Canadian Armoured Corps
Gallantry Awards:
DSO, MC, DCM, MM

The following pages list the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps awards for the Distinguished Service Order, Military Cross, Distinguished Conduct Medal and Military Medal in the Second World War and Korea. The Victoria Cross has been awarded only one time, and that was to Major David Currie of the South Alberta Regiment. The reader is encouraged to visit the "For Valour" section for a detailed description of the action leading to that award.

The letter "I" signifies an immediate award. Immediate awards were those granted in recognition of a particular act of gallantry. The commanding officer would forward the recommendation for endorsement and if it was approved, it would be presented in the field to the recipient within several months, by a high ranking officer. If the details of the events leading up to the award were noteworthy enough to warrant widespread media coverage for purposes of raising morale, the award could be made by the Sovereign at Buckingham Palace.

Periodic awards, identified by the letter "P", usually covered actions over a period of time. A unit commander who proved to be competent might reasonably expect an award of a DSO but if it was awarded to a lieutenant, it might well indicate an unsuccessful attempt to obtain the Victoria Cross for that officer. The same analogy applies to a DCM awarded to a trooper. In a large number of cases, especially in regards to N.C.O.s and men, the awards were announced near the end of World War II and into 1946.

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Captain W.J. "Danny" McLeod is decorated with The Military Cross by Field Marshall B.L. Montgomery in 1946. Danny McLeod was a Lieutenant and troop leader with the 29th Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment (The South Alberta Regiment) when he was awarded the MC on 15 April 1945. Note the 4th Canadian Armoured Division green formation patch and three wound stripes on the left sleeve of his tunic.

NOTE: Regimental titles in the following pages are as appear in Colonel C.P. Stacey's Official History Of The Canadian Army In The Second World War.

Complete Regimental Listings By
Second World War Precedence

Royal Canadian Dragoons
Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians)
The Governor General's Horse Guards
4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards
8th Princess Louise's (New Brunswick) Hussars
1st Hussars
17th Duke of York's Royal Canadian Hussars
14th Canadian Hussars
The British Columbia Dragoons
The Fort Garry Horse
The Ontario Regiment
Three Rivers Regiment
The Calgary Regiment
12th Manitoba Dragoons
The Governor General's Foot Guards
The Canadian Grenadier Guards
The Sherbrooke Fusiliers Regiment
The British Columbia Regiment
The South Alberta Regiment
1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment

This section of Steel Chariots has been made possible through the assistance of Michael McNorgan who has painstakingly compiled the listing of awards that appear on the following pages. He has graciously permitted this material to be published on Steel Chariots.

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© Chris Johnson, 1997