KONOWAL - Victoria Cross Hero

By Andrew Gregorovich

Every year on Remembrance Day in November, the Ukrainian community remembers Filip Konowal at the commemoration held at Ukrainian Canadian Memorial Park in Toronto.

Among the 10,000 Ukrainian Canadians who joined the Canadian army in World War I was Filip Konowal (1887-1959). He was a modest man of short stature. He had come to Ottawa in 1913, and in July 1915, he volunteered to the Canadian army. Filip Konowal was assigned to the 4th Infantry Brigade and soon found himself in France, in the front line trenches on Vimy Ridge.

  Although thousands of Ukrainians joined the Canadian army, because most Ukrainian Canadians had come from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they were classified as “Enemy Aliens.” Over 5,000 were incarcerated in 24 concentration camps across Canada, 1914-1920.

On August 11, 1917, a foggy, rainy day on Vimy Ridge, the German enemy army unleashed a furious barrage of artillery and machine gun fire in which all the officers and sergeants of Konowal’s company were killed. Corporal Konowal ordered the rest of his men to take cover and alone attacked a German machine gun nest. His men thought he had gone mad but Konowal eluded the hail of bullets, reached the machine gun nest and killed three German soldiers with his bayonet. Six more Germans advanced to attack Konowal but he managed with two grenades and a bayonet to kill all six.

One more machine gun nest remained nearby and the short Ukrainian Canadian attacked it single handed and killed three soldiers. He then captured three other German soldiers and marched them back to Canadian lines with an enemy machine gun under his arm. Later in the day, he attacked another German machine gun nest but was captured and tied. He managed to free himself, kill his guard (which made a total of at least 16 killed) and return to his company. Having survived virtually unscratched in all his furious attacks, Corporal Konowal was standing in a Canadian trench reporting to a new commanding officer when he was hit by a German bullet and seriously wounded. He spent six weeks recuperating in a military hospital in England.

“For most conspicuous bravery and leadership” Filip Konowal on October 15, 1917, was awarded the Victoria Cross by King George V at Buckingham Palace. The King said to the newly promoted Sergeant Konowal: “Your exploit is one of the most daring and heroic in the history of my army. For this, accept my thanks.”

Filip Konowal’s heroism symbolized the patriotism of Ukrainian Canadians towards Canada. The famous official portrait painting of Konowal by Ambrose McEvoy hangs in the National Gallery of Canada. Canada’s War Museum in Ottawa has a prominent Konowal exhibit.       

It is fitting that a Victoria Cross medal was worn by a Ukrainian because it was made from the bronze metal of a cannon captured by the British army during the Crimean War (1854-56). All the Victoria Cross medals are made from the bronze of cannons captured in Crimea, Ukraine. Queen Victoria also presented as a gift to Ontario two of these cannons, and they are now located in front of the Ontario Provincial Parliament, Queen’s Park in Toronto.

A bust of Konowal by sculptor Petro Kulyk was unveiled in his birthplace, Kudkiv, Ukraine, on August 21, 2000. It was sponsored by Ukrainian Branch 360 of the Royal Canadian Legion. On August 22, 2005, Filip Konowal was honoured with a trilingual bronze plaque near Vimy Ridge in Lens, France.

The Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force was organized in March 1918 and among the first soldiers selected was Sergeant Konowal V.C. The Force was assembled in England, crossed the Atlantic and Canada and left Vancouver on a Japanese ship for Vladivostok. The eastern area of Siberia was heavily populated by Ukrainian colonies. About 100 Ukrainian Canadians served in the Force which had a confrontation with the Russian Bolsheviks in Shtovkovz near Vladivostok, but saw no action.

Among the Canadian soldiers was Vasil Engelhardt, who was a descendant of the landlord who had owned Taras Shevchenko when he was a serf. Shevchenko became the greatest poet of Ukraine. The Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force was demobilized in April 1919 and Canada’s Siberian adventure came to an end. One of the awards given in the war was the Meritorious Service Medal to Private Basil Shvets, a Ukrainian from Toronto.

A notable Ukrainian unit in World War I was the Ruthenian Forestry Company MD13. These Ukrainian woodsmen were widely known for their contribution to the war. Among the Ukrainian soldiers was Captain John Ovsianitzky who was the only Orthodox Chaplain in the Canadian Army. He volunteered in September 1915 and was posted in England.

SOURCES: 1) Victoria Cross Hero Philip Konoval, by Andrew Gregorovich, Forum no. 73, 1988. 2) Victoria Cross: The Crimean War and its Connections to Ukraine, by Andrew Gregorovich, Forum no. 110, 2005. 3) Konowal: A Canadian Hero, by L.Y. Luciuk & R. Sorobey, Kingston 2000, 18 p.

PHOTOS

1 - Portrait of Sergeant Filip Konowal by Ambrose McEvoy

2 - Trilingual plaque honouring Corporal Filip Konowal near Vimy Ridge, Lens, France