboriginal and Canadian so he doesn't count? Whoever first compiled the thread obviously didn't do due diligence in his/her research. We as a nation have a distressing habit of either minimalizing or actually ignoring our heroes. Remember the Canadian sniper who took top marks for offing some talibans in Afghanistan? At that time, he took the record for the longest verified kill shot with a .50 cal. (I believe it was a Barrett). The Americans wanted to give him a medal. Our military nixed the idea, and then he was vilified by MacLeans magazine over some stupidity. That's what we've come to expect from our government and moronic press.
Not even borderline!! Not to diminish those who were awarded medals for bravery above and beyond what was expected but many officers were awarded medals for little more than showing up.
The bravery awards in most armies were heavily slanted towards officers perhaps because those approving or denying decorations were officers themselves. Many enlisted men were recommended strongly for VC's by their own officers only to have headquarters downgrade the award to the MM.
Like someone else commented Canadians have a habit of not only ignoring our own heroes but actively trying to destroy their reputations but only after they were dead and unable to defend themselves. Witness the smear campaign against Billy Bishop a few years back.
Danny Y Sexbang
New member
- Location
- Québec, Québec
This, is modern war.
- Location
- Algoma, ON
Finally starting to get some well deserved attention, it seems.
A small mention as well for a sniper from your own country. John Shiwak, a native Labradorian and soldier with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, killed by a German shell in November 1917.
Thanks for this. I'll certainly have to do some reading about him when I get home tonight.
M/Cpl Rob Furlong, shooting a MacMillan .50cal sniping rifle, saved a goodly number of American lives that day. He subsequently left the Army under a bit of a cloud and joined a police force, from which, I understand, he has now quit. I don't know any more about him, but like many snipers, he no doubt has things he sees when he closes his eyes. Some live with it, but others have a hard time with it.
Whatever, I'm certain that a goodly number of USSF personnel owe their lives to him, and bless him every day.
tac
WW1 brought talent to the surface.
1) FP above
2) Billy Bishop on the verge of being expelled from RMC in 1914 became Allies number 1 ace.
3) Arthur Currie near to being cashiered for irregularities with regimental funds in 1914 by 1918 was on short list to command BEF.
1) FP above
2) Billy Bishop on the verge of being expelled from RMC in 1914 became Allies number 1 ace.
3) Arthur Currie near to being cashiered for irregularities with regimental funds in 1914 by 1918 was on short list to command BEF.
As an ex Naval Officer I can assure you nobody ever got the VC for showing up. Having said that it was considered bad form for a rank to have a higher decoration than their commanding officer. Very rarely did the actual officer care about this bit command did. Also the colonials were rather looked down on by British Command and it was routine for awards to Colonials to be overlooked as they couldn't be seen to be better than the British military. Screwball Buerling had to be made an officer because there was no way they could turn down his awards and his level of awards simply had to go to an officer. This was within the Canadian military system. Many many ranking soldiers did not get the awards they really deserved. Pegahmagabow, in my mind, was certainly one of these but here are many many others we never hear of. Good old British class structure. That is why our families all left to go to Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc. to get away from this crap.
Currie was possibly the top general in the British Armies and was known for his deliberate planning, integration of all arms in combat and sensitivity to high casualties, a tough way to go in WW1. Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister, avowed that if he had his way Currie would command the BEF with Australian General Monash, as his deputy. It wouldn't have flown with the British military establishment to have an upstart, unprofessional Canadian in charge with an Australian Jew as his deputy.
I didn't say some got a VC for showing up, I said "a medal". The VC, in every instance I have read about whether for officer or other ranks were well deserved. I read an account of two British regular officers watching the Canadian contingent parading upon their arrival in Great Britain in ww1. One remarked that 'They seem to be fit and a fine body of men, if only we could shoot their officers."
Read "Generals Die In Bed" by Charles Yale Harrison. The book has taken some criticism for taking liberties with the facts, but the cotnradictions with Harrison's statements only come from official regimental diaries, which were often sanitized.
Canadians did, in fact, shoot incompetent field officers on occasion. Very much like "fragging" in Vietnam, it was done in a way that it would not be possible to trace it back to an individual.
Really, they were no different from any other large group of soldiers during the war or at any other time in history. Incompetent field officers are, from time to time, dealt with by their own men.
- Location
- WMU247 near Edmonton
Sr NCOs and Officer causality rates of a WW1 Canadian unit were double the normal rate for the first 3 days a unit was in the lines.... just a little sorting out under fire.
Sad but true. I understand that if a VC was recommended and declined a Mentioned in Dispatches was given. Pretty much the lowest recognition available. The system with respect to the VC was seriously flawed. Those who won it unquestionably deserved it but very many personnel who deserved it got nothing. The medal system was something that always annoyed me. The DSO was often given to senior officer for doing a halfway decent job while if it was given to a junior officer it was typically for a very high level of personal gallantry. Only officers were eligible. Military Cross (officer) ranks higher than the Military Medal (rank) but the award criteria are the same. Colonial forces were regularly overlooked for decorations that would routinely be awarded to British forces for the same action. The British regular forces (that were not actually fighting) hated the upstart colonials for their brash undisciplined ways, the very thing that made them great soldiers.
