Memorable Manitobans: John Robert Osborn (1899-1941)

War hero.

Born in Norfolk, England on 2 January 1899, he served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in World War One, later farming near Wapella, Saskatchewan for two years before moving to Winnipeg, where he worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway. A member of the First Battalion, Winnipeg Grenadiers starting in 1933, he was called to active duty in 1939 as company sergeant-major. He won a Victoria Cross in Hong Kong when he saved members of his company by yelling “Duck, lads” and throwing himself on top of a grenade, dying on 19 December 1941.

Sources:

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by J. M. Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

Victoria Cross citation, Veterans Affairs Canada.

Profile revised: 8 August 2009

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