Devil’s Brigade, Francis Pegahmagabow, Tommy Prince two of Canada’s most decorated Indigenous soldiers
Serving as a reconnaissance expert in the Devil’s Brigade, Tommy Prince posed as a local farmer to repair a severed communications wire in full view of enemy troops. He is one of Canada’s most decorated Indigenous soldiers. Courtesy Canadian VA
As soon as I put on my uniform I felt a better man.
Tommy Prince
Tommy Prince (right) with a brother at Buckingham Palace, where he was awarded two gallantry medals.
(C.J. Woods / Department of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / PA-142289)
Young Tommy Prince
Thomas George Prince was one of 11 children born to Henry and Arabella Prince of the Brokenhead Band at Scanterbury, Manitoba. He was a descendant of Peguis, the Saulteaux Chief who led his band of 200 Ojibwa from the Sault Ste. Marie region to the Red River in the 1790s, and of Chief William Prince, who headed the Ojibwa-Manitoba team of Nile Voyageurs.
Enlisting in the army
Prince enlisted in June 1940, at the age of 24, and began his wartime service as a sapper with the Royal Canadian Engineers. After two years with the RCE, he answered a call for paratrooper volunteers, and by late 1942, was training with the 1st Canadian Special Service Battalion.
Soon after Prince joined this select battalion, it merged with an elite American unit, forming a spearhead of 1,600 men who possessed an assortment of specialist skills. Officially called the 1st Special Service Force, it would become known to German soldiers as the Devil’s Brigade. Originally, this force was intended to be a parachute unit that would land behind enemy lines and sabotage their installations. Instead, it became a versatile assault group with a reputation for specialized reconnaissance and raiding. Prince was well-suited to be a member.
Reconnaissance missions
On February 8, 1944, near Littoria, Italy, Reconnaissance Sergeant Prince was spying on the Germans. An abandoned farmhouse some 200 metres from the enemy served as his observation post, and 1,400 metres of telephone wire connected him to the force. He had a clear view of the enemy’s artillery emplacements and promptly reported them.
A clever escape
During what would become a 24-hour solo watch, Prince’s communication line was severed by shelling. Unfazed, the sergeant donned civilian clothing, grabbed a hoe and, in full view of German soldiers, acted like a farmer weeding his crops. He slowly inched his way along the line until he found where it was damaged, then, pretending to tie his shoelaces, quickly rejoined the wires. His reporting continued and so did the damage to enemy artillery posts. In all, four German positions were destroyed, and Prince had earned the Military Medal. As his citation explains, “Sergeant Prince’s courage and utter disregard for personal safety were an inspiration to his fellows and a marked credit to his unit.”
In Italy, a patrol of the Devil’s Brigade undergoes a last-minute briefing before setting out.
(Lt. Nye / Department of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / PA-128986)
Critical intelligence
Six months later, the Devil’s Brigade entered southern France. On September 1, Sergeant Prince and a private, scouting deep behind German lines near L’Escarène, located the gun sites and encampment area of an enemy reserve battalion. Prince walked 70 kilometres across the rugged, mountainous terrain to report the information and led the brigade to the encampment. He then joined in the battle.
Medals and honours
Afterward, Prince was recommended for the Silver Star, an American army decoration for gallantry in action. His citation was glowing:
So accurate was the report rendered by the patrol that Sergeant Prince’s regiment moved forward on 5 September 1944, occupied new heights and successfully wiped out the enemy bivouac [encampment] area. The keen sense of responsibility and devotion to duty displayed by Sergeant Prince is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of the Allied Nations.
When the fighting in Southern France was over, Prince was summoned to Buckingham Palace, where King George VI decorated him with both the Military Medal and, on behalf of the president of the United States, the Silver Star with ribbon. Tommy Prince was one of 59 Canadians who were awarded the Silver Star during the Second World War. Only three of this group also possessed the Military Medal.
In December 1944, the Devil’s Brigade was disbanded, and its members were scattered among other battalions. The war in Europe ended while Prince was back in England.
One of Canada’s most decorated Indigenous soldiers, Francis Pegahmagabow was awarded the Military Medal with two bars during the First World War.
Introduction
Francis Pegahmagabow was one of the most highly decorated Indigenous soldiers of the First World War. An Ojibwa from the Perry Island Band in Ontario, he was awarded the Military Medal plus two bars for acts of bravery in Belgium and France. Soldiers who had been awarded the Military Medal and later performed similar heroic acts could receive bars to it, denoting further awards. Pegahmagabow was one of 39 members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force who received two bars in addition to the Military Medal.
A superior marksman and scout
Pegahmagabow enlisted with the 23rd Regiment (Northern Pioneers) in August 1914, almost immediately after war was declared. Previously, he had worked along the Great Lakes as a marine fireman for the Department of Marine and Fisheries. Within weeks of volunteering, he became one of the original members of the 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion that, along with the rest of the 20,000-strong 1st Canadian Division, landed in France in February 1915.
Sniping was the specialty of the man his fellow soldiers called “Peggy.” It has been written of him, “His iron nerves, patience and superb marksmanship helped make him an outstanding sniper.” In addition, Pegahmagabow developed a reputation as a superior scout.
Ypres, Somme, and Belgium
The 1st Battalion experienced heavy action almost as soon as it arrived on the battlefield. It fought at Ypres, where the enemy introduced a new deadly weapon, poison gas, and on the Somme, where Pegahmagabow was shot in the leg. He recovered and made it back in time to return with his unit to Belgium.
First commendation
It was during his first year on the Western Front that he became one of the first Canadians to be awarded the Military Medal. The commendation reads:
“For continuous service as a messenger from February 14th 1915 to February 1916. He carried messages with great bravery and success during the whole of the actions at Ypres, Festubert and Givenchy. In all his work he has consistently shown a disregard for danger and his faithfulness to duty is highly commendable.”
Passchendaele
In November 1917, the 1st Battalion joined the assault near the village of Passchendaele. Here, roughly 20,000 Allied soldiers crawled from shell crater to shell crater, through water and mud. With two British divisions, the Canadian Corps attacked and took the village, holding it for five days, until reinforcements arrived. The Allies suffered 16,000 casualties at Passchendaele, and Corporal Pegahmagabow earned his first bar to the Military Medal.
His citation reads: At Passchendaele Nov. 6th/7th, 1917, this NCO [non-commissioned officer] did excellent work. Before and after the attack he kept in touch with the flanks, advising the units he had seen, this information proving the success of the attack and saving valuable time in consolidating. He also guided the relief to its proper place after it had become mixed up.
Battle of Scarpe
Pegahmagabow would earn his second bar to the Military Medal during the final months of the First World War in the Battle of the Scarpe (part of the 2nd Battle of Arras). The commendation reads:
“During the operations of August 30, 1918, at Orix Trench, near Upton Wood, when his company were almost out of ammunition and in danger of being surrounded, this NCO went over the top under heavy MG [machine gun] and rifle fire and brought back sufficient ammunition to enable the post to carry on and assist in repulsing heavy enemy counter-attacks.”
Post-war life
In April 1919, Pegahmagabow invalided to Canada, having served for nearly the entire war. Afterward, he joined the Algonquin Regiment in the non-permanent active militia and, following in the steps of his father and grandfather, became chief of the Parry Island Band and later a councilor. A member of Canada’s Indian Hall of Fame, Pegahmagabow died on the reserve in 1952.
Legacy
Francis Pegahmagabow rarely spoke of his military accomplishments. However, his son Duncan recalls being told that his father was responsible for capturing 300 enemy soldiers. “My mother [Eva] told me he used to go behind enemy lines, rub shoulders with the enemy forces and never get caught.” Duncan also remembers that Pegahmagabow “felt very strongly about his country.” Mostly, he sees his father as a peaceful man: “He was always saying how we have to live in harmony with all living things in this world.”