Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

MILITARY CROSS W/ CASE AND CORRESPONDENCE

Date

1919

Materials

SILVER, RIBBON, VELVET

No. Pieces

3

Height

2.15

Length

12.5

Width

7.25

Description

.A – PRESSED CARDBOARD RECTANGULAR BOX BOUND IN MAROON-COLOURED COVERING, WITH ONE CURVED EDGE. LID IS HINGED ON OPPOSITE STRAIGHT EDGE. TOP OF LID HAS EMBOSSED GOLD BORDER AND CENTRAL DESIGN OF A CROWN. INSIDE OF BOX IS LINED WITH CREAM-COLOURED SATIN AND VELVET, WITH A CROSS-SHAPED CAVITY IN THE BED THAT CORRESPONDS TO THE SHAPE OF THE MEDAL (.B). OUTER EDGES OF BOX ARE WORN WITH AREAS OF COVERING LOSS. OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. 2.15 X 12.5 X 7.25 .B – SILVER CROSS-SHAPED MEDAL HUNG FROM A WHITE AND PURPLE STRIPED RIBBON. CROSS HAS RAISED CROWN DESIGNS AT EACH END AND A ROYAL CYPHER DESIGN WITH THE LETTERS “G R” AT CENTRE. RIBBON BAR HAS STRAIGHT PIN CLOSURE AT BACK. MINOR TARNISHING; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. 0.2 X 9.15 X 4.25 .C – SHEET OF WHITE PAPER, WITH PRINTED LINE OF TEXT AT TOP READING “MILITIA AND DEFENCE”. TYPEWRITTEN TEXT READS AS A LETTER ADDRESSED TO “D.A. MCKILLOP, ESQ. M.C. – LETHBRIDGE, ALTA.” FROM “THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL, CANADIAN MILITIA”. LETTER IS SIGNED IN BLUE INK BY “CAPTAIN, FOR DIRECTOR OF RECORDS, FOR ADJUTANT-GENERAL” AT BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER AND STAMPED “DEPT. MILITIA & DEFENCE JAN 13 1920 H.Q. CANADA” IN RED INK AT UPPER RIGHT SIDE. PAPER IS CREASED AND FADED ALONG FOLDS FROM PREVIOUS STORAGE METHOD, WITH MINOR AREAS OF LOSS ON OUTER EDGES. OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. 25.5 X 20

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

MILITARY

History

THIS MILITARY CROSS WAS AWARDED TO LIEUTENANT D.A. MCKILLOP IN FALL 1919. ACCORDING TO INFORMATION LISTED ON THE GREAT WAR WEBSITE, THE MILITARY CROSS WAS AWARDED TO INDIVIDUALS IN THE BRITISH ARMY OR COLONIAL FORCES FOR GALLANTRY DURING ACTIVE OPERATIONS IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ENEMY. A SHEET OF TYPED CORRESPONDENCE THAT WAS FOLDED AND TUCKED INTO THIS MEDAL’S CASE AT THE TIME OF DONATION IS A LETTER FROM THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CANADIAN MILITIA AND DEFENCE, THAT APPEARS TO BE ANSWERING AN INQUIRY SENT BY D.A. MCKILLOP HIMSELF. THE LETTER IS DATED JANUARY 15, 1920 AND ITS BODY READS: “RECEIPT OF YOUR LETTER OF THE 5TH INSTANT IS HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGED, AND IN REPLY, PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT NONE OF THE MILITARY CROSSES HAVE THE NAMES ENGRAVED THEREON. THE DETAILS OF THE ACTION FOR WHICH YOU WERE COMMENDED ARE DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS IN THE LONDON GAZETTE NO. 31266 OF APRIL 2, 1919: ‘FOR CONSPICUOUS GALLANTRY AND DEVOTION TO DUTY IN CHARGE OF THE GUNS WHICH WERE BEING PUT IN ACTION AT ONNAING, ON THE NIGHT OF 5TH NOVEMBER, 1918. THE POSITION AND APPROACHES WERE BEING CONSTANTLY SHELLED, BUT HE GOT THE GUNS INTO POSITION AND READY FOR THE MORNING’S OPERATIONS.” THIS MEDAL AND THE FOUR OTHERS COMPRISING THIS DONATION (P20150003001-005) WERE RECEIVED BY GALT COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN THROUGH THE MAIL IN JANUARY 2015, IN A PACKAGE THAT INCLUDED A LETTER FROM THE DONOR, JUNE MCKILLOP, THE WIFE OF D.A. MCKILLOP’S SON DONALD. JUNE WROTE: “I HAVE HAD IN MY POSSESSION FOR MANY YEARS THE ENCLOSED ARTICLES GIVEN TO DON’S FATHER FOR HIS SERVICE DURING THE 1ST WORLD WAR… I HAVE LONG THOUGHT THEY BELONGED IN LETHBRIDGE RATHER THAN IN A CUPBOARD IN TORONTO…” ON JANUARY 29, 2015, MACLEAN INTERVIEWED THE DONOR VIA PHONE CALL ABOUT THE MEDALS. SHE SAID: “[MY HUSBAND AND I] FOUND THEM IN HIS MOTHER’S HOUSE AFTER SHE WENT TO A NURSING HOME IN CALGARY, WHERE SHE DIED [IN 1986]… WE WENT OUT TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANYTHING WE WANTED TO BRING BACK HERE IN MEMORY OF HER… [THE MEDALS] WERE GIVEN TO HER HUSBAND WHO WAS IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR… HE WAS VERY SLIGHTLY GASSED [IN COMBAT] AND TAKEN TO A HOSPITAL IN ENGLAND… [THEN] HE WAS HOME FOR QUITE A NUMBER OF YEARS BEFORE HE DIED, BUT THEY FIGURED IT WAS A RESULT OF THE GASSING, BECAUSE HE WAS NEVER REALLY 100% HEALTHY AFTER THAT… [THE MEDALS] MUST HAVE HAD MEANING TO [MY HUSBAND] BECAUSE HE DIDN’T WANT THEM TO BE SOLD WITH THE REST OF THE THINGS IN THE HOUSEHOLD… [D.A. MCKILLOP] HAD DIED WHEN MY HUSBAND [WAS FIVE], SO DON DIDN’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT HIM AT ALL… MAYBE [HIS MOTHER] SHOWED THE MEDALS TO DON WHEN HE WAS A CHILD [BUT] HE HAD NO MEMORY OF THEM.” THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY OF DONALD ALEXANDER MCKILLOP WAS DEVELOPED WITH INFORMATION FROM A TRIBUTE ARTICLE FROM THE NOVEMBER 18, 1930 ISSUE OF THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD, MCKILLOP’S ATTESTATION PAPERS AND GALT ARCHIVES RECORD 19981061004. D.A. MCKILLOP WAS BORN IN ADMASTON, ONTARIO IN 1882 TO REVEREND CHARLES AND ELIZABETH MCKILLOP. THE FAMILY MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1886 WHEN REV. MCKILLOP ASSUMED THE POSITION OF PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER IN THE CITY. DONALD WAS EMPLOYED WITH THE CPR BEFORE ENLISTING IN THE CANADIAN OVERSEAS EXPEDITIONARY FORCE IN NOVEMBER 1914. HE FOUGHT OVERSEAS WITH THE 20TH BATTERY AS A GUNNER AND SAW ACTION AT YPRES AND THE SOMME. ON HIS CERTIFICATE OF MILITARY SERVICE, MCKILLOP IS LISTED AS BEING WOUNDED ON OCTOBER 27, 1916, BUT HE RECOVERED TO BE PROMOTED TO THE RANK OF LIEUTENANT AND GIVEN A SPECIAL COURSE OF INSTRUCTION IN ENGLAND. HE RETURNED TO THE FRONT FOR THE TAKING OF MONS, AND WAS AGAIN PROMOTED TO THE RANK OF CAPTAIN, BECOMING SECOND IN COMMAND OF THE BATTERY FOR THEIR ADVANCE INTO GERMANY. AFTER THE WAR, MCKILLOP WAS APPOINTED THE POSTMASTER OF LETHBRIDGE TO FILL THE VACANCY LEFT BY THE DEATH OF MAJOR ALVIN RIPLEY, WHO MCKILLOP SERVED UNDER IN THE 20TH BATTERY. MCKILLOP MARRIED CORINNE ROY IN 1924, AND THEY HAD TWO SONS, DONALD AND JOHN. D.A. MCKILLOP DIED ON NOVEMBER 18, 1930 AFTER A PROLONGED ILLNESS LINKED TO WARTIME EXPOSURE TO POISON GAS. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR HARDCOPIES OF SOURCE MATERIAL, MCKILLOP’S ATTESTATION PAPERS, DONOR CORRESPONDENCE, AND FULL TRANSCRIPT OF DONOR INTERVIEW.

Catalogue Number

P20150003001

Acquisition Date

2015-01

Collection

Museum

Less detail