Company Sergeant Major John Robert Osborn, VC (2 January 1899 − 19 December 1941) was a Canadian soldier. Osborn was a recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was born in Norfolk, England, and served in the Royal Navy during the First World War.
Details
Osborn was born in England and came to Canada in 1920, after serving in the First World War with the Royal Naval Division. Many myths surround Osborn's World War I service though records point to Osborn having a short military service with him getting wounded by gas near Flesquières in March 1918. Osborn was injured in an accident resulting in him having to quit farming and find other work. He went from job to job, never staying long, before finally settling in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1933, where he enlisted in the militia.
Osborn was the first Canadian awarded a Victoria Cross in the Second World War. His was the only Victoria Cross awarded for Battle of Hong Kong.
Legacy
Tributes in Hong Kongalt=A statue of a soldier in a metal helmet with a circular rim, holding a rifle with a bayonet. The statue is positioned on a plinth hidden by bushes and is facing outwards over a wall. A hill is shown in the background.|right|thumb|Statue of a soldier at Eucliffe, Hong Kong in the 1930s