Private Masumi Mitsui
PERSONAL INFORMATION
MILITARY INFORMATION
- Private, 10th Battalion, Infantry (Army).
- Private (Army).
Military Medal (Hill 70)
Description: From the regimental diary:
On 15/8/17, this soldier, when in command of the Japanese section of the Battalion, showed marked ability and efficiency in leading his men. On 16/8/17, he led his section into the attack on the CHALK PIT. During the attack all the LEWIS GUN crew of his platoon became causalities. Seeing this he salvaged the gun and ammunition and put the gun into action, causing many enemy casualties. He afterward did excellent work in mopping up and assisting the wounded.
Date of award: 1917-11-19
Date of award: 1917-08-15
Source: London Gazette
RESEARCH INFORMATION
The Legacy Voices Project.
Miliatry File digitized at Library and Archives Canada http://data2.collectionscanada.gc.ca/cef/6001-7000/6268-49.pdf
Private (promoted to Sergeant by the end of the war) Mitsui won the Military Medal for gallantry at Hill 70, one of 2 Japanese-Canadians (Tokutaro Iwamoto being the other) to win the MM with the 10th (both at Hill 70).
From Gallant Canadians, Daniel G. Dancocks Page 132:
"Mitsui, a Japanese-born resident of British Colombia, ended the war as a Sergeant. Returning to Canada after the conflict, he was active in the canadian Legion and led a successful effort, in 1931, to amend B.C.'s election Act to give Japanese-Canadian veterens the right to vote. He endured, with thousands of other Japanese-Canadians and their families, the humiliation of internment during World War II. It was doubly degrading for Mitsui, in view of his distinguished record with the Tenth Battalion in World War I on behalf of his adopted country. Mitsui's successful poultry farm near Port Coquitlam was confiscated and his family lost all their possessions. Before he was taken to the internment camp, an angry Mitsui threw his medals at the feet of the inducting officer and shouted, "What good are these?" The bitterness of that moment remained with Sergeant Mitsui until his death in Hamilton in 1987, at the ripe old age of 100. "
The Legacy Voices Project. Japanese and Japanese Canadians in the CEF Reference info provided by Japanese Canadian Association 6 Garamond
Selected for inclusion in The Lest We Forget Project
Name: MITSUI, MASUMI Regimental number(s): 898559Reference: RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 6268 - 49Date of Birth: 07/10/1886Attestation paper: Front of form - Back of formDigitized file: 6268-49.pdf [Private Army Canadian Infantry 192nd Battalion Private Army Canadian Infantry 10th Battalion Military Medal Hill 70 From the regimental diary:
On 15/8/17, this soldier, when in command of the Japanese section of the Battalion, showed marked ability and efficiency in leading his men. On 16/8/17, he led his section into the attack on the CHALK PIT. During the attack all the LEWIS GUN crew of his platoon became causalities. Seeing this he salvaged the gun and ammunition and put the gun into action, causing many enemy casualties. He afterward did excellent work in mopping up and assisting the wounded. ]