Francis Scrimger: Beyond the Call of Duty

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
Francis Scrimger: Beyond the Call of Duty
Abstract
The Montreal-born, McGill University-educated Francis Alexander Caron Scrimger (1880-1937) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that could be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, for bravery during the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915. A Surgeon Captain with the Canadian Army Medical Corps, 14th Battalion, Royal Montreal Regiment, Scrimger carried a badly wounded Captain Macdonald from an advanced dressing station in a farmhouse near Wieltje on the St. Julien-Ypres Road, Belgium, that was under intense shelling by the advancing German forces. The bombardment of shells forced Scrimger to stop and place Macdonald on the road. Scrimger then protected him with his own body. During a lull in the gunfire Scrimger again carried Macdonald toward help. When he was unable to carry him any further, he remained with the wounded man until help could be obtained. Scrimger survived the war and later worked as an assistant surgeon, then surgeon-in-chief, at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital. One year into his term as Surgeon-in-Chief of the RVH he died of a massive heart attack. He was 57.
Place
Toronto, ON
Publisher
Hannah Institute for the History of Medicine & Dundurn Press
Date
1991
# of Pages
112p.
Language
en
ISBN
978-1-55002-081-6
Citation
Kingsmill, Suzanne. Francis Scrimger: Beyond the Call of Duty. Toronto, ON: Hannah Institute for the History of Medicine & Dundurn Press, 1991.
Find in a library
Permalink