Joseph Gregory

Who is Joseph Gregory?

Corporal Joseph Mathew Gregory was a Canadian sniper during both the First and Second World Wars.

Gregory was born at St. Laurent, Manitoba in December 1900, his antecedents including Blackfoot warriors. He concealed his age and at 15 joined the Canadian Overseas Contingent.He served in France and Flanders with the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles, being wounded at Sanctuary Wood in June 1916 and again at Oppy Wood in March 1918. He remained in hospital until September 1918 and invalided home to Canada.

He told friends he developed his talent for sniping as a boy when he hunted in Saskatchewan. He had the use of a camera during his action in World War I and had a large collection of photographs documenting the horror he witnessed.

After his service in France, Gregory settled in Calgary, Alberta with his wife and worked as a labourer. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War, he re-enlisted with the newly formed South Saskatchewan Regiment on 7 September 1939 in Weyburn, Saskatchewan.

Credited with several kills, he participated in the Dieppe Raid, where he lost an eye to a ricocheted bullet. His actions earned him the Military Medal "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the combined attack on Dieppe". Attached to the Battalion Headquarters, Gregory had been deployed four times to find enemy snipers shooting into the headquarters.