CSM John Robert Osborn - Canadian Army, Dec 19, 1941

[Louis]

Osborn was born in Foulden, Norfolk, England on 2 January 1899 and came to Canada in 1920, after serving World War I with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. On the morning of 19 December, 1941, a company of Winnipeg Grenadiers led by Company Sergeant-Major Osborn became divided during a Japanese attack on Mount Butler in Hong Kong. Osborn led part of the company to capture the hill. Outnumbered, the unit managed to hold out for three hours before being forced to withdraw. Osborn and a small group covered the retreat. When their turn came to fall back, Osborn single-handedly engaged the enemy and came under heavy fire. In the afternoon, cut off from the battalion, the company was surrounded by Japanese. Several enemy grenades were thrown towards them. The Canadian soldiers picked up many and threw them back. Suddenly, a grenade landed in a position where it was impossible to return it in time. To protect his troops, Osborn threw himself on the grenade. He was killed instantly but saved the lives of many of his men.

In April 1946 it was announced that he was to be awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously, his wife and six children accepted it on his behalf. Osborn was Winnipeg's only Victoria Cross recipient of WW2.-

 

[Louis]

A statue at Hong Kong Park commemorates CSM John Robert Osborn of the Winnipeg Grenadiers, who saved his comrades by throwing himself on to a Japanese grenade during the Battle of Hong Kong.