History - Military Medal Recipients - Francis Pegahmagabow

While looking up some history-related stuff, I came across a couple of mentions of the Military Medal. After reading about it, I’ve decided to do a limited series on Military Medal recipients.

Established in 1916, the Military Medal was retrospectively applied to 1914. It was awarded to personnel below the commissioned rank of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to those of other Commonwealth countries for bravery in battle. It was discontinued in 1993 and replaced by the Military Cross.

Military Medal (Hsq7278 - Wikipedia)

Military Medal - reverse (Hsq7278 - Wikipedia)

I won’t be covering all recipients of the Military Medal, instead I’ve chosen a few mainly from World War I.

I’ll begin with a soldier who was credited with being the deadliest sniper of World War I.

Francis Pegahmagabow in 1919

Francis Pegahmagabow, an Ojibway, was born on the 9th of March 1891 on the Parry Island reserve (now the Shawanaga First Nation reserve) in Ontario, the only child of Michael Pegahmagabow and Mary Contin.

Suffering from a severe unknown illness, Michael Pegahmagabow died when Francis was three. Afflicted with the same illness, Mary returned to the home of her own people.

Francis remained on Parry Island and was raised by Noah Nebimanyquod, an elder who had raised Michael after he’d been orphaned.

The young boy was brought up learning the traditions and customs of the Anishinaabe, to which the Ojibway belong. He not only learnt to hunt and fish, he was also introduced to traditional medicine.

He left school when he was about 12 years old and worked at lumber and fishing camps.

In 1911, the 21-year-old Francis decided he wanted to complete his education. When the council of his people wouldn’t agree to help him financially, he sought the help of a Crown attorney, Walter Lockwood Haight.

Once financial aid was secured, Francis began attending school and did well academically while also learning to read and play music.

Soon after World War I was declared, Francis, along with more than 4,000 indigenous soldiers, volunteered for overseas service despite government discrimination which excluded indigenous people and ethnic minorities from military service.

Judged physically fit for service, Francis was posted to the 23rd Regiment (Northern Pioneers), which were called out on overseas active service on the 6th of August 1914.

Francis became a member of the 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion, which had been created on the 2nd of September 1914.

When the battalion arrived in England on the 14th of October 1914, it became part of the 1st Canadian Division, itself part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Following rigorous training during a harsh winter on Salisbury Plain, Francis, known as ‘Peggy’ to his fellow soldiers, and the approximately 20,000 men of the 1st Canadian Division left for France in February 1915.

The 1st Battalion faced its first real test at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915 where the Germans used chlorine gas for the first time.

During the battle, Francis began to establish his reputation as a deadly sniper and scout. He would make his way into No Man’s Land at night and lie in wait for German soldiers.

In that battle, more than 6,500 Canadian soldiers were killed, wounded or captured.

Francis survived and was promoted to lance corporal.

The first half of June 1916 saw the Canadians and Germans battle for Mont Sorrel, a 30-metre hill overlooking the city of Ypres and the road between Ypres and Menen, located on the French/Belgium border.

On the 2nd of June, German troops attacked, their artillery barrage blowing apart the Allied trenches, killing hundreds of Canadian troops.

Detonating mines and advancing up Mont Sorrel, German forces overwhelmed the Canadians and captured Mont Sorrel, together with Hill 61 and Hill 62.

When the Canadians tried to retake the hills on the 3rd of June, the Germans repelled the attack. Also, having captured the village of Hooge, the Germans were in a good position to attack Ypres.

As the Somme Offensive was in its final planning stages, troops were in short supply. But the British 2nd Cavalry Brigade came to the aid of the Canadians.

On the 9th of June, Allied forces began their counterattack.

An hour or so after midnight on the 13th of June, following an artillery attack, the Allies advanced under cover of a smokescreen.

Not only were they fighting in the dark, the Canadian and British soldiers also had to contend with wind and rain to recapture the mount, which they successfully did.

That success came at a cost.

By battle-end on the 14th of June, 8,430 Canadians had been killed, wounded or reported missing; German casualties – killed, injured or missing – numbered 5,765.

Francis Pegahmagabow was one of the survivors, credited with capturing many German soldiers.

Canadian Hill 62 Monument in Ypres, Belgium “Here at Mount Sorrel and on the line from Hooge to St. Eloi, the Canadian Corps fought in the defence of Ypres April-August 1916” - [Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer) - Wikipedia]

On the 1st of July 1916, less than 3 weeks after the Battle of Mont Sorrel, Allied forces launched the Battle of the Somme.

Lasting until the 18th of November 1916, this would be the largest battle of the war on the Western Front. It would also be one of the bloodiest in human history, responsible for the death or wounding of approximately 1.2 million men in the space of 5 months.

While fighting at the Battle of the Somme, Francis was wounded in the leg.

As soon as he recovered, he returned to the 1st Battalion as they moved to Belgium.

For facing enemy fire to deliver crucial messages, he was awarded the Military Medal.

Francis also fought at the Battle of Passchendaele.

Also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, this offensive was fought from the 31st of July 1917 until the 10th of November 1917 in the hopes of breaking the 3-year deadlock.

The offensive did nothing to advance the Allied efforts and has come to symbolise the senseless slaughter of World War I.

Francis had been promoted to the rank of corporal by the time his battalion was ordered to launch an attack at Passchendaele. He effectively guided the battalion’s reinforcements, which had become lost and made sure they reached their allocated positions.

For this, he was awarded a bar to his Military Medal.

In December 1917, Francis developed pneumonia and was hospitalised in England.

As soon as he was well enough, he returned to the field in 1918, seeing action at Amiens and the Second Battle of Arras.

Francis also fought at the Battle of the Scarpe at the end of August 1918.

This was part of the Hundred Days Offensive, a series of Allied attacks launched on the 8th of August 1918, which, coupled with a revolution breaking out in Germany, led to the end of World War I.

Starting with the Battle of Amiens on the Western Front, the Allies pushed the Germans back, causing them to retreat to the Hindenburg Line where, after the Battle of St Quentin Canal on the 29th of September, the Allies broke through with a series of victories.

On the 30th of August, at the Battle of the Scarpe, while fighting off a German attack, Francis’ company was almost out of ammunition.

Braving heavy machine-gun fire, Francis succeeded in resupplying his company with enough ammunition to enable them to hold their position.

For his courageous act, he was awarded a second bar to his Military Medal, making him one of only 39 Canadians to receive this honour.

By the end of the war in November 1918, Francis Pegahmagabow was one of Canada’s most highly decorated indigenous soldiers of World War I.

He’d also been awarded a 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

1914-1915 Star (Col André Kitzinger - Wikipedia)

Interestingly, the 1914-15 Star was never awarded singly but always with the British War and Victory Medals.

British War Medal (Col André Kitzinger - Wikipedia)

Victory Medal (Bjw3 - Wikipedia)

Victory Medal - reverse (Bjw3 - Wikipedia)

Francis returned to Canada in 1919 having attained the rank of sergeant-major and with a well-established reputation as a skilled marksman. He used a Ross Rifle, considered unsuitable for trench warfare and withdrawn from front line use by 1916. But many snipers of the Canadian Expeditionary Force continued to use it because of its exceptional accuracy.

He was credited with killing 378 Germans and capturing a further 300.

Ross 1910B Rifle (‘Vaarok’ - Wikipedia)

Francis returned to Parry Island and continued to serve as a member of the Northern Pioneers (now the Algonquin Regiment).

Frustratingly, despite being a war hero, Francis still had to deal with persecution and poverty. As with the other indigenous people, he found his life, including his pension, controlled by local Indian agents.

He became involved in politics and was elected chief of the Parry Island Band in February 1921, a position he held until 1925 when he left before being deposed.

There were those who weren’t happy with him holding the position after he’d written a letter calling for certain people and those of mixed race to be expelled from the reserve.

From 1933 to 1936, Francis was appointed band councillor. He constantly demanded better treatment for the indigenous people.

His efforts were thwarted when the Department of Indian affairs changed its policy in 1933, forbidding First Nation chiefs from corresponding with the department. Instead, they had to go through the Indian agent, a move that conferred tremendous power to the agent.

This did not sit well with Francis, especially as he did not get along with his agent.

First Nation people who had seen active service during World War I refused to be hindered by the Indian agents; had they not travelled to other parts of the world and earned the respect of their fellow soldiers in the trenches?

However, the constant disagreements between Francis and his agent led to him being deposed as chief.

Francis’ goal was to have the authority of the band council overrule that of the agents; sadly, he never achieved this.

In later years, “some historians believe that psychological trauma inflicted by his war experiences affected Francis’ public and private behaviour.”

During World War II, Francis worked as a guard at a munitions plant near Nobel, Ontario. He was also a Sergeant-major in the local militia.

In 1943, Francis became the Supreme Chief of the Native Indian Government, an early indigenous political organisation.

1945 - At a conference in Ottawa where the National Indian Government was formed (Wikipedia)

The father of 6 children, it’s not known when he married.

Francis Pegahmagabow died on the Parry Island reserve of a heart attack on the 5th of August 1952, aged 61.

He is a member of the Indian Hall of Fame at the Woodland Centre in Brantford, Ontario.

On the 21st of June 2016, a life-sized bronze statue of Francis Pegahmagabow was erected in Parry Sound.

Bronze statue of Francis Pegahmagabow

The figure, with a Ross rifle on its shoulder, is depicted standing in front of a caribou, which represents the Caribou Clan that Francis belonged to.

Francis Pegahmagabow effectively served for the duration of World War I, was part of major battles on the Western Front including the Somme, Passchendaele and Amiens, repeatedly displayed courage under fire, survived and returned home where he fought for the rights of his people.

Sabaton’s song about this remarkable man, ‘A Ghost in the Trenches’, sums up his war-time exploits.