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An old, old English proverb says:  “but in deede, a friend is never known till a man have neede..”

I suppose men were never really more in need of a friend than those War Amps who came pouring back in the hospital ships during the latter part of 1944, and through until the end of demobilization of World War II.

I know that in the ward in which I came back, none bothered to discuss rehabilitation – in fact, most of us barely knew the meaning of the word.  That doesn’t mean that we weren’t thinking about it, though.  Probably foremost in our thoughts, if not in our talk, was that very practical and important thing called, simply, “job”.

As the Lady Nelson touched the pier in Halifax , grim reality crept just a little closer.  Civvy Street, with its big question mark, was the next stop.  Our joy at being home was mingled with a bit of apprehension.  Then a strange and wonderful thing happened.

Into the ward bounced Ralph Hodgson.  Swinging between a thumb and a forefinger was a miniature artificial leg.  For most of us it was a preview – the first we had seen.  We were soon to see another, though – and this time the real thing.  Not only did Ralph walk, spin and dance, but he finished up by jumping off a waist-high table. 

Then he began to talk employment.  The encouraging picture he painted was just what we needed.  Ralph explained that he was the Dominion Placement Officer, the guy who would help us get these jobs, and in Ralph we saw the keen determination and punch that gave us confidence in him – and in our chances to re-establish ourselves.

Ralph had himself “walked the walk,” having lost a leg at Vimy Ridge.  His promises to us came true, with so many Amps managing to find suitable employment.  It was not an easy job.  Sometimes astute skill was needed to explain how an Amp could perform such-and-such an operation.    Sometimes – not often – Ralph had to throw a little weight around, and when the situation called for this, he knew just how much, and when to quit. 

He kept plugging away until all Amps from both wars had found the jobs which Ralph thought should be rightfully theirs.  For his outstanding efforts, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire by King George VI in 1946.  He passed away, sadly, in 1948.

I was delighted to learn from Ralph’s family that the Ralph Hodgson Memorial Park was officially dedicated this past July in his hometown of Port Hope, Ontario.  A most fitting tribute to a fondly remembered friend indeed.

The wartime photos depicted here relate to World War One.

Canadian troops returning victorious from the Battle of Courcellette.  This Battle took place from the 15th to the 22nd of September, 1916, when the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Divisions stormed Sugar Trench and Fabeck Graben.  Mouquet Farm was overrun in the Battle.

Canadian troops of the 17th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery, firing a German 4.2 at the retreating Boche.  This gun was captured during the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

This picture shows all that was left of a German gun emplacement at Farbus Woods at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.

September 30, 1918.  Troops of the 2nd Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) in Remy during a rest period in the Canal du Nord Battle in France.

Here are further Victoria Cross facts that Stu Christie, Merchant Navy Veteran from World War II and Curator of The War Amps Museum, has compiled:

• The oldest V.C. winner was Lt. W. Raynor, Indian Mutiny, May 1857, 61 years 10 months.

• The youngest V.C. winners were Drummer T. Flinn, Indian Mutiny, 1st Bn. 64 Regt., 15 years, 3 months, and Hospital Apprentice A. Fitzgibbon, Taku Forts, China, also 15 years, 3 months.

• Three men were awarded the Victoria Cross twice:

o V.C. and Bar was awarded in 1902 to Surgeon Captain A. Martin Leake, South African Constabulary in South Africa and Bar as a lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps in Belgium in 1914.  He died on June 22, 1953, at Ware Herts.

o Another was Captain H.G. Chavasse, Royal Army Medical Corps, 10 Bn, the Kings (Liverpool Regt.) in France 1916 and Bar in Belgium 1917.  He was killed in action two days later.

o The third man to win twice was Second Lieutenant C.H. Upham, 20th Bn., 2nd N.Z.E.F. in Crete, May 1941 and Bar as a captain in the Western Desert, July 1942.

• Four civilians have won the Victoria Cross: R.W. Mangles, W.F. McDonell, T.H. Kavanagh in 1857 in the Indian Mutiny, and Rev. J.W. Adams, Afghanistan in 1879.

• Two V.C.s were awarded to men who saved the lives of their brothers.  Major C.J.S. Gough saved the life of his brother (who had already won the V.C. during the Indian Mutiny), and Trooper H.E. Ramsden saved his brother’s life in the Boer War in 1899.

• Fathers and sons who have been awarded the Victoria Cross include:  Lt. F.S. Roberts, Indian Mutiny 1858, and Lt. F.H.S. Roberts, South Africa 1889; Captain W.N. Congreve, South Africa 1899, and Maj. W. La T. Congreve, France 1916; both served in the Rifle Bde.  Four sets of brothers were also awarded the Victoria Cross.

• The last Air Victoria Cross awarded in World War II was to a Canadian, T/Lt. Robert Hampton Gray, R.C.N.V.R., serving with the R.N. 1841 Squadron Fleet Air Arm in H.M.S. Formidable, August 9, 1945.  He sank a Japanese destroyer in the Bay of Onagawa Wan.  His Victoria Cross was awarded posthumously.

Gray, Robert Hampton (1917-1945)

The two photos below relate to the Battle of Cambria, which was one of the four major battles of World War I:

This could be Caen, Falaise, Breskens or Cleve! Actually it is a World War I photo taken at the Battle of Cambria, France, in 1917.

Another photo of the Battle of Cambria. The Canadian Cavalry Brigade of the Third British Army are grouping for an attack on Masnieres.