Memorable Manitobans: Thomas George “Tommy” Prince (1915-1977)

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Thomas George Prince
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War hero.

A Saulteaux Indian born in a tent at Petersfield on 25 October 1915, a grandson of Chief Peguis, he was Canada’s most decorated Indigenous soldier in the Second World War, awarded ten medals, most with the Canadian-American detachment known as the “Devil’s Brigade.” After the war he toured the province agitating for Aboriginal treaty rights. He then served with Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry during the Korean War and was crippled by machine-gun fire in battle. He later lived in poverty in Winnipeg, dying at the Deer Lodge Hospital on 26 November 1977. He was buried in the Brookside Cemetery.

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Tommy Prince Plaque (Scanterbury, Brokenhead Ojibway Nation)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Tommy Prince Monument (Kildonan Park, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Flora Place / Sergeant Tommy Prince MM Veterans Park (100 Battery Street, Winnipeg)

Sources:

“Tommy Prince to get pauper’s burial,” Winnipeg Free Press, 28 November 1977, page 1.

“Crowds flock to see Prince laid to rest,” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 December 1977, page 95.

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 27 June 2021

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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