John Weir Foote

Rev. John Weir Foote, VC , CD (May 5, 1904—May 2, 1988) 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. Major Foote is the only member of the Canadian Chaplains' Services ever to be awarded the Victoria Cross.

Early life

John Weir Foote was born in Madoc in eastern Ontario on May 5, 1904. He was educated at the University of Western Ontario in London, at Queen's University in Kingston and at Presbyterian College and McGill University in Montreal. He entered the Presbyterian ministry in 1934, serving congregations in Fort-Coulonge, Quebec, and Port Hope, Ontario.

In December 1939, after the outbreak of the Second World War, he enlisted in the Canadian Army. He was posted to The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment) (RHLI) as the Regimental Chaplain with the rank of Honorary Captain.

Victoria Cross

Foote was 38 years old and serving as the padre of the RHLI, when he performed the following deed during the Dieppe Raid for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross:

On 19 August 1942 at Dieppe, France, Captain Foote coolly and calmly during the eight hours of the battle walked about collecting the wounded. His gallant actions saved many lives and inspired those around him by his example. At the end of this gruelling time he climbed from the landing craft that was to have taken him to safety and deliberately walked into the German position in order to be taken prisoner so that he could be of help to those men who would be in captivity until May 5, 1945.

His VC award was gazetted after the Second World War in 1946. Prior to his death, John Foote donated his medals to the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry where they are held at the [http://www.rhli.ca/museum/museum.html RHLI Heritage Museum] at the John W Foote VC Armoury.

Later life

Later achieving the rank of Major, he remained with the Canadian Corps of Chaplains at Camp Borden until being demobilized in 1948. He won a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1948 provincial election and served as the Progressive Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Durham. He was first appointed to serve as Deputy Commissioner for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, then into the cabinet after the 1951 election as Ontario Minister of Reform Institutions, but stepped down in 1957, following a number of heart attacks. He retired from the provincial legislature in 1959.

Foote returned to the RHLI in 1964, serving as Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel until 1973.

He made his home with his wife, the former Edith Sheridan (1898-1986), in Cobourg, Ontario, until his death on May 2, 1988. He is buried in Union Cemetery, Cobourg.

The Royal Canadian Legion branch in Grafton, Ontario was renamed the "James Foote V.C. C.D. Branch 580" in 1982. The James Street Armoury in Hamilton, Ontario,cite web| title = Veteran Affairs Canada: John Weir Foote| url=http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=history/secondwar/citations/foote| accessdate = 2007-01-25] where the RHLI is now based, along with 11th Field Hamilton-Wentworth Battery, was renamed the John W. Foote VC Armoury in his memory. They are well known as the "brutes" of the Canadian Armed Forces.

External links

* [http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=history/secondwar/citations/foote FOOTE, John Weir]
* [http://www.rhli.ca/veterans/foote_story.html The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry - John W Foote VC Armoury, Hamilton Ontario]

This page has been updated by the [http://www.rhli.ca/historical/foote_story.html The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry] .

References

*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)