Léo Major

Léo Major (January 23, 1921 – October 12, 2008) was a Canadian soldier who was the only Canadian and one of only three soldiers in the British Commonwealth to receive the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) twice in separate wars.

Born on January 23, 1921, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, to French Canadian parents, Major moved with his family to Montreal before his first birthday.

Due to a poor relationship with his father, he moved to live with an aunt at age 14.

This relationship, combined with a lack of available work, led Major to join the Canadian army in 1940 to prove to his father that he was "somebody to be proud of".

Major was serving with the Régiment de la Chaudière, which landed on Juno beach in the Invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.

During a reconnaissance mission on D-Day, Major captured a German halftrack by himself.

The vehicle contained German communication equipment and secret codes.

Days later, during his first encounter with an SS patrol, he killed four soldiers.

However, one of them managed to ignite a phosphorus grenade; in the resulting explosion, Major lost one eye but continued to fight.

He continued his service as a scout and a sniper by insisting he needed only one eye to sight his weapon.

According to him, he "looked like a pirate".

Major single-handedly captured 93 German soldiers during the Battle of the Scheldt in Zeeland in the southern Netherlands.

According to the Ottawa Citizen, Major and his friend, Corporal Wilfrid Arsenault, were assigned to determine the fates of a company of recruits that had disappeared after being sent to capture a town; however, as Arsenault fell ill, Major went alone.

After finding the company's abandoned equipment and determining they had been captured, Major entered a house to find shelter from the rain and the cold, when he spotted two German soldiers walking along a dike.

He captured the first German, used him as bait to capture the other, and brought his captives to their commanding officer; the officer and his company, totaling around 100 men, surrendered, though three of the soldiers were killed by Major.

In a nearby group of houses, SS troops, witnessing the company surrender, opened fire on them, killing seven and injuring some others.

Major disregarded the enemy fire and continued escorting his prisoners to the Canadian front line, ordering a passing Canadian tank to fire on the SS troops.

He marched back to camp with the surviving 93 prisoners.

Allegedly, Major was chosen to receive a Distinguished Conduct Medal.

However, he declined the offer as, according to him, General Montgomery (who was to present him with the award) was "incompetent" and in no position to be giving out medals.

Major earned his first DCM in World War II in 1945 after a successful reconnaissance mission during the liberation of the Dutch city of Zwolle.

As he was sent to scout the city with one of his best friends, a firefight broke out in which his friend was killed.

Major continued on to find that Zwolle was mostly deserted by the German occupational army.

Thanks to his efforts, the city was spared the artillery fire that was planned the next day by the Allies.

Whether he actually got this nomination and why he would not have received it is not clear; The National Archives only contains records of his later DCM recommendation from 1945.

An article in Trouw claims he received seven days off instead, which he spent in Belgium, and that he was not present to receive his DCM because his car would not start.

However, Dirk Staat, conservator of the Nationaal Militair Museum, has done research on Major for two years and doubts the usual telling of the events, arguing that there were no reports of a DCM recommendation and that one person escorting 93 prisoners is unfathomably difficult: "'Die verhalen gaan rond inderdaad, dat hij voor de Slag om de Schelde ook een medaille ontving. De Distinguished Conduct Medal. Hij zou daar 93 Duitsers gevangen hebben genomen. En [de medaille] geweigerd hebben vanwege de generaal Montgomery. Of hij was te laat bij de uitreiking, of liever een paar dagen weg. Maar over dat alles is helemaal niets over terug te vinden. Major vocht mee in Zeeland, en hij zal ongetwijfeld effectief zijn geweest. Maar over zijn medaille lezen we niets. En vergis je niet; als iemand tien minuten te laat bij het avondappèl was, dan staat dat in de verslagen. Of dat ze dinsdag nieuwe schoenen krijgen.

En dan zou over de medaille voor Major niets beschreven staan?

Zou heel raar zijn, kan ik mij niet voorstellen.

'""'Those stories are indeed doing the rounds, that he also received a medallion for the Battle of the Scheldt, the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

He would have captured 93 soldiers there.

He refused [the medal] because of General Montgomery.

But you cannot find anything about all of that.

Major fought in Zeeland, and undoubtedly he would have been competent.

But about his medal we read nothing.

And do not be mistaken; if someone came ten minutes too late to the evening roll call, then that is in the reports.

Or that they get new shoes on Tuesday.

And then there would be nothing noted down about the medal for Major?

Would be really weird, I cannot imagine that.

He received his second DCM during the Korean War for leading the capture of a key hill in 1951.