The Canadian War Museum has announced that it has acquired the Victoria Cross awarded to First World War soldier Sergeant Herman James Good.
Sergeant Good was one of four Canadians awarded the military decoration during the Amiens Offensive, which was launched on the 8th August 1918.
Three of the Victoria Crosses were awarded posthumously. Sergeant Good survived the war and returned to his native New Brunswick, where he died in 1969 at age 80.
The Director-General of the Canadian War Museum, James Whitham, said that such medals “help us tell the story of Canada’s role in the First World War” and that “as we approach the centenary, it is more important than ever to continue telling their stories”.
Sergeant Good
During the Amiens Offensive in 1918, Sergeant Good, then a corporal, was part of the 13th Infantry Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force.
On the first day of battle he and his company were pinned down by heavy fire. Good single-handedly attacked a German machine-gun nest, overwhelming the occupants and their three machine-guns. Later the same day, after encountering a German artillery battery, he led three men of his section to successfully capture the guns and their crews.
The Victoria Cross medal is part of a collection of items belonging to Sergeant Good, including his khaki field jacket and regimental Balmoral cap, an inscribed gold watch awarded to him by the town of Bathurst, and photographs of Herman Good and his brother, Ernest Robert Good, who was killed in action.
Sergeant Good’s gold watch, awarded to him by the town of Bathurst
The medal was purchased with the assistance of the Museum’s National Collection Fund. The Fund is supported by donors who help the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Canadian War Museum acquire artefacts of Canada’s cultural and military history that might otherwise be purchased by private collectors or museums outside Canada.
The medal will be on display at the Canadian War Museum until the 5th January 2014.
Source: Canadian War Museum press release
Date of press release publication: 10/12/2013
Images courtesy of the Canadian War Museum
Posted by: Daniel Barry, Centenary News