When you think of Canada, you might picture friendly neighbors and maple syrup, but hidden beneath that polite veneer lies a roster of 10 badass Canadian warriors whose audacious actions against German foes turned the tide of wars.
10 Badass Canadian Heroes Who Changed the Battlefield
10 Ernest “Smokey” Smith
Ernest “Smokey” Smith earned a reputation as a true hell‑raiser, constantly irking his superiors to the point where he was promoted to corporal and then demoted back to private a staggering nine times. Yet when battle drums sounded, his ferocity shone through, cementing his place among Canada’s most celebrated soldiers.
In October 1944, the Allies were clawing their way through northern Italy, confronting stubborn German resistance. Smith’s small platoon was ordered to wade across the flooded Savio River to seize a vital beachhead. After the position was taken, a fierce German counter‑attack descended, sending three Panther tanks, self‑propelled artillery, and a swarm of infantry to retake the ground, pinning the Canadians near the river’s edge.
Without hesitation, Smith snatched his PIAT anti‑tank weapon and sprinted toward the first Panther, closing to within just ten metres (about thirty‑three feet) before delivering a single, decisive shot that knocked the tank out of action. The Germans, stunned by his boldness, then dispatched ten infantrymen to eliminate him. Undeterred, Smith brandished his Tommy gun, held his ground, and dispatched four of the attackers, forcing the rest to withdraw. He continued to protect a wounded comrade, compelling additional German troops to “withdraw in disorder,” and ultimately ferried his friend to safety. His platoon, galvanized by his example, managed to hold the line and secure the beachhead.
In a humorous twist, the army locked Smokey inside an Italian post office overnight to make sure the “wild man” didn’t disappear before being flown to London to meet the King and receive the Victoria Cross. Years later, Smith chuckled about his legend, saying, “Oh, yeah. I didn’t take orders. I didn’t believe in them.”
9 Leo Major
Leo Major’s saga reads like a Hollywood script that never got made. A French‑Canadian who fought in the Normandy landings, Leo first made a splash by seizing an armored vehicle brimming with critical communications gear, handing the Allies a priceless intelligence boon. He then single‑handedly eliminated a squad of elite SS troops, only to lose his left eye when a dying enemy ignited a phosphorus grenade. When doctors urged his evacuation, Leo retorted that he only needed one eye to aim, refusing to leave the front lines.
During a dawn reconnaissance at the Battle of the Scheldt, Leo spotted a German village where most soldiers were asleep. Instead of reporting back, he seized the moment, capturing the German commander, neutralizing a handful of troops, and prompting the entire company of ninety‑three men to surrender to him. He escorted the bewildered prisoners back to Allied lines, a feat that sounds almost too wild to be true.
Leo’s crowning achievement unfolded in April 1945 during the liberation of Zwolle, Netherlands. The plan was to bombard German positions with artillery until they capitulated. Sent on another recon mission, Leo paired up with a comrade named Willie. Realising that an artillery barrage would also claim civilian lives, the duo decided to liberate the town on their own. Tragedy struck when Willie was shot and killed around midnight. Enraged, Leo grabbed Willie’s weapon, eliminated two Germans, and forced the remainder to flee in terror.
He then commandeered a German vehicle, forced its driver to bring him to an enemy officer in a nearby tavern, and told the startled officer that a massive Canadian force surrounded the town and an attack was imminent. After delivering this bluff, Leo slipped out of the tavern and vanished into the night, only to spend the rest of the evening darting through Zwolle, gunning down Nazis and hurling grenades like a one‑man army. The sight of a lone Canadian, eyepatch‑clad and firing wildly, terrified the remaining German soldiers, many of whom surrendered.
By 4:00 a.m., the Germans abandoned Zwolle, the planned artillery barrage was called off, and the city was saved purely by Leo’s daring solo campaign. He earned numerous medals for his WWII exploits and added even more honors during the Korean War. Leo Major passed away in 2008, but his legend lives on in Zwolle, where he is revered as a true hero.
8 Tommy Prince
Born into the Brokenhead Ojibwa band, Tommy Prince rose to prominence at a time when Aboriginal Canadians still faced systemic discrimination. During World War II, Prince enlisted in the 1st Canadian Special Service Battalion, one of the first modern special‑forces units, undertaking perilous missions behind enemy lines—earning a reputation comparable to the fictional “Black Devils” of Tarantino’s imagination.
The unit’s training was grueling: stealth tactics, hand‑to‑hand combat, explosives, amphibious assaults, and alpine warfare. Prince’s specialty was forward scouting, observing enemy movements and striking fear into Axis troops, who dubbed the unit “the Black Devils” for their uncanny ability to infiltrate and silently eliminate targets. One officer recalled, “He moved like a shadow. Sometimes, instead of killing the Germans, he’d steal something from them. Other times, he’d slit their throats without a sound.”
One of Prince’s most daring stunts unfolded in Italy, 1944. Disguised as a farmer, he set up an observation post in an abandoned house a mere 200 metres (656 ft) from a German camp. He relayed enemy positions via a buried wire, enabling artillery strikes. When shelling damaged the wire, Prince calmly walked out in full view of the Germans, pretending to tend his field. He repaired the line while ostensibly tying his shoes, then defiantly shook his fist at both the Germans and the Allies, cementing his ruse. His cleverness led to the destruction of four artillery positions.
Not stopping there, Prince trekked 70 kilometres (43 mi) across rugged French terrain behind enemy lines, surviving three days without food or sleep. Upon locating a massive German camp, he guided his unit straight to it, resulting in the capture of over a thousand enemy soldiers. By war’s end, Prince stood among Canada’s most decorated soldiers and became a champion for Aboriginal rights, declaring, “All my life I wanted to do something to help my people recover their good name. I wanted to show they were as good as any white man.”
7 Frederick Hobson
In August 1917, during the relatively obscure Battle of Hill 70 outside Lens, France, the Canadian forces wrestled for control of a strategic high point. After the hill was seized, the Germans launched a ferocious counter‑attack on 18 August. Forty‑three‑year‑old Sergeant Frederick Hobson was ordered to defend a freshly captured German trench.
World I assaults were usually preceded by a brutal artillery barrage. By the time the bombardment ceased, Hobson’s unit lay decimated, and their sole remaining machine‑gun and its operator were buried in the mud. Seizing the moment, Hobson used a shovel to excavate the gunner and his weapon while under relentless enemy fire. Though wounded, he turned the machine‑gun on the advancing Germans until the gun jammed.
Rather than retreat, Hobson decided to buy the gunner precious seconds to fix the weapon. He sprang upright, charged the enemy with only his rifle, and fired until his ammunition ran dry. Then, wielding his bayonet, he slashed his way through, killing fourteen men in a final, heroic stand. He fell under a hail of bullets, but his sacrifice allowed the gunner to restore the machine‑gun, enabling reinforcements to hold the hill.
6 James Cleland Richardson
While most musicians aim to entertain, James Cleland Richardson wielded his bagpipes as a weapon of war. Enlisting in Canada’s 16th Infantry Battalion as a piper when World I erupted, he marched straight into the maelstrom of the Battle of the Somme.
On 8 October 1916, his battalion was ordered to go “over the top” and assault a fortified German position. This phrase meant climbing out of the trench and charging head‑on into a hail of bullets, artillery, and grenades—one of the most lethal tactics of the era. Amid heavy fire and barbed wire, the assault stalled and morale faltered. At that critical juncture, Richardson stepped forward, raised his bagpipes, and began playing while marching in full view of stunned German soldiers. His stirring music spurred his comrades to renew their attack and ultimately capture the enemy stronghold.
Later that day, while escorting a wounded comrade and several German prisoners, Richardson realized he had left his bagpipes behind. He turned back for his instrument, never to be seen again. His pipes remained lost until 2002, when a shattered set was discovered in Scotland and identified as his. They now reside on public display in Canada, a testament to his brave melody.
5 Charles Smith Rutherford
In 1918, Lieutenant Charles Smith Rutherford led an assault on a fortified town. Venturing ahead of his men, he encountered a sizable group of German soldiers defending a pillbox. Rather than retreat, Rutherford waved at the enemy—who, bewildered, returned the gesture. He then strode up to them, brandished his pistol, and boldly declared, “You men are my prisoners.” His confidence convinced the stunned German officers to order their troops to surrender, resulting in the capture of forty‑five men and three machine‑guns without a single shot fired.
Not one to rest on his laurels, Rutherford instructed a German officer to halt a nearby machine‑gun that was still firing on his advancing troops. When his men arrived, he led them in a second assault, seizing another pillbox and taking an additional thirty‑five German soldiers captive.
Rutherford later received the Victoria Cross for his daring deeds and served as a guard for the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in the Bahamas during World II. He lived to the age of ninety‑seven, becoming the last surviving Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross for World I actions.
4 Harcus Strachan
If you ever wondered what a death wish looks like, picture Lieutenant Harcus Strachan charging an entrenched German position on horseback, sword drawn, while a torrent of machine‑gun fire rattles around him. This was the reality for Canada’s Fort Garry Horse regiment during World I, one of the last cavalry units ever deployed.
On 20 November 1917, during the Battle of Cambrai, a Canadian cavalry squadron prepared to attack when their officer fell. Strachan immediately assumed command, leading 128 cavalrymen in a daring charge against a fortified German line. Despite confronting rows of machine‑guns and field artillery, his force dwindled to just forty‑three men by the time they reached the enemy. Strachan personally slew seven German gunners with his sword, securing the position for his squad.
Unfortunately, promised infantry and tank support never arrived, leaving the cavalry surrounded by German forces and low on ammunition. Thinking quickly, Strachan ordered his men to cut enemy telephone wires and release the remaining horses, creating a chaotic stampede toward the German machine‑gunners. The diversion allowed the Canadians to slip back to their own lines.
In total, Strachan’s squad killed roughly one hundred German soldiers and captured fifteen more, proving that sheer bravery and ingenuity could still outmatch superior technology. He later served in World II, rising to lieutenant colonel, and was honored with a mountain and a lake bearing his name.
3 Leo Clarke
In 1916, during the ferocious fighting near Pozières, France, Leo Clarke and his comrades were tasked with clearing the left flank of a freshly assaulted German trench. Clarke led his men into the trench but quickly found himself the sole survivor, surrounded by roughly twenty German infantrymen and two officers.
Armed only with a pistol, Clarke improvised, snatching rifles from fallen enemies and eventually using his own pistol to devastating effect. He managed to kill eighteen German soldiers, capture one, and force the remainder to flee, all while sustaining a bayonet wound.
Instead of being pulled back for his heroics, Clarke remained in the fight. A month later, an artillery shell detonated near his position, burying him under a mound of earth. Though his fellow soldiers dug him out, the crushing weight left him paralyzed, and he succumbed to his injuries a week later.
2 Hugh Cairns
After his brother Albert fell at the Battle of Cambrai, Sergeant Hugh Cairns swore vengeance, vowing to make the Germans pay. One comrade recalled Cairns saying, “I’ll get fifty Germans for that,” a promise he pursued with relentless fury.
During the assault on Valenciennes, Cairns’s platoon encountered fierce machine‑gun fire from an abandoned house. He stormed the building alone, killing the five Germans inside. Shortly thereafter, his unit faced an even stronger enemy post. Cairns seized his Lewis machine gun, advanced from the hip, and dispatched twelve German soldiers, prompting an additional eighteen to surrender. A chaplain later wrote, “He simply did not know what fear was and his skill with a machine gun could not be surpassed.”
The next German stronghold combined artillery and machine‑guns, manned by over fifty soldiers. When an officer suggested Cairns take only a few men, he instead led a five‑man team to outflank the position while the rest of his platoon kept the enemy occupied. After sustaining casualties, the Germans surrendered, yielding fifty prisoners, seven machine‑guns, three artillery pieces, and a trench mortar.
Tragically, Cairns was later shot while leading the capture of a group of sixty enemy soldiers. Even after suffering stomach and hand wounds, he continued firing, killing or wounding roughly thirty foes before succumbing to his injuries. His valiant actions helped the Canadians seize Valenciennes in a single day, with 80 Canadian dead and 300 wounded versus 800 German dead and 1,300 captured. Cairns received a posthumous Victoria Cross and became the first non‑commissioned officer to have a French street named after him.
1 Robert Spall
Robert Spall didn’t fit the Hollywood mold of a towering war hero—standing just 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) and working as a customs broker before the war. Yet when World I erupted, he volunteered for Canada’s 90th Battalion.
In October 1918, his platoon found itself isolated as German troops surged forward. Remaining in the trench meant certain death; fleeing was equally fatal. Sergeant Spall chose the brave, perilous path: he emerged into full view of the enemy, brandishing his Lewis machine gun and laying down a withering hail of fire that forced the Germans to halt their advance.
After emptying his magazine, Spall ordered his men to slip through a sap trench to safety, seized another Lewis gun, and continued firing until he was finally overwhelmed and killed. His selfless stand bought precious time for his comrades to escape, cementing the reputation of the Canadian forces as fearless and tenacious.