Frederick George Topham

Frederick George Topham, VC (August 10, 1917 - May 31, 1974) was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Details

He was 27 years old, and a corporal (medical orderly) in the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, Canadian Army during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 24 March 1945 east of the Rhine, Germany, when two medical orderlies had been killed while attending to a wounded man lying in the open, Corporal Topham, on his own initiative, went out and while he was attending to the casualty, was shot through the nose. In spite of his wound he carried on, bringing the wounded man in under continuous fire, and refusing to have medical treatment until all the casualties had been cleared. Later in the day he rescued three men from a carrier which had been hit, regardless of the fact that the carrier's own ammunition was exploding.

Further information

Grave/memorial at Buried at Sanctuary Park Cemetery, Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada. Headstone.

The medal

On 24 March 2005, on the 60th anniversary of Corporal Topham's VC action, the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion Association presented Topham's medals to the Canadian War Museum, where they will be on permanent display.

Due to the generosity of over 2,000 Canadians, and several corporations, the Corporal Fred Topham, VC Fundraising Project was able to purchase Corporal Topham's medals from his family for $300,000. The medals will be presented to the Canadian War Museum in March 2005.

Press release:

TORONTO, Wednesday, December 15, 2004.-- The Victoria Cross awarded to Canadian Paratrooper Corporal Fred Topham for bravery under fire in World War Two, "will stay in Canada," Jan de Vries, the Honorary Chairman of the fundraising campaign says.

"With the outstanding response from Canadians from every part of the country we have reached -- and surpassed -- our target of $275,000, and donations and pledges are still coming in," said de Vries, President of the 1st Canadian Parachute (1 Can Para) Battalion Association and a battlefield comrade of Topham's. "We cannot really begin to thank enough all those who showed their patriotism in this way." The first donation of $5,000 was made by 1 Can Para Association, surviving members of the Battalion who served with Topham in World War Two.

De Vries said that, "The campaign's success, in a little over three months, was due as much to small groups like the children in Mrs McMaster-Lyons 4th Grade class at St Patrick School in Markham as it was to major contributors like the City of Toronto, where 'Toppy' was born and Toronto Hydro, where he worked for many years after the war."

He also said that media support was very encouraging and "contributed greatly to the success of the campaign. Global TV produced a public service announcement for us and a couple of former paratroopers -- Sun Media columnist Peter Worthington and CITY-TV personality Peter Silverman -- were also extremely helpful. Peter and his readers across Canada raised over $75,000 in individual donations, roughly one third of the total.

"Other donations included major contributions from CIBC, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and the Ontario Trucking Association," de Vries said. "Donations literally came from all over, from such groups as East York Kiwanis, Canadian Forces Base Borden, members of The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada and its Association, numerous individual Canadian Legion Branches, Korea and other Veterans' Associations and Joe Drouin and the Airborne Brotherhood. We also received many pledges, including those from the Toronto and Hamilton District School boards."

De Vries said that he has been particularly pleased with the response from school children at both primary and secondary school levels. "Don't tell me they're not interested in Canadian history," he said, adding that, "We hope they all have the future opportunity to see the Victoria Cross that their pennies and nickels helped save for us."

The former paratrooper, who jumped into battle with Topham in 1945 when the former hardrock miner was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry, led the initiative to conduct the fundraising campaign. "Topham's is one of only 95 VCs awarded to Canadians since the mid-1850s," he said. "It's part of our heritage and it belongs here so everyone can have a chance to see it and learn and understand more about our history and the kind of people who volunteered to fight for this country 60 or more years ago."

To that end, Cpl Topham's Victoria Cross, along with his World War Two service medals, will be a featured exhibit in the new Canadian War Museum when it opens in Ottawa in May, 2005. "The human experience is what we wish to share with our visitors", said Joe Geurts, Director and CEO of the Canadian War Museum. "Among the most stirring stories we share are the ones related to the courage and spirit of Canada's Victoria Cross recipients. With the help of important acquisitions such as the medal set belonging to Corporal Fred Topham, history comes to life as we present the human drama behind the artifacts."

De Vries said, "We had a standing offer from the Federal Government, through the Canadian Heritage Minister, that they would 'top up' the fund if it ran short, and we were very grateful for that. Since we've come this far without government help, it's our hope that future financial support would be available from the Minister to help underwrite the cost of taking Topham's medals 'on tour' across Canada to be displayed for viewing in other communities."

Topham was a 27-year-old medical orderly when he parachuted into battle on March 24, 1945, as one of the last major engagements of the war got underway. The Rhine Crossing, as it became known, was fought at great cost. In the drop, and the ensuing fierce firefight that day, 23 Canadians from the parachute battalion were killed and 40 wounded, including Topham.

For several hours, under constant attack from small arms, rifle and machinegun fire and mortar shells, he attended to wounded comrades. When two other orderlies were killed trying to help a disabled soldier to safety, Topham took over, despite being hit in the face by enemy fire. Ignoring his wound, he carried the injured paratrooper to shelter and continued to bring in other wounded troops for several more hours before allowing medical staff to attend to him. On his way to have his wound dressed, still under enemy fire, he rescued three soldiers from a burning Bren-gun carrier as its live ammunition began exploding.

References

*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)Canadian National War Museum in Ottawa

External links

* [http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=history/secondwar/citations/topham TOPHAM, Frederick George]
* [http://www.1canpara.com/corporal_frederick_george_topham.htm Biography and Photography of Fred Topham by The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion Preservation Association C Company]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7033017 Find-A-Grave biography]