A/Sgt Skippon, 7th Fd Coy, Military Medal

Military Medal GVIR
Contexte 

Earl Kitchener Skippon was born in 1915 and was living in Toronto when he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Engineers on 3 September 1939.  He was a truck driver at the time and had earlier served in the Mississauga Horse from October 1931 to October 1935.
At some point when A/Sgt Skippon was in England with the 2nd Fd Coy, he was posted to 2 Canadian Field Security Section with whom he embarked for the Dieppe Raid on Landing Craft 8. The section comprised one officer and seven other ranks.

Field Security Sections would later become the Canadian Intelligence Corps formed in October 1942. During the Dieppe Raid, they were all arms units with a mix of experienced NCOs, primarily from the artillery and engineers, who could collect, collate, analyse and disseminate intelligence. During the Dieppe raid, many of these men would have been assigned specific intelligence gathering tasks requiring them to land and, under the protection of infantry, move to the designated target and complete their tasks.

We have not been able to determine what A/Sgt Skippon would have done had he been able to get off the beach.  Unfortunately, his landing craft was unable to land and came under heavy fire. It was his action during that time that won him a Military Medal as explained in the citation below.

Earl Skippon continued to serve in the Canadian Army after the war reaching the rank of Warrant Officer in the Canadian Intelligence Corps.  He died in Midale, SK on 22 March 1983 at the age of 69 years.

Citation 

Acting Sergeant Skippon was in Tank Landing Craft Number 8 during the operations at Dieppe, 19 August 1942. At one point this craft came under heavy enemy fire. Hydrogen cylinders carried on board were struck and set on fire by an enemy shell. Acting Sergeant Skippon with some assistance wrapped his blanket around one of the cylinders and despite the continued enemy machine gun and shell fire managed to drop it overboard. During the remainder of the action this Non-Commissioned Officer worked without regard to enemy fire caring for the wounded and dying. Acting Sergeant Skippon's coolness and disregard for his personal safety saved numerous lives.