Canadian War Museum Receives Medal Set from Canada’s Youngest Victoria Cross Recipient
October 22, 2003 — Ottawa, Ontario — In a ceremony held today at the Canadian War Museum (CWM), Sergeant Thomas Ricketts’ medals were donated to the Museum by his widow Edna, his son Dr. Thomas George Ricketts and his daughter Dolda Clarke. Thomas (Tommy) Ricketts, a Victoria Cross recipient, is the youngest soldier ever to receive this important military honour.
Born in Newfoundland, Ricketts was only seventeen years old on October 14, 1918 when he and his machine-gun crew found themselves pinned down and nearly out of ammunition. Ricketts volunteered to run across 100 yards of fire-swept open field to gather more ammunition and supplies. Returning across the same dangerous ground, Ricketts and a fellow soldier advanced, capturing a number of field guns, machine guns and German prisoners. For his uncommon valour, Ricketts was promoted to sergeant, and awarded the Victoria Cross by King George V himself.
“For many years, we have been sharing the human side of war with our visitors,” said Joe Geurts, Director and CEO of the Canadian War Museum. “Some of the most stirring stories are the ones related to the heroism of Canada’s Victoria Cross recipients. With the help of such important donations as the medal set belonging to Sergeant Ricketts, history comes to life as we present the human drama behind the artifacts. This medal set will have particular resonance among our school groups — many of whom are only a few years younger than Tommy Ricketts was at the time of his heroic deeds.”
The medal set belonging to Sergeant Thomas Ricketts, V.C. consists of the Victoria Cross, the British War Medal 1914–1918, the Victory Medal, and France’s Croix de Guerre with Gold Star. The Canadian War Museum currently has 26 Victoria Crosses in its collections, including one from the nineteenth century, 23 from the First World War, and two from the Second World War. The Victoria Cross is the British Empire’s highest military honour, and was awarded to 94 Canadians from the nineteenth century to the end of the Second World War. Since that time, Canada has had its own military awards, including a Canadian version of the Victoria Cross, established in 1993.
Tommy Ricketts will be showcased in Zone 2 of the permanent exhibition, covering the years 1885 to 1931, at the new Canadian War Museum. His Victoria Cross medal group will be on display in an area devoted to telling his story and exploring Newfoundland’s contribution to the Great War (1914-1918).
Newfoundland’s contribution will also be displayed in the “Road to War” area of Zone 2, which looks at the events leading to the First World War, and the Battle of the Somme, where the fighting at Beaumont Hamel in July 1916 will be explored in detail through first-hand accounts, battle maps, and archival footage.
Backgrounder :
http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/media/bg_ricketts_e.html
Information (Media)
Christina Selin
Senior Communications Officer
Tel.: (819) 776-8607
Fax: (819) 776-8623
mailto:christina.selin@warmuseum.ca
Pierre Leduc
Communications Officer
Tel.: (819) 776-8608
Fax: (819) 776-8623
mailto:pierre.leduc@warmuseum.ca
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