Remembering The Gentle Sniper

By Roderick Benns

He remembers the crisp autumn day when a bee found itself trapped inside his grandfather’s house. For a young Jim Coons and his brother, Michael, it was an invitation to chase it down. But their grandfather wouldn’t have it.

“Don’t kill him. He’s just lost his way.”

Instead, the older man calmly propped open the door and the three watched together as the bee eventually found its way back outside. Such was the way of Chief Johnson Paudash, an Aboriginal Canadian leader and one of Canada’s greatest soldiers (pictured far right), who died 55 years ago this fall at the age of 97.

The man they called the ‘gentle sniper’ was a study in contradictions, at least on the surface. Ironic, perhaps, that one of the top snipers of the First World War – fourth in Canada and sixth in the entire Commonwealth of Nations in recorded kills – would protect a solitary bee on its confused journey. And yet maybe there was something of the bee in Paudash, who would only choose to do harm if his queen and country demanded it, for what was believed to be a greater good.

“He was a great man — he was kind to everyone he met,” said Jim Coons, 64, of his grandfather from his home north of Lindsay, Ontario. “I remember him as someone who was very wise and very calm. He didn’t speak often but when he did, we listened.”

Born at Hiawatha, in the Rice Lake area near Peterborough, Paudash would become a First Nations Chief in a long line of well-known Aboriginal leaders from the area. He might never have made it to the war if it wasn’t for another famous area resident, Sir Sam Hughes. The minister of militia in Robert Borden’s war-time government, Hughes was a close friend to Paudash. Recognizing his ability as a marksman, Hughes talked Paudash into joining the 21st battalion of the 4^th brigade and joining the war effort.

Perhaps it was destined all along, for Paudash had an amazing war and battle pedigree, stretching back four generations in some of the most politically significant battles Canada endured.

For instance:

• His father trained to guard against the Fenian raids which had besieged Prime Minister John A. Macdonald’s early term.
• His grandfather trained for the Mackenzie Rebellion in Upper Canada.
• His great grandfather trained and fought in two distinct battles – for the Revolutionary war alongside the British in 1774-75 and then again at the Battle of Chrysler’s Farm — at that time the most serious attempt by the U.S. to invade Canada.
• Still further back, his great-great-great grandfather fought with General James Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham.

For Paudash, then, perhaps his going off to war was simply part of his grand design. During the war Paudash became an invaluable forward observer for the army. He had an unerring talent for slipping perilously close to the enemy trenches without being detected. Often with high ranking generals in his care, they were entrusted to Paudash for tours of the front line in France and Belgium. Paudash was an impressive guide and he carried the responsibility of leading entire battalions into position against Hitler’s forces in Germany.

It wasn’t long before the soft-spoken man with exceptional eyesight and sharp memory was singled out as a prolific sniper, too. Coons remembers his grandfather’s incredible memory.

“Even when he was much older he would tell detailed stories. Not only about the war, but about his people, too,” said Coons.

Paudash was awarded several medals, including the Mons Star (for being part of a unit that came under exceptional fire in a short period of time) and the Allied Medal for service. According to the book ‘The Canadian Indians and The Great World War,’ Paudash was also awarded a medal for “giving information that the enemy was massing at Hill 70 for a counter-attack, which…took place just 25 minutes after Paudash made his report.” His timely warning averted a serious reverse.

The book further notes that “Lance-Corporal Paudash has also been recommended for the Distinguished Conduct Medal in recognition of having saved the life of an officer in the Battle of the Somme.”

After the war, Paudash settled in Lindsay, Ontario and gladly went back to civilian life, serving as a rural mail carrier in the Lindsay area for 25 years before later moving to the Durham region. As well, he began to advocate for the needs of his people in various diplomatic roles.

Perhaps like the lost bee, the gentle sniper had found his way home through some unseen hand.

– Roderick Benns is the publisher of Leaders and Legacies and the author of several books for youth on Canada’s prime ministers, including the award-winning novel ‘The Legends of Lake on the Mountain: An Early Adventure of John A. Macdonald.’

(This article first appeared in Kawartha Lakes This Week, Nov. 2009.)