Thomas Ricketts, V.C

[Steve campbell]

Here's a monument to Thomas Ricketts here in my hometown of St. John's Newfoundland. It's a few minutes from my house. A V.C winner we are quite proud of here. He was only about 17 when he won it. I thought someone might enjoy it. Here's some more information.

http://www.answers.com/topic/thomas-ricketts

[peter monahan]

Here's a monument to Thomas Ricketts here in my hometown of St. John's Newfoundland. It's a few minutes from my house. A V.C winner we are quite proud of here. He was only about 17 when he won it. I thought someone might enjoy it. Here's some more information.

http://www.answers.com/topic/thomas-ricketts

Steve

Thanks very much for posting this. I'd never heard of Ricketts before. A true Newfoundlander!

Peter Monahan

Sergeant, Bulger's Company, R Nfld Reg't (War of 1812 Reenactment Unit)

[Steve campbell]

That's one of the reasons I posted it. This way others can learn and hopefully these men will never be forgotten.

[Jef]

Here's a monument to Thomas Ricketts here in my hometown of St. John's Newfoundland. It's a few minutes from my house. A V.C winner we are quite proud of here. He was only about 17 when he won it. I thought someone might enjoy it. Here's some more information.

http://www.answers.com/topic/thomas-ricketts

Thank you Steve for posting this. Actually Pte. Ricketts won his VC near "the Beurt Farm", Gulleghem, South West Flanders. I got a lot of info about Pte Ricketts by Mrs Joy B. Cave, but I never saw that memorial stone before, thank you again. After winning that VC his battalion fought his last battle in the place where i live. British cemeteries in the area were visited this summer by 5 Newfoundlanders ( at least, i could count 5 names in the cemeteryregister) And they put a Newfoundland flag on every cemetery. Harlebeke New British Cemetery, Vichte M.C. and Ingoyghem MC are counting a lot of flags.

We will remember them.

Jef

[Guest Darrell]

Here's a local Alberta Boy that went on to become famous. Born in Scotland, he came over with his family as a young boy.

He was from the local town 15 miles from where I grew up. In fact that's where he is buried.

++++++++++++++

KINROSS, Cecil John - Lougheed

Excerpt from the Edmonton Journal

- Pte. Cecil John Kinross, 21, a farmer-soldier from Lougheed, 180 km southeast of Edmonton, answered the call. The devil-may-care young company runner stipped off all his equipement except his rifle and bandoleer. Oblivious to the threat to his personal safety, he charged across the open ground in broad daylight to flank the enemy machine-gun. He killed the crew of six with his rifle and wrecked the enemy gun.

- Kinross was born February 17, 1896, near Stirling, Scotland. The family immigrated to Alberta in 1912 and settled on a farm near Lougheed. In October 1915, he enlisted in the 51st Battalion and was later drafted into Edmonton's 49th.

- Kinross was discharged from the Canadian army for medical reasons on January 23, 1919.

- A few days later, Edmontonians packed the old Pantages Theatre ... and some 3,000 more were turned away at a civic reception for Kinross.

- In 1956, he was invited to London with other VC winners for the 100th anniversary of the Victoria Cross. The VC heroes attended a memorial service at Westminster Abbey. They were inspected by the queen in Hyde Park.

- A year later, on June 21, 1957, he died alone in his hotel room in Lougheed. He was a lifelong bachelor.

- He was buried with full military honors in the prairie soil. The final salute was a sharp crack of rifles above his grave by a military honor guard from Wainwright.

- In 1951, one of the most spectacular mountain peaks in Jasper National Park was named after him. Mount Kinross is a 2,731 metre peak a few kilometres northwest of Jasper townsite.

- The Royal Canadian Legion in Lougheed proudly bears his name and inside hangs a big picture of Cecil John Kinross, one of the youngest men to win the Victoria Cross.

[Guest Darrell]

Here's the old Lougheed Hotel where he passed away. Used to be a watering hole of mine eons ago ... spent many a dollar in that joint

Burnt down several years ago ....

Edited November 4, 2006 by Darrell

[Guest Darrell]

And here is his final resting place a few miles south of town:

[Guest Darrell]

Sorry to jump into your thread Steve. Thought it was a good place to post this

[Steve campbell]

No I enjoyed that information. The more we can put out there the better. I think that is one of the goals of this forum. These men deserved to be remembered. My next goal is to go and find his headstone here in town. I'll post a picture when I find it. Thanks for the information.

[Guest Darrell]

I just came across this great site on the VC medal:

http://www.solarnavigator.net/history/victoria_cross.htm

[Michael White]

I was fortunate enough to meet Herman J. Good V.C. with my father here in our hometown of Bathurst, N.B. He was born in South Bathurst in 1888 and I watched his funeral in April, 1969. He never talked much about the war and his V.C. but I learned most of the details from his nieces and nephews. His brother was killed in front of him in Sept., 1916 just a few months after both had been taken on strength of the 13th Battalion, Royal Highlanders of Canada. The memories of the war haunted him for the rest of his life.

Mike