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Leo Major: The Canadian Sniper Who Captured 93 Germans on His Own
Description
He lost an eye at Normandy and refused to go home. He broke his back and carried on. He captured 93 German soldiers on his own. And then, in April 1945, he liberated an entire Dutch city single-handedly by running around it all night with a machine gun and a bag of grenades, convincing the Germans they were surrounded.
In this episode, Johnny Vaughan and Gavin "The Woodman" Woods take on Leo Major, the French-Canadian scout and sniper who treated his own safety as an optional extra, and became one of only a handful of Canadians ever awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal twice.
What You'll Hear in This Episode:
👁️ He lost an eye and stayed anyway – hit in the face by a phosphorus grenade days after landing on Juno Beach, doctors wanted to send him home. He pointed out he only needed one eye to fire a rifle
🪖 93 prisoners, one man – how a single Canadian scout captured two German soldiers, marched them to their own commanding officer, and ended up with an entire company surrendering to him
🎖️ The medal he allegedly refused – the story goes he turned down a decoration because he didn't think Montgomery deserved the respect of a salute
🦴 A broken back, then back to work – a landmine killed the chaplain and driver beside him and threw him through the air. Thirty miles to a field hospital, morphine every fifteen minutes
🔥 The liberation of Zwolle – after his friend Willie Arsenault was killed, Major spent an entire night alone faking a full-scale invasion, organised the Dutch Resistance, burned down the Gestapo HQ, and by dawn the Germans had gone. The city named a street after him
🇰🇷 Korea in running shoes – he goes back for another war, slips 18 men through the Chinese lines in plimsolls, takes a hill, and then refuses an order to retreat for three days
If you love World War 2 stories, war heroes, military legends and unbelievable true stories, this episode of Bloomin' Legends is for you.
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Produced by Ben Fairclough
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