Lieutenant
Hope King
Recommended for V.C.
Mr. and Mrs. W. C. J. King
are elated over some great news that has recently come to them. It
is small wonder that they are pleased, and we feel sure that all
their friends here and elsewhere will rejoice with them.
Recently they were
officially notified that their elder son, Lieutenant Hope King,
who went with the 52nd Battalion from Winnipeg, had been wounded
and was
in England in hospital. Since then letters have been received from
the young soldier, one arriving yesterday. But in not a line of
them was any reference made to his exploits -- that is a way with
V.C. heroes.
But acts of heroism cannot
be hidden permanently. And from two sources, as widely separated
as Montreal and Winnipeg, have come stories of how Hope King
covered himself with immortal glory, and then said nothing about
it -- even to his mother.
The Montreal letter came
from a high official of the Molsons Bank, an old friend of Mr.
King's, who wrote to congratulate him on being the father of such
a son. The writer had the news from a soldier relative in France.
The Winnipeg letter was
from the mother of a pal of Hope's. It covered a copy of the
latest letter received by the writer from one of her two sons
fighting in France
-- the one who was a fellow sub of young King's.
From this letter Mr. King has been kind enough to permit us to
make this illuminating extract:
"Our battalion put on
a bit of a show a while ago, and I was the only officer of our
company to come through. So I am acting company commander and
everything else, which means a lot of work.
Our captain, Hal Fryer, was
killed. Smith was lightly hit in the hand. Bill Grant had his leg
broken.
Hope King and I were the
only ones to get into Fritz's trench -- just two officers for a
whole company -- and Hope had his left forearm broken, and was hit
twice in the upper left arm and in both thighs with shrapnel, but
stuck it out.
When we retired to our own
line (it was only a raid and it was not intended we should hold
the enemy line), he carried a wounded sergeant out on his back, in
spite of machine guy and shell-fire, and in spite of his broken
arm.
"He has been
recommended by the divisional commander for the V.C. How's that
for old Hope?
He is without doubt the coolest old fool I have seen in the line.
I don't think he has sense enough to be scared. And his men simply
worship him.
"Praise be, I came
through with nothing more serious than blisters on my knees where
they knocked together.
"I omitted to say that
Hope is not at all dangerously wounded. I have had a letter from
him since he was cleared to England."
Let us all devoutly hope
that the recommendation of that divisional commander meets with a
favorable response. In any event, great credit has come to this
comely Simcoe boy fighting for King and country. The Victoria
Cross is the second highest honor that can fall to a British
soldier.
