Joseph Gregory

Corporal Joseph Arthur Gregory was a Canadian sniper during both the First and Second World War.

After his previous service as a sniper in France during the Great War, Gregory settled in Calgary, Alberta with his wife and worked as a labourer. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War, he re-enlisted with the newly-formed South Saskatchewan Regiment on 7 September 1939 in Weyburn, Saskatchewan.

Credited with several kills, he participated in the Dieppe Raid where he lost an eye to a ricocheted bullet [TIME Magazine, "Nothing To Speak Of", Monday, Oct. 26, 1942] , and his actions earned him the Military Medal "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the combined attack on Dieppe". Attached to the Battalion Headquarters, Gregory had been deployed four times to find enemy snipers shooting into the headquarters [Blatherwick, John and Hugh Halliday. Courage and Service: Second World War Awards to Canadians (Service Publications, Inc., ISBN 1894581229] .

He became a "cause celebre" after his return to Canada and was employed in Canadian Army recruiting.

His account of the Dieppe raid appeared in TIME magazine's October 26, 1942 issue, and he was also interviewed for the December 1 Hamilton Spectator.

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