10 Українська Думка, 12 липня 2014 р. Українська Думка, 12 липня 2014 р. 11 ІСТОРІЯ Their sacrifice Under his able direction all resistance was overcome and their bravery war than certain races in Canada ability allowance and working as a Far left - have, after having enjoyed the cleaner in the House of Commons. Filip Konowal’s privelages of British citizenship for Required to state why he was will never be medals at the a period of a century or more”. discharged he wrote simply, “War Canadian War Honourably discharged, Konow- was finish”. Museum. From al was subsequently troubled by In 1953, Toronto’s Royal Cana- forgotten the left to right: medical and other problems, most dian Legion Branch 360 voted to (1) the Victoria Cross, (2) Brit- thought to be a consequence of make Konowal its patron, which ______ish War Medal his war wounds. was officially confirmed during a The purpose of the 1914-1920, (3) Nevertheless, by 1928, he Remembrance Day dinner held in reception held at Lancaster Victory Medal, had begun to rebuild his life. He Toronto on 7 November. House in London on 26 Zenko Lastowiecki (4) George VI enlisted in the Ottawa-based Gov- And Konowal received yet June, which was presided AUGB President Coronation ernor General’s Foot Guards. another distinction when he over by Baroness Warsi, Medal, 1937, (5) He re-married in 1934, taking participated in a ceremony mark- was to recognise all the Elizabeth II Coro- for his second wife a widow, Juli- ing the 100th anniversary of the overseas soldiers who nation Medal, ette Leduc-Auger. (His first wife, institution of the Victoria Cross, fought with the British 1952. Konowal was Anna, and their daughter, Maria, held in London in 1956. Army during WWI, and for and a number of MPs. At the invitation of Her Majesty’s Govern- also entitled were lost in Ukraine during the Too poor to travel to England whose valour and courage Speeches were also given to the Cross of Stalinist terror.) on his own resources - even they were awarded the by two current holders of ment, AUGB Chair Zenko Lastowiecki took St. George, 4th Thanks to the intervention of though Ottawa offered to cover highest honour for bravery, the Victoria Cross, Sergeant Class, from Rus- another Victoria Cross winner, and the actual transportation costs the Victoria Cross. Johnson Beharry and Mark part in a reception to commemorate the First sia (not shown). also a member of the Governor - Konowal turned to his fellow Although most of the Donaldson of the Austral- Left: Filip General’s Foot Guards, Major Ukrainian Canadian veterans for recipients emanated from ian SAS. Both received their World War Victoria Cross Recipients from Konowal. Milton Fowler Gregg, Seargeant- help. With the financial assistance the then British Empire, V.C.’s for their actions in Below: at-Arms of the House of Commons of Ukrainian Canadian branches of there were also soldiers Afghanistan. Oversees, which was held at Lancaster House Filip Konowal’s standard military (1934-44), Konowal found employ- The Royal Canadian Legion he was who were decorated with There was an opportunity in London on 26 June. gravestone in ment as a junior caretaker in the able to go overseas. the V.C. from Denmark, to view a presentation de- Notre-Dame House of Commons, a humble On 17 May 1956 he wrote USA and of course, Filip tailing the life histories and The event was presided over by the Senior Cemetery in job, but, in the years of the Great to the president of Branch 360, Konowal, who was born in deeds of all those World Ottawa. It is Depression, a welcome one. Mr. Stephen Pawluk, to thank all Ukraine. War I heroes. Minister of State at the FCO, Baroness Warsi. inscribed “Filip Spotted washing floors of the those who helped make that trip Konowal V·C / Parliament building by Prime possible: Among those commemorated was Filip Corporal / 47 Minister William Lyon Mackenzie “Please be kind enough to Battn C·E·F / 3 King, Konowal was reassigned as extend my thanks to every Ukrain- Konowal- a Canadian Ukrainian. June 1959 Age 72”, with a the special custodian of Room No. ian Canadian Legion Branch... I Lubomyr Luciuk and Ron Sorobey simple Christian 16, the Prime Minister’s office, a was very surprised and I was not From the people of the cross above post he held until his death. expecting that much. I knew I had “ examine the life of the only Ukrainian ever to and the Victoria While others might bemoan friends amongst the Ukrainian Cross below. Konowal’s apparently low employ- people but I never thought they United Kingdom in honour have been decorated with the Victoria Cross. ment status, the man himself was could do so much for a poor fellow much more sanguine. As Austin like me”. of Corporal Filip Konowal F. Cross reported, in The Ottawa On 25 June 1956 Konowal Filip Konowal was with the Canadian Forestry Corps Citizen on 16 June 1956, when joined 300 other Victoria Cross who was awarded the born in Kudkiv, Podolia and eventually with the Canadian Konowal was asked about being a winners from around the world at Siberian Expeditionary Force. janitor he laughingly remarked, “I a formal tea party at Westminster province in the Ukraine He returned to Vancouver on mopped up overseas with a rifle, Hall hosted by the British Prime Victoria Cross, Britain’s on 15 September 1886. 20 June 1919, after soldiered for and here I must mop up with a Minister, Sir Anthony Eden. three years and 357 days in the mop”. On 26 June he participated in a highest award for gallantry Aged 21 he was conscripted ranks of the Canadian Army, one He also revealed something march-past at Hyde Park, reviewed into the Imperial Russian Army, of as many as 10,000 Ukrainian that was not recorded in the of- by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during the First World War. but after five years service, emi- Canadians who had so served. ficial account of how he won his and Prince Philip, followed by an grated to Canada via Vladivostok, Ironically they did so at the Victoria Cross: afternoon garden party. arriving in Vancouver in April same time as many of their compa- “I was so fed up standing in In a photograph taken at the 1913. triots were being unjustly interned the trench with water to my waist time Konowal is shown at centre On the outbreak of the First and otherwise censured as “enemy that I said the hell with it and of the front rank of Canadian Vic- World War, like many other aliens” during Canada’s first started after the German army. My toria Cross winners, a hero among Konowal had emigrated In his foreword, in the Ukrainian Canadians, Konowal national internment operations of captain tried to shoot me because heroes. from Ukraine to Canada ”commemorative catalogue, enlisted, in his case (exactly 99 1914-1920. he figured I was deserting”. Filip Konowal died on 3 June in 1913, and fought in the Prime Minister David Cam- years ago on this day) on 12 July As the M.P. for Edmonton East, Konowal was again acknowl- 1959, aged 72. His Victoria Cross Canadian Army in France eron wrote: 1915, into Ottawa’s 77th Canadian Mr. H.A. Mackie, wrote to Prime edged for his valour during the and other medals were entrusted during 1917, where for his “It is important to Infantry Battalion. Minister Robert L. Borden, on 16 1939 Royal Tour when His Majesty to Mr. G.R. Bohdan Panchuk, a courage in taking an enemy remember all these heroes. After ten months training the October 1918: King George VI shook his hand Ukrainian Canadian veteran who machine gun emplacement, That is why this programme battalion was shipped overseas on “At the beginning of the war, during the dedication of the Na- had served with the R.C.A.F. and single handed killing to honour the overseas win- 19 June 1916 aboard the SS Mis- hundreds or thousands of Ukrain- tional War Memorial, in Ottawa. during the Second World War and 16 of the enemy he was ners of the Victoria Cross is sanabie, arriving in Liverpool later ians from Russia enlisted with the He also kept in touch with his had become a leading member of awarded the Victoria Cross so important. that month. Canadian Expeditionary Forces as wartime comrades, even attempt- the Ukrainian Canadian Veteran’s presented to him by King “Every single name on During a six week layover at the Russians, and no doubt the Ca- ing to fight for Canada during the Association. George V. the plaques represents a Bramshott Camp a large number of nadian military statistical bureau Second World War, an impossibil- These medals were eventually All the recipients of the story of gallantry, embody- men from the 77th Battalion were would today show that most of ity given his age. acquired by the Canadian War Mu- V.C. were also honoured ing the values of courage, reassigned to the 47th Canadian these so-called Russians came On 20 December 1945, seum, where they remain with commemorative loyalty and compassion that (British Columbia) Infantry Bat- from districts which are now in the Konowal joined to this day. plaques, which are a gift we still hold so dear. talion, Konowal among them. territory comprising the Ukrainian the Hull, Quebec, Konowal was from Her Majesty’s Govern- “By putting these me- This Battalion was shipped to State. branch of The buried from the St. ment to the people of the morials on display in these France in August 1916 and went “Canadian recruiting offic- Canadian Legion John the Baptist countries from which these heroes’ home countries, into combat as part of the Cana- ers soon discovered that those of the British Ukrainian Catholic heroes originated. we are sending out a clear dian Expeditionary Force,. so-called Russians were nothing Empire Service Church, with full A plaque bearing Filip message: that their sacrifice Filip Konowal fought with other than of the same stock as League, recording military honours Konowal’s name will be and their bravery will never exceptional valour in August 1917 Ukrainians. Because they were not on his application by his regiment, in gifted to the people of be forgotten.” during the battle for Hill 70, near allowed to enlist as Austrians, they for membership Lot 502, Section A, Ukraine to be placed in his In the current situation Lens, France. used fictitious names and gave that he had been at the Notre Dame home town of birth. in which Ukraine finds For his courage Konowal was false places of their birth to show born on 15 Sep- Cemetary, in Ot- The inscription on the itself in today, with fight- awarded the Victoria Cross, the that they came from Russia, some [ London Gazette, 26 November 1917 ], Lens, France, tember 1888 [in tawa. plaque reads: ing in the East of Ukraine highest decoration of the Brit- even calling themselves «Smith» Kudkiv, Ukraine], His wife, who “From the people of the against a determined and ish Empire, by King George V, in and other English names. 22-24 August 1917, No. 144039, A / Corporal Filip Konowal, had been wounded died at age 86, was United Kingdom in honour unforgiving enemy, whose London, on 15 October 1917. His “To estimate the number of in the war, was buried beside him of Corporal Filip Konowal aim is solely to destabilise Majesty remarked: Ukrainians who have enlisted in 47th Canadian Infantry Battalion, CEF. receiving a dis- on 3 March 1987. who was awarded the Vic- a sovereign country, it is “Your Exploit is one of the most this way with the Canadian Ex- toria Cross, Britain’s highest poignant that a Ukrainian is daring and heroic in the history peditionary Forces would be very “For most conspicuous casualties inflicted on the causing many casualties. the crew, and destroyed the award for gallantry during recognised as a hero, not by of my army. For this, accept my hard, as they were enlisting in vari- bravery and leadership in enemy. Corporal Konowal rushed gun and emplacement with the First World War.” his own country but by the thanks”. ous battalions from the Atlantic charge of a section in attack. “In one cellar he himself forward and entered the explosives. Among the dignitaries at United Kingdom. After being hospitalized in to the Pacific coast, but it is safe His section had the difficult bayonetted three enemy emplacement, killed the This non-Commissioned the commemoration were May Filip Konowal’s ex- England, Konowal was officially to say that, to the approximate task of mopping up cellars, and attacked single-handed crew, and brought the gun Officer alone killed at least HRH The Duke of Kent (who ample of bravery and cour- assigned for a time as an assis- half million soldiers in Canada, if craters, and machine-gun seven others in a crater, kill- back to our lines. sixteen of the enemy, and gave an address), Ambas- age be an example to the tant to the military attache of the the figures of the War Office were emplacements. ing them all. “The next day he again during the two days’ actual sadors (including the US Ukrainian troops fighting Russian Embassy in London. Later available, it could be shown that “Under his able direction “On reaching the objec- attacked single-handed fighting carried on continu- Ambassador) and High and dying to preserve the he was transferred to the 1st Ca- these people, per population, gave all resistance was overcome tive, a machine-gun was another machine-gun em- ously his good work until Commissioners from several freedom of Ukraine, a war nadian Reserve Battalion, served a larger percentage of men to the successfully, and heavy holding up the right flank, placement, killed three of severely wounded”. Commonwealth countries we all know we shall win.