Description
Corporal Francis Pegahmagabow was born on March 9, 1891, in Shawanaga, Parry Sound District, Ontario. When war broke out, Pegahmagabow was serving with the 23rd Regiment, Northern Pioneers Militia, who were placed on active service August 6, 1914. He then went to Valcartier, Quebec where he enlisted on September 15, 1914, and sailed for England as part of the First Contingent aboard the S.S. Laurentic in October of 1914. From there he went to France on February 2, 1915, where he served with the 1st Battalion. Pegahmagabow suffered a gun shot wound in September 1916 and after treatment returned to serve with the 1st Battalion, including at Passchendaele in November 1917. Hospitalized with health issues in 1918, he was invalided back to Canada in April of 1919 and discharged in Toronto, Ontario on May 13, 1919.
External links:
Corporal Francis Pegahmagabow’s service record (Serv/Reg# 6846) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Corporal Pegahmagabow’s notice for the awarding of his Military Medal (M.M) can be found in the London Gazette (LG 29608 3/6/16 page 5599).
“For continuous service as a messenger from February 14th 1915 to February 1916. He carried messages with great bravery and success during the whole of the actions at Ypres, Festubert and Givenchy. In all his work he has consistently shown a disregard for danger and his faithfulness to duty is highly commendable.”
Corporal Pegahmagabow’s notice for the awarding of a Bar to his M.M. can be found in the London Gazette (LG 30573 13/3/18 page 3223).
“At Passchendaele Nov. 6th/7th, 1917, this NCO [non-commissioned officer] did excellent work. Before and after the attack he kept in touch with the flanks, advising the units he had seen, this information proving the success of the attack and saving valuable time in consolidating. He also guided the relief to its proper place after it had become mixed up.
Corporal Pegahmagabow’s notice for the awarding of a second Bar to his M.M. can be found in the London Gazette (LG 31173 11/2/19 page 2081).
"During the operations of August 30, 1918, at Orix Trench, near Upton Wood, when his company were almost out of ammunition and in danger of being surrounded, this NCO went over the top under heavy MG [machine gun] and rifle fire and brought back sufficient ammunition to enable the post to carry on and assist in repulsing heavy enemy counter-attacks."
Corporal Pegahmagabow was the most highly decorated Aboriginal soldier in Canada. The M.M. with two Bars was awarded to less than forty Canadian soldiers in World War One. He was also considered to be the deadliest sniper in the war. Further information about his life is available at Veterans Affairs.
Content notes:
We have used the birthdate of 1891, which is found on his attestation papers, although elsewhere there are references to it as 1889.
The original letter is housed in the Saskatchewan Military Museum and is used with their kind permission.
