Windsor buys local soldier's medal

Seventy-eight years after his death on the bloody battlefield at Dieppe, Pte. George Alfred Dixon's Memorial Cross, awarded posthumously, is coming home to Windsor.

The city was successful in its bid to purchase the medal via an online ebay auction, paying $9,500 for the Second World War honour bestowed for the ultimate sacrifice.

A community fundraising effort amassed $5,360 and Windsor Family Credit Union also donated to its purchase.

“The city was the actual purchaser but don't lead anyone to believe that this was just city money. This was truly a community effort to repatriate this medal,” said Mayor Drew Dilkens.

David Cassady, a retired inspector with the Windsor Police Service and ex-member of the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment, initiated a Gofundme campaign after hearing the medal was being offered for sale by its owner in Quebec.

“But for the efforts of Dave Cassady, who set up that Gofundme page … and the Windsor Family Credit Union and our museum folks, this probably wouldn't have happened,” Dilkens added. “Because everyone came together and put money in, we were able to bring this medal back home where it belongs.”

“(He) was a local boy that gave the supreme sacrifice,” Cassady said. “That family is still in the City of Windsor. It just needed to come back home, back home to the family.”

Dixon's closest living relative, niece Violet Hecnar, 85, lives in Windsor.

“This will be likely the most important medal we will have in our collection because it was actually awarded posthumously to a veteran from Windsor-essex who died on the battlefield during the raid on Dieppe,” said Dilkens.

“There are no other medals from an area veteran who was on the beach in Dieppe in the museum collection in Windsor.

“We have such a strong connection to the Dieppe Raid because so many folks from the Essex and Kent Scottish served at that time and were part of that raid. And many didn't come home.”

Dixon was born in Alberta on July 7, 1919, but eventually moved to Windsor. He signed up with the Essex Scottish Regiment on April 18, 1940.

He is buried in the Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery in France, about five kilometres from the beach he died on.

“(Dieppe) was a devastating blow to the City of Windsor during the war. A lot of young men from Windsor lost their lives during that raid,” Cassady said. “That Memorial Cross is a representative of (Pte. Dixon) and his sacrifice and the family's sacrifice.”

The medal is expected to arrive in Windsor between Dec. 20 and Jan. 2.

“Our long-term plan is to actually get the medal and have it in our community museum for people to see in perpetuity,” Dilkens said, adding the display may rotate between the Chimczuk Museum and Windsor's Community Museum in the Baby House.

“We want to make sure that the story is told of George Alfred Dixon, that his contributions and his death that day are remembered forever,” he said. “And that people know that this community is connected and we're willing to put our money where our mouth is.”

“I'm glad we were able to work together,” Cassady said. “It was definitely a community effort for the family.”