RCMP uncovers alleged plot by 2 Montreal men to illegally sell drones, equipment to Libya
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
Moose Cree man Charles Henry Byce was the most decorated Indigenous soldier from the Second World War, being awarded both the Military Medal and the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
“Just to think that dad went from residential school to Buckingham Palace, where he was decorated by King George VI on July 13, 1945,” his son, Richard Byce, told CTVNews.ca in a video interview.
Byce passed away in 1994 and on Sept. 17, 2016, a bronze bust of Byce was unveiled in his hometown of Chapleau, Ont., outside the local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.
Charles Henry Byce passed away in 1994 and on Sept. 17, 2016, a bronze bust of Byce was unveiled in his hometown of Chapleau, Ont., outside the local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.
Charles Henry Byce with two of his fellow soldiers (Byce family)
He earned the Military Medal for his actions during a fighting patrol while crossing the Maas River in the Netherlands in January 1945. His unit snuck across enemy lines in an attempt to capture and interrogate German soldiers. Byce took out several enemy combatants during the mission and managed to capture one. But his unit took enemy fire and the prisoner was killed. Byce, however, stayed behind until he removed the soldier’s identification and brought it back to military headquarters.
Only six weeks later, on March 2, 1945, he went on to earn the Distinguished Conduct Medal, after he single-handedly destroyed an enemy tank near the Hochwald forest in northwest Germany. Byce was forced to assume command after his superiors were killed. When his unit was overrun by enemy soldiers, he told his men to retreat while he acted as a sniper. He remained until his men were safe.
“Not bad for a little Cree boy from Chapleau, Ont.,” Frank Byce, Byce’s other son, said in a CTVNews.ca video interview. Byce enlisted despite his relatively small frame of 5’6” tall and 57 kg weight.
Photo of Charles Henry Byce with one if his closest friends, Popeye Richards. (Byce Family)
Byce’s accomplishments are especially noteworthy because 21 years earlier during the First World War, his non-Indigenous father, Henry, had also earned the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the French Medaille militaire.
Both of Byces’ medals are on display in the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
Photo of the pair of commendations won by Charles Henry Byce and his father. Both men won The Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military Medal.
The brothers explained that it was only in the last few years that they started to learn the extent of what their father accomplished during the Second World War. And it was even more recently when they fully learned what their father had endured and survived while attending St. John's Indian Residential School in Chapleau, Ont.
“My grandmother had seven children and at one time, there were six of them in the residential school,” Frank Byce said.
His father was only five years old when he was forcefully taken from his family. During a Christmas-time visit, Byce’s mother, Louisa, a Cree woman from Moose Factory, Ont., was dismayed when she saw someone had stolen her son’s boots, which had caused his feet to turn black and frozen. No one at the school had replaced them and Byce had to be carried by one of his older brothers.
Charles Henry Byce pictured with his children (Byce Family)
When Byce went on to serve in the military as a young man, he enjoyed freedoms and equality he hadn’t experienced while living in Canada, the Byce brothers said. But when he returned from the war, they said their father still faced many of the same prejudices he’d experienced before he left.
Richard Byce said it was disappointing that people were able to curb their racism while they were fighting alongside Indigenous men, but they hadn’t fought to end the systemic racism after the war.
“Because anybody that came out of that Hochwald Forest came out of there alive because of Charlie Byce.”
Statue of Charles Henry Byce with his sons Frank and Richard standing next to it. (Byce Family)
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
A group of demonstrators were kicked out of the legislature after a second NDP motion calling for unanimous consent to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh failed to pass.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
The U.S. Justice Department announced a US$138.7 million settlement Tuesday with more than 100 people who accused the FBI of grossly mishandling allegations of sexual assault against Larry Nassar in 2015 and 2016, a critical time gap that allowed the sports doctor to continue to prey on victims before his arrest.
A 35-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of Toronto resident 29-year-old Sharmar Powell-Flowers nine months ago has topped the list of the BOLO program’s 25 most wanted fugitives across Canada, police announced Tuesday.
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.
Canadian pet owners are finding companionship beyond dogs and cats. Tigers, alligators, scorpions and tarantulas are among some of the exotic pets they are keeping in private homes, which pose risks to public safety and animal welfare, advocates say.
Police in the U.K. are searching for a group of suspects seen on video using a forklift to steal a cash machine from a bank.
A tower crane operator alerted emergency crews after noticing a fire on a construction site in Halifax Tuesday morning.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.