Biography

David Croll was born in Russia and came to Canada with his family as a young boy. He was a lawyer in his adoptive hometown of Windsor, Ontario, and then entered politics in the 1930s, becoming the mayor of Windsor and the first Jewish provincial cabinet minister in Ontario. When the Second World War broke out in September 1939, this prominent Windsor citizen immediately sought to join the Canadian Army. His hometown infantry unit, the Essex Scottish Regiment, initially seemed reluctant to recruit Jewish volunteers but Mayor Croll helped break down the barriers and enlisted. Before his wartime duties took him away, he would proudly wear his military uniform while doing city council business.

His motivation was both to serve and to be a symbol of the Jewish Canadian response in the Second World War. Croll started at the bottom of the ranks, as a private, and persevered in the face of anti-Semitic attitudes to go overseas to train in reconnaissance techniques. He was commissioned as an officer in early 1941 and went on to help develop training resources for dispatch riders. Continuing to rise through the ranks, he eventually became a lieutenant colonel commanding the Oxford Rifles before the war came to an end.

Croll returned home and resumed his political career, later being the first Jewish person appointed to the Senate of Canada. His wartime service had a great impact on him. As he later recounted, "I can think of no greater honour than to serve your country in the time of need. I felt I belonged. It was my country. I had fought for it."

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