Canadian war hero recognized on Tillsonburg banners

Brenda Underhill holds a book of stamps that commemorate her great uncle, Tommy Prince. He was the most decorated Indigenous soldier of the Second World War. (Jeff Helsdon Photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

Amongst the veterans recognized on banners lining Quarter Town Line is a Canadian war hero.

Not that all who serve aren’t heroes, but Tommy Prince went above and beyond. The member of the Devil’s Brigade was one of only three Canadians to receive both the Canadian Military Medal and American Silver Star. Prince fought in both the Second World War and Korean War, and is recognized on a Canadian stamp.

So how did the Manitoba-born soldier come to be on veteran banners in Tillsonburg? Prince was the great-uncle of Tillsonburg Legion member Brenda Underhill. The connection is a story of wartime romance, where her father, who was from Houghton, was in the air force and met her mother in Winnipeg. They married and moved to Ontario when Underhill was five.

Underhill grew up hearing stories of her great-uncle, the war hero. Later, she made the connection, although it’s not surprising she didn’t know, as Prince’s daughters were unaware of his exploits until his funeral.

Prince was born in Manitoba in 1915 and was the grandson of Chief Henry Prince, who was a negotiator and signed the treaty with the Crown for the Peguis. He enlisted in 1940, initially in the army. When Prince heard about the formation of the 2nd Canadian Parachute Battalion, he volunteered, not knowing this combination Canadian-American unit would become the commando unit known as the Devil’s Brigade.

The shooting and stealth skills Prince learned in rural Manitoba would come into play. He developed the skill of using moccasins to quietly enter enemy camps while they were sleeping, and leave undetected.

At Monte Majo, Italy, Prince was assigned to lead a patrol and eliminate the German gun positions on the side of a mountain at night. He led the group partway up the mountain, then, leaving them, he switched his army boots for moccasins. He took out the soldiers at each gun position without alerting the other Germans in the succeeding positions. In subsequent fighting, the Devil’s Brigade members used the captured gun position to fire on approaching Germans.

The Devil’s Brigade was then moved near Littoria, Italy, and charged with holding back a whole German brigade. Prince’s mission was to penetrate enemy lines and report on their positions. When he found an abandoned farmhouse 1.4 km behind the lines, he was given a coil of telephone wire and told to set up there and provide updates on German activities. The farmhouse was only 200 meters from the German position. This worked fine until Allied artillery accidentally cut the line.

“When the line was broken, he donned the clothing of a farmer and pretended to be gardening in the fields to fix it,” Underhill said.

In France, Prince’s efforts to penetrate the German lines led to the capture of 1,000 German soldiers.

Following the Second World War, Prince started a business in Winnipeg that was successful. He became an advocate for abolishing the Indian Act and some of its outdated provisions, including not allowing Indigenous people access to the same programs as other veterans.

With the start of the Korean War, Prince joined the Canadian Army in 1950. He again gained renown for his stealth operations, although his commanders didn’t have the same appreciation for his efforts as the men he fought with did. Prince returned home and was put on administrative duty for a time due to arthritis, but upon improvement, he volunteered for another tour.

When Prince returned from Korea, he found the friends he had entrusted to operate his business had ruined it. He remarried, but his life fell apart without the same support other soldiers had. Prince battled alcoholism and was homeless for a period of time. He was living in a veteran’s facility when he died in 1977.

When Underhill heard of the banner program, she knew her great-uncle deserved recognition.

“I’d give anything for my mother to be still alive and see this,” she said. “He was a hero.”