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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Fred Fisher

In memory of:

Lance Corporal Fred Fisher

April 24, 1915

Military Service


Service Number:

24066

Age:

19

Force:

Army

Unit:

Canadian Infantry (Quebec Regiment)

Division:

13th Battalion

Citation(s):

"The London Gazette," No. 29202, dated June 23, 1915, records the following:

On 23rd April, 1915, in the neighbourhood of St. Julien, he went forward with the machine gun, of which he was in charge, under heavy fire, and most gallantly assisted in covering the retreat of a battery, losing four men of his gun team. Later, after obtaining four more men, he went forward again to the firing line and was himself killed while bringing his machine gun into action under very heavy fire, in order to cover the advance of support."

1914-15 Star
British War Medal
Victory Medal.

Honours and Awards:

Victoria Cross

Additional Information


Born:

August 3, 1895
St. Catharines, Ontario

Enlistment:

August 5, 1914

Son of Mr. W. H. Fisher, Westmount, Quebec.

Lance Corporal Fred Fisher became the first Canadian from a Canadian unit to earn the decoration in that conflict.

He was educated at Westmount Academy and then McGill University where he proved to be an avid sportsman, excelling in tennis, football, swimming and shooting while taking membership in the Montreal Athletic Association. He enlisted in the 5th Royal Highlanders of Canada at the young age of eighteen years.

Commemorated on Page 14 of the First World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Fred Fisher is a recipient of the Victoria Cross.
Complete list of Canadian Victoria Cross Recipients

Burial Information


Cemetery:
Grave Reference:

Panel 24 - 26 - 28 - 30

Location:


The Menin Gate Memorial is situated at the eastern side of the town of Ypres (now Ieper) in the Province of West Flanders, on the road to Menin and Courtrai. It bears the names of 55,000 men who were lost without trace during the defence of the Ypres Salient in the First World War. Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and erected by the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission, it consists of a Hall of Memory", 36.6 metres long by 20.1 metres wide. In the centre are broad staircases leading to the ramparts which overlook the moat, and to pillared loggias which run the whole length of the structure. On the inner walls of the Hall, on the side of the staircases and on the walls of the loggias, panels of Portland stone bear the names of the dead, inscribed by regiment and corps. Carved in stone above the central arch are the words:


TO THE ARMIES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WHO STOOD HERE FROM 1914 TO 1918 AND TO THOSE OF THEIR DEAD WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE.

Over the two staircases leading from the main Hall is the inscription:

HERE ARE RECORDED NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN WHO FELL IN YPRES SALIENT BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH.

The dead are remembered to this day in a simple ceremony that takes place every evening at 8:00 p.m. All traffic through the gateway in either direction is halted, and two buglers (on special occasions four) move to the centre of the Hall and sound the Last Post. Two silver trumpets for use in the ceremony are a gift to the Ypres Last Post Committee by an officer of the Royal Canadian Artillery, who served with the 10th Battery, of St. Catharines, Ontario, in Ypres in April 1915."

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

Send us your images

  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Telegram 1915. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Telegram February 1916. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Halifax Evening Mail September 1915. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Honour roll– Memorial plaque in front of the United Kingdom High Commission in Ottawa to commemorate Canadians who have been awarded the Victoria Cross.
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Montreal Star 1915. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Photograph– Lance-Corporal F. Fisher, V.C.
  • Newspaper clipping– In memory of the men and women memorialized on the pages of the Winnipeg Evening Tribune during World War One. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me.
  • Portrait– Life-sized portrait of Fred Fisher VC, located in the library of Westmount High School, Westmount, Quebec. 

The portrait is protected by glass and so is unfortunately subject to glare and reflections.
  • Inscription– Detail from the portrait of Fred Fisher VC in the library of Westmount High School, Westmount, Quebec.
  • Honour Roll– From the "McGill Honour Roll, 1914-1918".  McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, 1926.
  • Newspaper Clipping 2
  • Newspaper Clipping– Newspaper article appearing in the Toronto Star in 1916 regarding Lance Corporal Fred Fisher's Toronto connections.
  • Press clipping– This 1917 account published in ¿Canada in Khaki¿ magazine honours the heroism of Lance-Corporal Fred Fisher, V.C. The magazine was published for the Canadian War Records Office by the Montreal Star Publishing Co. Ltd., with net profits going to the Canadian War Memorials Fund.  The image of the fallen soldier is by artist Byam Shaw.
  • Award Citation– Personal Information Sheet
  • Attestation Paper (front)
  • Attestation Paper (back)
  • Inscription on Menin Gate– Inscription on Menin Gate
  • Menin Gate– Menin Gate
  • Memorial– Inscription on the Menin Gate … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial

To learn more please visit our help page. If you have questions or comments regarding the information contained in this registry, email or call us. For inquiries regarding the names and information found in the RCMP Honour Roll, please email the RCMP.

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