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Sergeant Samuel Moses "Moe" Hurwitz, DCM, MM, was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, as one of thirteen children, most of whom served in the war. He was the most highly decorated non-commissioned member of the Canadian Grenadier Guards during the Second World War and may have been the most decorated Jewish Canadian soldier of the war. ==Earning the Military Medal== Hurwitz was awarded the Military Medal for extraordinary heroism and leadership in his first major action in France, on the afternoon of August 4, 1944, during the epic Battle for the Falaise Road. Reginald Roy of the Canadian War Museum described it as "one of the most swiftly successful troop actions by Canadian tanks in the entire Normandy Campaign". Moe was then second-in-command of #4 Troop, #3 Squadron of the 22nd Canadian Armoured Regiment (Canadian Grenadier Guards). Although missing one of its usual four Sherman tanks, and without infantry support, the group of 15 Grenadiers assaulted the flank of the main enemy defensive position in front of the village of Cintheaux. In little over ten minutes, they destroyed 11 German anti-tank guns, including six 88's, and forced two others to withdraw. The Grenadiers also killed at least 15 Germans, captured 31 others, and opened a kilometer-wide gap in the German front line, against a loss of only one Guardsman killed and one wounded. The citation which accompanied the Military Medal read as follows: :On August 4, 1944, during the heavy fighting, Sgt Hurwitz, Canadian Armoured Corps, was ordered to cover by fire his troop leader's assault on an enemy position. On arriving at the position it was found necessary to dismount and attack on foot. During the fight a burning enemy self-propelled gun blew up, and killed and wounded a number of men of the troop. Sgt Hurwitz was pinned under a tree by the explosion, but managed to extricate himself, and although burned from the blast and slightly wounded, he picked up a Bren gun and with his officer led the assault on the enemy position. The position which was a strong one and had been holding up the entire squadron, was taken. Thirty-one prisoners were captured, and a number of enemy killed. Sgt Hurwitz displayed a fine degree of leadership and offensive spirit, and by this action was largely responsible for the subsequent capture of the town of Cintheaux itself. Hurwitz was awarded the Military Medal on August 8, 1944. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Moe Hurwitz」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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