The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy". The VC was introduced on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to honour acts of valour during the Crimean War. During World War 1, 72 Victoria Crosses were awarded to Canadian soldiers. Six of these were won at the Battle of Hill 70.
They were Private Harry Brown, Company Sergeant Major Robert Hanna, Sergeant Frederick Hobson, Corporal Filip Konowal, Major Okill Massey Learmonth and Private Michael Hames O'Rourke. As a testament to the intensity of the fighting of Hill 70, Brown, Hobson, and Learmonth sadly did not survive the battle to receive their medals.
The Battle that forged a nation.
For the first time in its history, Canada went to war under its own command. Not Vimy, not Passchendaele. But the Battle of Hill 70.
The Hill 70 Memorial Park.
Visit the Hill 70 Memorial Park and you step into a living landscape of memory, where silent structures stone carry the story of one of the Great War’s Canadian victories.