The One-eyed Scout who Liberated a Whole Town by Himself

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 you you

Channel: Simple History

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Keywords: simple history, animated history, educational, education, one eyed scout, leo major, Léo Major, D-DAY, canada, heroes, valor, de la Chaudiere, fleur-de-lys, british, Zeeland, Battle of the Scheldt, Victoria Cross, Distinguished Conduct, Zwolle, Willie Arseneault, Sten, hotel, headquarters, Dutch resistance, holland, netherlands, Korean war, United Nation, Chinese, Korean, Little Gibraltar, Hill 355, Jacques Dextraze, Charly Forbes, Hill 277, canadian, eye patch, snake, mgs, quebec, madlad

Id: eFf1UfVa8Lc

Length: 11min 0sec (660 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 05 2019