Victoria Cross (Canada)
Videos
The Victoria Cross was created in 1993, perpetuating the lineage of the British Victoria Cross, while serving as the highest award within the Canadian honours system, taking precedence over all other
Close-up of the Canadian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Ernest Smith
Videos
Ernest Alvia "Smokey" Smith was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was the
Victoria Cross (Canada)
…given special headstones at their burial sites in Commonwealth War Graves and other cemeteries. To date, no Canadian Victoria Cross has been conferred; Smokey Smith, who died in 2005, was the last living Canadian recipient of the imperial Victoria Cross, personally receiving it from King George VI at Buckingham…
Private "Smokey" Smith c.1945
Military funeral procession for Smith in Vancouver on August 13, 2005
Smith lay in state on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on August 9, 2005