Léo Major
One Man Army
On D-Day in WW2 Léo Major single-handedly captured a halftrack vehicle from a squad of German soldiers and on the same day he had his left eye burnt out by a white phosphorous grenade. The doctors were ready to send him home but the war was far from over and Léo was set on staying to see it through. He argued that he only needed his right eye to look down the sights of his rifle. He was placed on the scout platoon and soon earned the reputation of being an excellent sniper.
In the Battle of the Scheldt Léo Major single-handedly captured 93 German soldiers from southern Holland. He was on Reconnaissance (to find out what had happened to a company of men that had mysteriously disappeared) alone (because his partner, Wille Arsenault was sick). He discovered that the company he was looking for had all been captured. He was supposed to report back to his commander but since he felt cold, he decided to warm up in a nearby house first. Through the window of this house he spotted two German troops and ambushed them, taking them prisoner. He had them take him to their commanding officer, which they did, and he gave the commander the choice of surrendering or facing death. After seeing this, the SS assumed that the commanding offer and his men were surrendering to the Canadians. They opened fire on Léo and the Germans around him. The Germans decided that it was better for them to surrender to Léo rather than be killed by the SS, so they all surrendered and went with him. The SS were in pursuit and killed some of the Germans along the way. He returned to camp with a party of nearly a hundred surrendered Germans. For this accomplishment he was chosen to be honored with a DCM (Distinguished Conduct Medal) but he refused, his reason being that Field Marshall Montgomery (the man giving out the medal) was “incompetent” and that he’d made an awful mistake for which Léo disliked him. And so, Léo Major refused the award held second only to the Victoria Cross, because Montgomery would be the one to give it to him. Léo Major broke his back in three places when the vehicle he was riding in at the time was blown by a tank mine. The doctors kept him hospitalized and told him he was to go home when his treatment was done. Naturally, Léo was against the idea of leaving the war unfinished, so, in one week’s time he escaped from the hospital and caught a ride to Nijmegen, where he stayed with a family he was acquainted with (for approximately a month) before returning to his unit. A strong German resistance secured the city of Zwolle. The Régiment de la Chaudière was preparing to fire at the city but the location of the German forces was unknown. Two volunteers were needed for recon of how many troops were patrolling the city and if possible, they were to make contact with the Dutch since the Régiment de la Chaudière was going to open fire the following day. Obviously Léo Major volunteered, along with a close friend of his named Willie Arsenault. The two men were well aware of the 50, 000 (estimated) habitants of the city and didn’t want them to perish or have their homes destroyed by the regiment’s firing. So Léo and Willie decided to capture Zwolle alone. At around midnight, the two ran across a roadblock. A German patrol heard them and starting to fire. Willie Arsenault was shot, but he reportedly killed his attacker before dying. Léo Major was enraged. He picked up his fallen comrade’s gun and eliminated two of the Germans, the rest fled in a vehicle. Léo Major went on to ambush a staff car. He dragged out the driver and forced him to take Léo to an officer drinking in a tavern nearby. He informed the officer that the Canadian forces would be firing heavy artillery on the city. He left out the fact that he was alone. Léo then returned the man’s gun. |
Léo knew that the Germans in the city would all soon be warned about the coming attack from the Canadian forces. Taking advantage of his plot Léo ran around the city firing his machine gun and igniting carefully placed grenades that would cause lots of noise but were all positioned to be as harmless as possible to the city and its citizens. He stumbled upon a group of eight Germans and managed to kill four, the rest ran away. He escaped that fight without injury but later expressed regret for not having killed them all.
He continued his loud attack throughout the night and by 4:00am the next morning the entire German garrison, which was estimated to have comprised of several hundred soldiers, had fled from Zwolle thinking that a large body of Canadian soldiers were behind the attack, meanwhile it was one man, with one good eye, and with one incredibly well planned strategy. Léo Major single-handedly librated the city of Zwolle meanwhile preventing the deaths of its citizens and of the soldiers that were supposed to fight a bloody battle for control. After causing so much mayhem all night and scaring off the German garrison alone Léo Major’s first priority was not rest, but the recovering of Willie Arsenault’s body, for which he enlisted the help of several Dutch citizens. It was only after the corpse was found that Léo Major reported in to his commander that there were no enemies in Zwolle. The Canadian army marched into a city of cheering and for his actions Léo was presented with his first DCM (Distinguished Conduct Medal). Léo Major’s second DCM was not rewarded during the Second World War. It was rewarded in the Korean War for capturing a key hill (Hill 335) and keeping the hill from 14, 000 Chinese soldiers using every type of weaponry they could find over the span of three days with only twenty men to aid him. Léo had been ordered to retreat twice but had nonetheless decided to retake the hill with only his twenty men, while in the past large bodies of thousands of U.S. troops had attempted and failed at the same task. Regiment de la Chaudière The Regiment de la Chaudière backed up the 8th Brigade's Queen's Own Rifles of Canada and The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment in the attack for the "Nan" sector at Juno beach. This was part of a larger operation that was dedicated to attacking the Cotentin Caen area of the Normandy coast.
On D-Day the Regiment de la Chaudière (along with the reserve unites of the Canadian Scottish) came to assist the 8th Brigade's Queen's Own Rifles but the rising tide they came in on made many of their landing crafts hit concealed mines and the people inside were forced to throw their equipment off and swim to the shore. Soon both regiments were advancing. In the end the German defenses had been smashed. To attack the SS in the town of Rots, the British units were joined by the Regiment de la Chaudière and the Fort Garry Horse. The battle was fierce but in the end the Allies were victorious. |
Importance of Contributions
The contributions of Léo Major and the Regiment de la Chaudière were quite crucial to Canada's pursuit of a successful conclusion to World War II.
The Regiment de la Chaudière played an important part in the success of D-Day on the beaches of Normandy. The D-Day victory is what lead to the Allies being able to conduct a full-scale push across the continent against the Germans.
The Distinguished Conduct Medal isn’t something that’s rewarded without reason. It’s an extremely highly prestigious award that is given for bravely. Léo Major single-handedly captured a halftrack vehicle from a squad of Germans, captured 93 Germans (at once), and liberated the entire city of Zwolle from a German garrison of several hundred.
The Regiment de la Chaudière played an important part in the success of D-Day on the beaches of Normandy. The D-Day victory is what lead to the Allies being able to conduct a full-scale push across the continent against the Germans.
The Distinguished Conduct Medal isn’t something that’s rewarded without reason. It’s an extremely highly prestigious award that is given for bravely. Léo Major single-handedly captured a halftrack vehicle from a squad of Germans, captured 93 Germans (at once), and liberated the entire city of Zwolle from a German garrison of several hundred.
Bibliography
"Normandy 1944." Veterans Affairs Canada. http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war/normandy-1944 (accessed July 22, 2014).
"The Canadian Man Who Single-Handedly Liberated the City of Zwolle in the Netherlands from German Occupation." Today I Found Out RSS. http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/08/the-man-who-single-handedly-liberated-the-city-of-zwolle-in-the-netherlands-from-german-occupation/ (accessed July 22, 2014).
"Dutch Letters." : Leo Major. http://wassenaarliving.blogspot.ca/2011/01/leo-major-liberator-of-zwolle.html (accessed July 22, 2014).
Pilgram, Tony. "The 5 Most Epic One Man Rampages In the History Of War." Cracked.com. http://www.cracked.com/article_18810_the-5-most-epic-one-man-rampages-in-history-war_p2.html (accessed July 22, 2014).
"The Canadian Man Who Single-Handedly Liberated the City of Zwolle in the Netherlands from German Occupation." Today I Found Out RSS. http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/08/the-man-who-single-handedly-liberated-the-city-of-zwolle-in-the-netherlands-from-german-occupation/ (accessed July 22, 2014).
"Dutch Letters." : Leo Major. http://wassenaarliving.blogspot.ca/2011/01/leo-major-liberator-of-zwolle.html (accessed July 22, 2014).
Pilgram, Tony. "The 5 Most Epic One Man Rampages In the History Of War." Cracked.com. http://www.cracked.com/article_18810_the-5-most-epic-one-man-rampages-in-history-war_p2.html (accessed July 22, 2014).