Remembering Newfoundland's other Victoria Cross

John Bernard Croak isn't widely known in Newfoundland and Labrador, even by people who pride themselves on being familiar with the province's contribution in the world wars.

Croak was a First World War soldier who was the first Newfoundland-born recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC).

He was awarded the British Empire's highest honour for his acts of bravery during the Battle of Amiens in 1918, a battle in which Croak was wounded and killed.

But the reason Croak doesn't immediately come to mind is that his family moved away from Little Bay, near Springdale, when Croak was just a boy, possibly as young as two years old.

Still, historian and author Frank Gogos, who is chair of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Museum, said Croak should get his due.

"I believe anybody who was born, or lived here, should be recognized for their contribution," said Gogos.

But Gogos said, for many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, their knowledge of the First World War is limited to information about Beaumont Hamel, Tommy Ricketts and the Blue Puttees.

"People like Croak and others, they take a backseat to those top three things that we know about the war," he said.

Tommy Ricketts is the Newfoundland soldier, born in Middle Arm, who most people would best know as being a Victoria Cross recipient.

Ricketts survived the First World War and came home to live out his life in Newfoundland.

But Croak was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his acts of valour, which took place two months before the battle for which Ricketts earned his VC.

Croak served with the 13th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, having enlisted in Sussex, New Brunswick in August 1915.

He was the son of James and Cecelia Croak who had moved from Newfoundland to New Aberdeen, Nova Scotia.

Croak's last and most momentous day of life was the start of the last 100 days of the First World War, often referred to as the Hundred Days Offensive.