Canada Post Releases New Stamp To Honour Canada’s War Heroes
Remembrance Day is November 11 and this year Canada Post has issued a stamp to honour those Canadians who were awarded the Victoria Cross. This medal was for most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy.
Between 1854 and 1945, 95 Canadians were awarded the Victoria Cross. The first Canadian awarded the medal was Alexander Roberts Dunn, born September 15, 1833 in York, Upper Canada (now Toronto, Ontario).
He was serving with the Eleventh Hussars, British Army, when he won the Victoria Cross during the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava in the Crimean War in October 1854. There are several versions of why he was awarded the Cross, including a heroic stand against Russian troops with only his saber after his pistol ran out of bullets.
The only Victoria Cross awarded in Canada was pinned on Timothy O'Hea, Private, First Battalion, The Rifle Brigade, on June 9, 1866. Private O'Hea was born in Bantry, County Cork, Ireland in 1843.
His citation reads: On June 9, 1866, at Quebec, Canada, a fire broke out in an ammunition car containing 2,000 pounds of ammunition between Quebec and Montreal. The alarm was given and the car was disconnected at Danville Railway Station. While the sergeant in charge was considering what should be done, Private O'Hea took the keys from his hand, rushed to the car, opened it, and called for water and a ladder. It was due to this man's example that the fire was extinguished.
There is a further “Celtic Connection” to this activity. The presence of British troops in Canada had been bolstered to support repulsion of the Fenian Raids. The raids were conducted by Irish expatriates and former Union soldiers from the American Civil War who were attacking Canada to press for Irish Independence.
Tragically, Timothy O'Hea was lost in Duff's Desert, Australia, in December 1874 while on a discovery expedition.
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