296:(Belgium) the attack was temporarily held up by heavy hostile fire, and the platoon to which he belonged suffered severe casualties from the fire of a battery at point blank range. Private Ricketts at once volunteered to go forward with his Section Commander and a Lewis gun to attempt to outflank the battery. They advanced by short rushes while subject to severe fire from enemy machine guns. When 300 yards away, their ammunition gave out. The enemy, seeing an opportunity to get their field guns away, began to bring up their gun teams. Private Ricketts at once realized the situation. He doubled back 100 yards, procured some ammunition and dashed back to the Lewis gun, and by very accurate fire drove the enemy and their gun teams into a farm. His platoon then advanced without casualties, and captured four field guns, four machine guns and eight prisoners. A fifth field gun was subsequently intercepted by fire and captured. By his presence of mind in anticipating the enemy intention and his utter disregard for personal safety, Private Ricketts secured the further supplies of ammunition which directly resulted in these important captures and undoubtedly saved many lives"
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Ricketts was given a state funeral when he died in 1967, and is commemorated by a memorial on the former site of his pharmacy. Ricketts is buried at the
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369:(Water Street, St. John's, Newfoundland) Note 'D.C.M.' was inscribed after the C de G, but was an error, cloned out of the image
340:), both aged 15, were awarded the VC in non-combatant roles. While Ricketts, Fitzgibbon and Flinn were all living VC recipients,
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Ricketts is the youngest VC army recipient in a combatant role, he is not the youngest VC recipient. Hospital Apprentice
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is named in honour of
Ricketts. In 2018, the "Tommy Ricketts Memorial Peace Park" opened in Conception Bay South.
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January 19, 1919. At the ceremony, the King reportedly stated: "This is the youngest VC in my army." General
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Ricketts is sometimes erroneously referred to as having been a
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608:"WWI hero Tommy Ricketts honoured on 100th anniversary of daring rescue | CBC News"
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After the war, Ricketts studied pharmacy, and opened a business on Water Street in
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forces. Ricketts is the youngest army recipient fighting in a combatant role.
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of the Royal Navy was awarded the VC posthumously for his actions at the
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Monument for
Ricketts in Sint-Eloois-Winkel, a village near Ledeghem
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Newfoundland's
Reluctant War Hero: Thomas Ricketts V.C., C.de G.
586:"Baie Verte and Springdale show support for Humboldt Broncos"
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Newfoundland World War I recipients of the
Victoria Cross
486:"Newfoundland's Reluctant War Hero: Thomas Ricketts V.C"
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Newfoundland soldier and recipient of the
Victoria Cross
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19:For other people named Thomas Ricketts, see
511:(Supplement). January 4, 1919. p. 309.
54:Thomas Ricketts after being awarded the VC.
741:Canadian military personnel of World War I
697:Legion Magazine article on Thomas Ricketts
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367:Thomas Ricketts former memorial plaque.
434:. Ricketts' medals are on display at
288:for his actions on October 14, 1918.
270:Ricketts, who was 17 years old and a
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522:Roberts, Terry (November 11, 2008).
351:Ricketts was also awarded France's
685:Burial location of Thomas Ricketts
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87:February 10, 1967 (aged 65)
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560:Canadian Great War Project
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625:Gliddon, Gerald (2014) .
556:"Private Thomas Ricketts"
444:Newfoundland and Labrador
428:Newfoundland and Labrador
292:"During the advance from
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241:Thomas "Tommy" Ricketts
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619:Bibliography
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568:. Retrieved
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538:. Retrieved
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461:until 1949.
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332:and Drummer
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315:York Cottage
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260:Commonwealth
248:Newfoundland
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172:Battles/wars
128:British Army
116:Newfoundland
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726:1967 deaths
721:1901 births
503:"No. 31108"
399: /
348:at age 16.
278:during the
176:World War I
60:Nickname(s)
715:Categories
590:The Packet
570:January 6,
540:January 6,
472:References
466:Baie Verte
440:St. John's
424:St. John's
413:St. John's
234:Pharmacist
107:Allegiance
691:News item
436:The Rooms
355:in 1919.
455:dominion
420:Anglican
311:George V
299:—
294:Ledeghem
151:Sergeant
122:Service/
92:, Canada
32:Sergeant
317:on the
272:private
256:British
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459:Canada
432:Canada
189:Awards
124:branch
97:Buried
489:(PDF)
309:King
63:Tommy
639:ISBN
572:2015
542:2015
258:and
157:Unit
142:Rank
84:Died
68:Born
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438:in
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41:VC
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
