Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Private

Unit:

Protective Platoon, 1st Battalion The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, Canadian Army

Awarded for:

Operation Jubilee

A Bren gunner with the Protective Platoon of his unit during the action at Dieppe (France) 19 Augustus 1942, Pte. Graham landed on the beaches with the first wave. When, during the cutting of the second row of protective wire, two of his comrades were wounded, Pte. Graham went forward in the face of very heave fire and succeeded in dragging them both back to safety. At a later stage, standing up under heavy fire, he threw two smoke canisters to cover the approach of his party to the Casino. In the Casino itself, when it was discovered that snipers were located down a passageway, Graham rushed in, threw two grenades and knocked out the snipers. Then, advancing to the town side of the Casino, with his anti-tank rifle he knocked out four machine-gun posts in the buildings on the Esplanade. When tanks later appeared on the Esplanade, Graham, although unable to communicate with them, displayed great initiative in directing their fire by firing his own Bren Gun at the walls around the enemy positions. The tanks observing his fall of shot then took over and knocked out the enemy posts. During the whole operation Pte Graham displayed great initiative and fearless courage under fire.