Coulson Norman Mitchell
Coulson Norman Mitchell VC MC (11 December 1889 – 17 November 1978) was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, 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 28 years old, and a Captain in the 1st Tunnelling Company, 4th Canadian Engineers, Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 8/9 October 1918 at the Canal de L'Escaut, north-east of Cambrai, France, Captain Mitchell led a small party to examine the bridges and if possible prevent their demolition. He managed to cut a number of 'lead' wires on one bridge, then in total darkness he dashed across the main bridge which was heavily charged. While he and his NCO were cutting the wires the enemy attacked, whereupon the captain at once went to the assistance of his sentry who had been wounded, killing three of the enemy and capturing 12. Under heavy fire he then continued to cut the wires and remove charges.
Born in Winnipeg on Dec. 11, 1889, Mitchell was a graduate of the University of Manitoba in engineering. He enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1914 and went overseas with a railway construction unit. As an officer with the 1st Tunnelling Company of the 4th Cdn. Engineers he was awarded the Military Cross in 1917.
After the war, Mitchell returned to Winnipeg to practice civil engineering. Early in WW II, he was assigned to the Royal Cdn. Engineers (RCE), at Camp Borden, Ont. In 1940, he went overseas and was put in charge of replacement training. Transferred back to Canada in 1943, he was attached to National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa before joining the staff of the RCE Training Centre at Petawawa, Ont. In 1944, he took command of the Royal School of Military Engineering in Chilliwack, B.C.
He later achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Grave/memorial at Buried at the Last Post Fund National Field of Honour Cemetery, Pointe Claire, Quebec, Canada. Section M. Grave 3051. Headstone.
The Canadian Military Engineers chose to honour Mitchell by naming the main building of the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering at CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick after him. His Victoria Cross is on display at the museum there.
References
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
- The Sapper VCs (Gerald Napier, 1998)
- VCs of the First World War - The Final Days 1918 (Gerald Gliddon, 2000)