# The Last Surviving Canadian Victoria Cross Winner Dies, Age 91: Goodbye "Smokey..." **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 3, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-surviving-canadian-victoria-cross-winner-dies-age-91-goodbye-smokey/315472 "2005-08-03T20:46:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-surviving-canadian-victoria-cross-winner-dies-age-91-goodbye-smokey/315472/1 "2005-08-03T20:46:28Z")
Canada’s last surviving winner of the Victoria Cross died earlier today, at age 91. Ernest “Smokey” Smith, of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, was awarded the VC for single-handedly attacking a German Panther V tank at ten yards range, then standing in the open and engaging the infantry supporting it with his Thompson machine-gun, to protect his wounded buddy during further German counter-attacks near the Savio River in Italy on October 22nd, 1944. His full citation for the VC can be read [here](http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=history/secondwar/citations/smith). I met him several times when I was a kid. A very down-to-earth, normal guy, who liked a drink now and then. The kind of a guy who wouldn’t leave a buddy behind, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-surviving-canadian-victoria-cross-winner-dies-age-91-goodbye-smokey/315472/2 "2005-08-03T20:49:09Z")
I know nothing about this award. Has Canada not been in a war since WWII, or has it simply not had another occasion to hand out this particular medal? Sad he’s gone, but looks like he made good with the time he had. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-surviving-canadian-victoria-cross-winner-dies-age-91-goodbye-smokey/315472/3 "2005-08-03T21:31:05Z")
The Victoria Cross is a British medal, awarded by the British government (technically, the monarch). One thousand, three hundred and fifty-one Victoria Cross medals have been handed out since 1856 CE. Post-WWII, most Commonwealth nations become more independant of Britain, particularly with regard to military matters and foreign policy. Canada, for instance, acquired so many US and British ships during WWII that it boasted the third largest Navy in the world by the end of 1945. A lot of traditions and roles that had been handled by the British were domesticated out of necessity, and by the continuing British policy of delegating control to the former Dominions. Outside of the Commonwealth, the VC has been awarded to five Americans (plus the American Unknown Soldier at Arlington\*), three Danes, two Germans, one Belgian, one Swiss, one Swede and one Russian. - Conversely, US Congress awarded the Medal of Honor to the British Unknown Soldier. ---
**Author:** ![Aguecheek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Aguecheek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aguecheek)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-surviving-canadian-victoria-cross-winner-dies-age-91-goodbye-smokey/315472/4 "2005-08-03T21:34:48Z")
> [@Pullet](#): > > I know nothing about this award. Has Canada not been in a war since WWII, or has it simply not had another occasion to hand out this particular medal? > > Sad he’s gone, but looks like he made good with the time he had. Canada, since WWII, has served in Korea, Iraq I and Afghanistan. We’ve also maintained a UN Peacekeeping force since its inception. No VC has been awarded since WWII. The Victoria Cross is the highest combat decoration awarded to Canadian soldiers in wartime. It was originally a British honour given to Canadian soldiers, but is now a Canadian version of the British honour. It’s remarkably difficult to win, and I’ll give my respect to any man I see wearing one. Many combat leaders have been known to say something along the lines of not allowing any live V.C. winners under their command. More information on all Canada’s awards can be found at: [http://www.forces.gc.ca/hr/dhh/honours\_awards/engraph/honour\_awards\_e.asp?cat=3&Q\_ID=1](http://www.forces.gc.ca/hr/dhh/honours_awards/engraph/honour_awards_e.asp?cat=3&Q_ID=1) ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-surviving-canadian-victoria-cross-winner-dies-age-91-goodbye-smokey/315472/5 "2005-08-03T21:39:59Z")
Thanks for the info, everyone. Does it show that military history is not my forte? 🙂 Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![Crimmsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Crimmsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crimmsy)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-surviving-canadian-victoria-cross-winner-dies-age-91-goodbye-smokey/315472/6 "2005-08-04T05:45:06Z")
> [@Aguecheek](#): > > More information on all Canada’s awards can be found at: > [http://www.forces.gc.ca/hr/dhh/honours\_awards/engraph/honour\_awards\_e.asp?cat=3&Q\_ID=1](http://www.forces.gc.ca/hr/dhh/honours_awards/engraph/honour_awards_e.asp?cat=3&Q_ID=1) To amplify a certain point in the page that **Aguecheek** linked to: the Canadian version of the VC bears the latin phrase “Pro Valore” vice the English phrase “For Valour” the the British medal bears. The version with the Latin phrase has never been awarded. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-surviving-canadian-victoria-cross-winner-dies-age-91-goodbye-smokey/315472/7 "2005-08-04T19:01:54Z")
CANOE has a very good article on him: [Canadian War Hero Dead at 91](http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/08/03/1158171-cp.html). Here’s two bits from the bio that give you an idea what he was like: > [@](#): > > Although his comrades called him “a soldier’s soldier,” Smith’s relationship with the army was stormy. > > He built a reputation as an independent-minded man suspicious of authorities. **They made him a corporal nine times and busted him back to private nine times.** That was his rank when he was awarded his VC, the only Canadian private to win the medal in the Second World War. and > [@](#): > > Smith heard he’d won the Victoria Cross - the Commonwealth’s highest, decoration for heroism - about seven weeks after the fight. **His reputation as a party animal preceded him. Military police were sent to take him to the ceremony with King George VI in London.** > > “They picked me up in Naples or somewhere and **they put me in jail** ,” Smith recalled with his trademark grin. > > " ‘Don’t let him loose in this town.’ I liked to party. I’d have a big goddamn party and they’d say: 'Where is he now? Oh, he’s drunk downtown." ’ I would assume it’s a bit unusual to have to keep a VC winner in jail to prevent him from showing up drunk at Buckingham Palace to meet the King… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-surviving-canadian-victoria-cross-winner-dies-age-91-goodbye-smokey/315472/8 "2005-08-05T01:44:19Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > the VC has been awarded to five Americans (plus the American Unknown Soldier at Arlington\*), three Danes, two Germans, one Belgian, one Swiss, one Swede and one Russian. [And a chicken that tagged along.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bell_Chicken) ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-surviving-canadian-victoria-cross-winner-dies-age-91-goodbye-smokey/315472/9 "2005-08-05T10:10:30Z")
> [@Aguecheek](#): > > Canada, since WWII, has served in Korea, Iraq I and Afghanistan. We’ve also maintained a UN Peacekeeping force since its inception. No VC has been awarded since WWII. > > The Victoria Cross is the highest combat decoration awarded to Canadian soldiers in wartime. It was originally a British honour given to Canadian soldiers, but is now a Canadian version of the British honour. It’s remarkably difficult to win, and I’ll give my respect to any man I see wearing one. Many combat leaders have been known to say something along the lines of not allowing any live V.C. winners under their command. > > More information on all Canada’s awards can be found at: > [http://www.forces.gc.ca/hr/dhh/honours\_awards/engraph/honour\_awards\_e.asp?cat=3&Q\_ID=1](http://www.forces.gc.ca/hr/dhh/honours_awards/engraph/honour_awards_e.asp?cat=3&Q_ID=1) I assume you mean that no Victoria Cross has been awarded to a Canadian since WWII ? Certainly an Australian was awarded the VC in Vietnam, and I would think that maybe one was awarded in the Falklands War to UK personnel? ---
**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-surviving-canadian-victoria-cross-winner-dies-age-91-goodbye-smokey/315472/10 "2005-08-05T10:28:42Z")
I meant to come in and remark on this earlier. > [@](#): > > Smith had two machine guns, an anti-tank gun and hundreds of rounds of machine-gun ammunition strung around his neck and hanging off his body. > [@](#): > > …Smith, who used to kill enemy troops with a half-metre-long, warclub bristling with nails. … plus he killed a TANK. :eek: Um, wow. I’m… impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-surviving-canadian-victoria-cross-winner-dies-age-91-goodbye-smokey/315472/11 "2005-08-05T12:08:42Z")
They don’t make 'em like that anymore. RIP Smokey. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-surviving-canadian-victoria-cross-winner-dies-age-91-goodbye-smokey/315472/12 "2005-08-05T14:50:09Z")
:: snif :: I have this image of him as an indestructible video-game cyborg barbarian warrior… ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-surviving-canadian-victoria-cross-winner-dies-age-91-goodbye-smokey/315472/13 "2005-08-05T15:07:48Z")
> [@Aguecheek](#): > > Many combat leaders have been known to say something along the lines of not allowing any live V.C. winners under their command. May I ask why this is? Just curious, no snark intended. ---
**Author:** ![Aguecheek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Aguecheek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aguecheek)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-surviving-canadian-victoria-cross-winner-dies-age-91-goodbye-smokey/315472/14 "2005-08-05T15:48:57Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > I assume you mean that no Victoria Cross has been awarded to a Canadian since WWII ? Certainly an Australian was awarded the VC in Vietnam, and I would think that maybe one was awarded in the Falklands War to UK personnel? You assume correctly, and my apologies for unintentionally slighting the achievements of Maj Badcoe, WO II Payne, WO II Simpson, WO II Wheatley, as well as the British recipients from Korea, Sarawak, Vietnam, Falklands and Iraq. > [@picker](#): > > May I ask why this is? Just curious, no snark intended. Never meant to be an official rule, more anecdotal than anything else (I’ve read it a few times in various histories - no cite, sorry). An act of valour that warrants a V.C. is often considered one that’s so risky and/or hopeless, that the only way to achieve it is by self-sacrifice. Anything else is worthy of a medal, but ‘obviously’ the situation wasn’t too hopeless or the soldier as self-sacrificing, otherwise he’d be dead. Not that I agree with this, mind - I’ve read plenty of stories of living V.C. winners who bloody well deserved it, and were lucky enough to live. Just more of an example of how it’s not awarded haphazardly. ---
**Author:** ![Das\_Glasperlenspiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/das_glasperlenspiel/32/2944_2.png) [@Das\_Glasperlenspiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Das_Glasperlenspiel)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-surviving-canadian-victoria-cross-winner-dies-age-91-goodbye-smokey/315472/15 "2005-08-05T18:24:48Z")
As we live near Ottawa, my husband and I try to get to the national Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Cenotaph if possible; otherwise, we go to the local one in Manotick. I had the honour and privilege of meeting Smokey Smith once - he definitely falls into the “Most Unforgettable Character” category. I read in the Vancouver Province ([http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/news/story.html?id=a1d94ba8-a002-43bb-a4ce-e42cd04a7dbe](http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/news/story.html?id=a1d94ba8-a002-43bb-a4ce-e42cd04a7dbe)) that he will be lying in state in the House of Commons foyer on Tuesday. I think I will go say goodbye. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-surviving-canadian-victoria-cross-winner-dies-age-91-goodbye-smokey/315472/16 "2005-08-05T19:27:34Z")
> [@Aguecheek](#): > > Many combat leaders have been known to say something along the lines of not allowing any live V.C. winners under their command. According to the article I linked, that’s exactly what happened to Smokey in the Korean War: > [@](#): > > After the war, Smith worked in civilian life a couple of years before he rejoined the army to fight in Korea. > > "After I got in the army, they wouldn’t let me go. They said: ‘You got a VC, you’re not allowed to fight any more.’ > > “I said: 'Why didn’t you tell me before I rejoined?”’ > > He was promoted sergeant, then retired with full pension at 50.