Awards
Canadian Victoria Cross Winners
Victoria Cross
Four members of Canadian units won the Victoria Cross (VC) during the
South African War. This award was the British Empire's highest military
decoration for gallantry.
The first winner of the Victoria Cross by a member of a Canadian unit
was Sergeant A.H.L. Richardson of
Strathcona's Horse. At Wolve Spruit
on 5 July 1900, despite being mounted on a wounded horse himself,
Richardson rode back through very heavy enemy fire to rescue a fellow
Canadian who had been unhorsed and wounded.
Three members of the Royal
Canadian Dragoons, Lieutenants H.Z.C.
Cockburn and R.E.W. Turner and Sergeant E.J. Holland, won the Victoria
Cross during the desperate rear-guard action at
Leliefontein on 7 November 1900.
Both Cockburn and Turner had held off large groups of Boers at close
range, allowing two Canadian field
guns to escape capture. In the
process, both officers were wounded, and Cockburn was captured.
Sergeant Holland kept several parties of Boers at bay with the
fire from his
Colt machine gun. With his gun
jammed and in imminent danger of capture, he detached it from its
carriage and carried it off to safety.
Two other Victoria Crosses were awarded to Canadians serving in
Britain's Royal Army Medical Corps: Lieutenant H.E.M. Douglas for his
conduct during the battle of Magersfontein in December 1899 and
Lieutenant W.H.S. Nickerson for going to the assistance of a wounded
comrade under fire at Wakkerstroom in April 1900.
Sergeant Arthur H.L. Richardson, Strathcona’s
Horse, winner of the Victoria Cross for bravery at Wolve Spruit, 5 July
1900.
Lieutenant H.Z.C. Cockburn, Royal Canadian
Dragoons, winner of the Victoria Cross for bravery at Leliefontein, 7
November 1900.
Lieutenant Richard W. Turner, Royal Canadian
Dragoons, winner of the Victoria Cross for bravery at Leliefontein, 7
November 1900.
Sergeant Edward J. Holland, Royal Canadian
Dragoons, winner of the Victoria Cross for bravery at Leliefontein, 7
November 1900.