Léo Major

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Léo Major

Léo Major (born January 23, 1921 in New Bedford (Massachusetts) , † October 12, 2008 in Longueuil ) was a French-Canadian soldier in World War II and the Korean War . He was the only Canadian to receive the Distinguished Conduct Medal in two different wars . He received his first medal after liberating the Dutch city ​​of Zwolle on his own , and the second after conquering the strategically important hill 335.

Life

Youth and childhood

Léo Major was born on January 23, 1921 in New Bedford to the Franco-Canadians Achille Major and Amanda Sévigny. At the time, Achille was working for the American Railroad Company, which is why he was born in the United States . But they moved to Montreal before his first birthday . He was the first of 13 children.

Second World War

Leo Majorlaan street sign in Zwolle . "Canadian first liberator of Zwolle" (1921-2008)

At 19, he volunteered for the Canadian Armed Forces , where he served as a sniper in the Régiment de la Chaudière .

On July 6, 1944, he participated in the Normandy landing , during which he captured a German Hanomag with a code. A few days later he was wounded in the left eye by a grenade in a fight with SS soldiers , but he nevertheless took part in the battle of the Scheldt estuary . He claimed that as a sniper, he only needed one eye to aim. About his eye patch he said that he would look like a pirate now .

During the battle, at midnight, he was ordered to bring 50 missing "zombies" (inexperienced soldiers) back to the camp. He couldn't find it, but discovered a German patrol . The first was captured by him while the second was killed. He snuck up to a sleeping officer and captured him. He had to order his troops to surrender. After three soldiers who pointed their pistols at Major were killed by him, the remaining soldiers surrendered. In a nearby village, however, some SS troops observed this procedure and opened fire. They killed 7 and injured some, but Major marched on and ordered a passing tank to attack the SS soldiers. He was supposed to receive the Distinguished Conduct Medal for this, but he turned it down. He did this because, according to him , Bernard Montgomery was an incompetent general and should therefore not be handing out medals.

In February 1945, his truck was hit by a land mine and landed on his back, breaking several bones. Still, he refused to stop serving.

At the beginning of April his regiment approached the city of Zwolle . Two soldiers were supposed to contact the Dutch resistance fighters and find out how many German soldiers were in the city. For this Leo Major and his friend Willie Arsenault were chosen.

Arsenault was shot at midnight, which is why Major attacked the German guard out of anger alone. He killed two soldiers while the others fled in a vehicle. A little later he found another patrol on a vehicle. He captured them and forced them to take him to the officer. The driver led him to the officer who was currently in a bar. After he disarmed the officer, it became clear that he could speak French (the officer came from Alsace ). Major informed him that at 6 o'clock the Canadian artillery would fire on the city and that there would be high casualties among the German troops and also among civilians. Hoping that the officer would withdraw his troops, Major released him and gave him his rifle back. Major then faked an attack by the entire regiment by throwing grenades across the city and firing his submachine gun. He would also capture several groups of 8 to 10 German soldiers and lead them to troops outside the city. Later he also found the Gestapo headquarters, which he burned down. At the SS headquarters he got into a fight with eight SS officers. After four were shot, the rest of them fled. At 4:30 am, Major learned that the Germans had withdrawn. A little later he met 4 Dutch resistance fighters, whom he informed that Zwolle had been liberated.

For the liberation of the city he received the Distinguished Conduct Medal, which he did not reject.

Korean War

Léo Major sur la colline 355 en Corée.
Léo Major on the hill 355

After the Korean War broke out, the Canadian government decided to support the UN Army. Major volunteered for this. He served as a sniper in the 2nd Battalion Royal 22e Regiment of the 25th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 1st Commonwealth Division. At the First Battle of Maryang-san he again received a Distinguished Conduct Medal for the reconquest of the strategically important hill 355, nicknamed "Little Gibraltar".

The hill was held by the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division while the Royal 22e Régiment was stationed on the western flank. Chinese troops attacked the hill on November 22nd and captured it in two days. An American counterattack failed and Chinese troops also captured Hill 227, almost completely surrounding the Canadian troops.

Under the majors' leadership, 18 scouts and snipers were dispatched to relieve pressure on the Canadian troops. They crept up the hills and opened fire on Major's orders. The surprised Chinese troops then fled from the hill. At 12:45 the hill was completely taken, but an hour later the Chinese troops launched a counterattack. Major was ordered to withdraw, but refused and defended the hill.

Later life and death

Léo Major's tombstone in Pointe-Claire , Quebec , Canada
Back of his honorary citizenship medal

He later married Pauline De Croiselle, with whom he had 4 children. According to them, Major is almost never said to have spoken about his experiences. His family is said to have only found out about them when officials from Zwolle visited the family.

Major visited Zwolle several times, which made him a local hero there. A street was named after him and he was made an honorary citizen of the city on April 14, 2005.

Major died in Longueuil on October 12, 2008 and was buried in the National Field of Honor in Pointe-Claire on October 18 .

The CBC / Radio-Canada published the documentary Léo Major, le fantôme borgne in April 2018 .

Web links

Commons : Léo Major  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dan Filefsky: A One-Eyed Québécois 'Rambo' Captures Imaginations in Canada. The New York Times , May 27, 2018, accessed April 25, 2020 .
  2. ^ A b Tony Atherton: Divergent portraits of war. The Ottawa Citizen , May 7, 2005, accessed April 29, 2020 .
  3. ↑ The legendary liberator of Zwolle - Excerpt Private Léo Major captures 93 POW's. In: goDutch.com. Retrieved April 28, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Wyatt Redd: How Léo Major Single-Handedly Liberated A Dutch City From The Nazis. June 29, 2018, accessed May 1, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b c d Jessica Murphy: Pte. Leo Major, 87: Decorated hero. In: thestar.com. Toronto Star , October 19, 2008, accessed May 7, 2020 .
  6. ↑ London Gazette. London Gazette , August 23, 1945, accessed May 1, 2020 .
  7. ↑ a b c Leo Major - TRF. Retrieved February 23, 2017 .
  8. ↑ London Gazette. London Gazette , February 12, 1952, accessed May 9, 2020 .
  9. ↑ a b c Bob Orrick: Canada's Three Korean Wars: Navy, Army, Air Force, Merchant Navy . 2015, ISBN 978-1-5035-4620-2 (English).
  10. ↑ National Archives of Canada, RG 24, Vol 18357, R22eR War Diary, Commander's Conference, November 19, 1951.
  11. ↑ Charly Forbes, Fantassin (Sillery, Les Éditions du Septentrion, 1994) 315th
  12. ^ A b Laura Marchand, Marilla Steuter-Martin: Montreal WW II hero, largely unknown at home, honored as Dutch town's savior. CBC / Radio-Canada , May 21, 2018, accessed May 8, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Major, Léo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Franco-Canadian soldier
DATE OF BIRTH January 23, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH New Bedford, Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH October 12, 2008
Place of death Longueuil