What battle did Tommy Ricketts serve in WW1?

Answer 1

When he was just 15 years old Tommy Ricketts lied about his age and enlisted with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. On October 14, 1918, at Ledeghem, Belgium, his platoon came under heavy fire. Ricketts volunteered to go with his section commander in an attempt to outflank the German gun. The RNR soldiers ran out of ammunition. Ricketts doubled back, under deadly machine-gun fire, and returned to help drive the enemy back.

His action saved many lives and Ricketts became the youngest soldier to ever receive the Victoria Cross. "He was very humble, very proud of what he did, but never wanted a fuss made out of it, or of him," said Capt. Michael Pretty of the Canadian Forces. Newfoundlanders sent thousands of soldiers to fight and die on the battlefields of Europe. The then-British colony suffered heavy losses in the war. "Out of this gloom there was this ray of light, this Newfoundlander who won the highest award you can win for bravery. So in a sense, with the strong identification between the people of Newfoundland and the Newfoundland Regiment, this was the people of Newfoundland vicariously winning a Victoria Cross as well," said Memorial University military historian Michael O'Brien. After the war Ricketts became a pharmacist and lived a quiet life in St. John's. He died in 1967, but his name lives on. Part of a museum in the city is dedicated to him. And schoolchildren still learn about him. "We need heroes, and Tommy Ricketts was a hero," says Capt. Pretty.