leo major the one-eyed Scout who
liberated a whole town by himself world
war two in World War two for the
Canadian effort one soldier stands out
from all the rest
Leo major he was a french-canadian from
Montreal Canada in 1940 at the age of 19
he joined the let regiment do Nishant
year of the canadian army their insignia
underlines their fierce fighting
reputation consisting of two crossed
Vickers machine guns with a beaver above
supporting fleur-de-lys privately Oh
major first saw action at d-day in
France taking part in the Normandy
landings On June 6 1944 straightaway he
distinguished himself as a scout behind
enemy lines by capturing the German
communications half track full of secret
code books he then forced the captured
crude to drive the hanomag towards
friendly lines but was fired upon with
anti-tank guns by British and Canadian
troops Leo had to climb on top of the
vehicle to get them to stop firing as
they drove closer and later remarked how
happy was that the British and Canadian
soldiers didn't know how to shoot it
when the English officer asked Leo to
hand over the hanomag Leo refused
outright stating that it was a Quebec
man who captured it and so it was handed
over to the shell di regiment his war
was nearly cut short when a few days
later he was scouting ahead of his unit
Leo unexpectedly encountered a
patrolling elite boffin SS unit in the
ensuing firefight he managed to kill
four of the enemy soldiers but one of
them fatally wounded managed to throw a
phosphorus grenade and Leo was hit
damaging his left eye badly Leo was then
sent to a field hospital for treatment
Leo had to wear an eye patch while his
eye healed and he remarked on how he
looked like a pirate remarkably he
refused to be sent home stating that he
only needed one good eye to aim a rifle
quickly he returned to the front line
and continued to act as a scout and
sniper for his unit
shortly after returning to active
service in October 1944 he was involved
in the month-long Battle of the Scheldt
in Holland which involved much heavy
fighting in several amphibious landings
one day during this prolonged battle
Leo's commanding officer had ordered him
to find the 50 zombies who had gone
missing on patrol earlier zombie was a
slang term used by Canadian volunteers
for unenthusiastic inexperienced
Canadian conscripts in the war Leo was
carrying out the reconnaissance by
himself as always wearing PT sneakers
instead of heavy boots he was deep
behind enemy lines in the dark in
freezing cold rain muttering to himself
I am frozen and wet because of you so
you will pay drenched to the skin while
not finding the zombies did come across
a garrison of German regular troops
sleeping in trenches that they had been
digging all day noticing a snoring
German officer Leo woke him up pointing
his Sten gun at him and then motioned
him to order his men to follow him one
soldier raised his rifle and was shot
dead by Leo followed by three others who
joined the firefight after this he
shouted Achtung and honden halt and the
garrison quickly decided to surrender to
him he then single-handedly marched 93
German soldiers back to the Allied lines
but on the way there they were attacked
by boppin SS troops Manning an artillery
battery from a neighboring village who
were infuriated that their fellow
countrymen were surrendering this left a
lasting impression of Leo the waffen-ss
unit managed to kill and injure a number
of the German prisoners before being
driven off by an allied Sherman tank
Leo then handed over 93 German prisoners
to his speachless commander for his act
of bravery Leo was awarded the
distinguished Conduct Medal which is the
second-highest award in the British and
Commonwealth the Victoria Cross being
the only one higher but surprisingly he
declined the medal feeling the British
commander general Montgomery who was
going to present him with the award was
incompetent and there
or in no position to give him that medal
then in February 1945 as his unit was
fighting in the Rhineland in Germany the
Bren gun carrier he was travelling in
hit a mine wrecking the vehicle and
killing all its occupants except Leo he
was severely injured including two badly
broken ankles four ribs and his back in
three places Leo again refused to be
shipped back home and after a short
spell in a Belgian hospital he returned
to his unit in time for their final
attack to clear holland of the last of
its German occupiers so on April 13th
1945 the Allies were preparing to attack
the large Dutch town of Zwolle but were
unsure of the strength or deployment of
the German forces in the town that
evening Leo and his friend corporal
Willi Arsenal volunteered to carry out a
recon of the area the city was planned
to be bombed by Allied artillery and
this is something Leo and Willi wanted
to prevent when the two approached the
outskirts of the silent town
the Germans spotted Willi after his
grenade bag made a rattling noise and he
was killed by enemy machine-gun fire Leo
took two of them out but the others fled
in a vehicle he then took his friends
Sten gun an extra bag of grenades then
laid his lifeless body on the side so
enraged was Leo that he would go on a
one-man rampage that lasted the whole
night
using his submachine gun and bags full
of grenades he hijacked a nearby German
Scout car disarming the driver and
taking his mp40 adding a third
submachine gun to his inventory Leo made
him drive to a hotel that entered a bar
there he disarmed a German officer who
could speak French to Leo
and he made him aware that the town was
to be bombed by Canadian artillery which
would result in German military and
civilian casualties
the officer understood and in good faith
Leo handed him back his pistol allowing
him to drive off in the hopes that he
would evacuate his troops rather than
rally an attack
Leo moved around the town for a few
hours in the dead of night firing on any
German units he came up against
throwing grenades and making as much
noise around town as possible his idea
was to confuse the enemy into believing
that they were under attack by a far
larger Allied Force storming the city he
proceeded in killing or capturing German
defenders as he moved from Street to
Street using the local River and Church
as reference points so as not to get
lost every time he had enough prisoners
normally between 8 to 10 he would March
them back to the Allied lines and drop
them off before returning to the town to
carry on his one-man assault he is
reckoned to have done this around ten
times four times in the night he had to
force his way into civilian houses to
rest
although terrified by his initial
appearance once they understood he was
Canadian they looked after Leo during
his rampage he also attacked and sent
light to the Gestapo headquarters
further adding to the confusion then
finding the SS headquarters he engaged
in a firefight killing four SS officers
inside then later Leo came across a
group of townsman by chance this
included a local policeman by the name
of Frick Piper all of these men were
secretly members of the Dutch Resistance
Leo then explained to them that the town
was liberated then the group went on to
take the town hall and bring the
civilians out onto the streets by 4:30
a.m. the German garrison had fled the
town and Leo had single-handedly
liberated swall Leo retrieved his friend
Willie Arsenal's body and returned to
his unit who had yet to advance into the
town on that morning of April 14th the
Allied forces entered the town without a
shot being fired
and without the loss of civilian life
from the planned bombardment due to
Leo's outstanding bravery the previous
night for his heroism above and beyond
the call of duty he was again awarded
the distinguished Conduct Medal and this
time he accepted it after the war Leo
left the army and returned to civilian
life to resume his old job as a pipe
fitter
with the start of the Korean War in 1950
the Canadian army joined the United
Nation forces in fighting the Communist
Chinese and North Korean invasion of
South Korea léo though only 29 years old
was seen as a veteran with a special
skill set and was recruited to rejoin
the army and become a member of a
special scout and sniper team
then in November 1951 the Communists
attempted to take some strategic
important high ground just 40 miles away
from Seoul the South Korean capital the
fighting was based around the vitally
important hill 3:55 nicknamed little
Gibraltar and hill 277 Chinese troops
had captured it from the Americans and
Leo was to recapture and hold the hill
the fighting raged for days and the
Canadian commander Lieutenant Colonel
Jacques dextrose declared in the event
of Italian is attacked
there will be no withdrawal no platoons
overrun and no panics during the battle
Leo commanded a unit of around 18 men
repelling whole Chinese divisions while
enduring heavy artillery and mortar
barrage 'as for three days even though
Leo had been ordered to retreat when the
Chinese divisions counter attacked he
refused
instead he demanded that the commander
of the mortar platoon kept in Charlie
Forbes rain mortar fire on the enemy the
mortar fire was so close to Leo's
position that the commander could hear
the bombs explode when Leo spoke on his
radio and was so intense that the mortar
barrels warped from their rate of fire
for his valor at leadership under fire
Leo was awarded another distinguished
Conduct Medal for capturing and holding
the key Hill Leo is the only Canadian to
win the distinguished Conduct Medal in
two separate Wars he lived a quiet life
afterwards then in 2008 at the age of 87
passed away having been married for 57
years and having four children
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