War museum purchases another historic Passchendaele Victoria Cross

The Canadian War Museum has added another Victoria Cross to its collection, the second time in a week the museum has purchased the honour for bravery in the face of the enemy.

The Victoria Cross was awarded to Cpl. Colin Fraser Barron for his actions on Nov. 6, 1917, during the First World War bloodbath of Passchendaele. Barron’s medals and VC were sold at auction Monday in London, England for 350,000 pounds or nearly C$600,000.

“This medal is a testament to one soldier’s courage and a symbol of the service and sacrifice of all Canadian soldiers who fought on the Western Front a century ago,” Mark O’Neill, president and CEO of the Canadian Museum of History, said in a statement.

Canadian soldiers were awarded nine VCs at Passchendaele during a month of intense fighting that left 16,000 Canadians dead or wounded. The medal is the 37th Canadian VC in the museum’s collection.

A native of Scotland, Barron immigrated to Canada in 1910 and served in the First World War with the Third (Toronto) Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Barron died in 1958. The family sold the medal to a private collector 30 years ago for $25,000.

The museum bought the medal with the help of Leslie Barron Kerr, Barron’s great-granddaughter, who owns a number of karate schools in Toronto, and thanks to donors to the National Collection Fund.