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Tommy Prince Facts & Worksheets

Tommy Prince was an Indigenous Canadian war hero who served in World War II and the Korean War.

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Tommy Prince was an Indigenous Canadian war hero who served in World War II and the Korean War. He was one of Canada’s most decorated Indigenous soldiers and an expert in reconnaissance. Prince also fought for the improvement of the lives of Native peoples in Canada.

See the fact file below for more information on the Tommy Prince or alternatively, you can download our 25-page Tommy Prince worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY

  • Thomas George Prince was born on October 25, 1915, in a canvas tent in Petersfield, Manitoba.
  • He was one of the 11 children of Harry and Elizabeth Prince. Harry was a hunter and a trapper, a skill that he passed to his son, Tommy, and which would benefit him later in life.
  • He was the great-great-grandson of the Saulteaux chief, Peguis, who led his nation from Sault Ste Marie to the southern end of Lake Winnipeg in the late 1790s.
  • Prince was a product of the residential school system, the Elkhorn Residential School, which he attended until eighth grade.
  • He became a tree feller and undertook manual labor jobs. He was just a teenager when he tried to enter the Canadian Army.

WORLD WAR II

  • The Canadian Army turned down Prince’s application several times. At the time, indigenous people faced widespread discrimination. Prince finally joined them on June 3, 1940, and was assigned to the 1st Field Park Company of the Royal Canadian Engineers.
  • After two years, he became a sergeant with the Canadian Parachute Battalion and joined the 1st Canadian Service Battalion. It was merged with an elite American unit calling it the “1st Special Service Force”.
  • Later on, the Germans identified the force as the “Devil’s Brigade.”
  • The Battalion consisted of 1600 men who possessed varying specialist skills. The force was meant to be a parachute unit that would land behind enemy lines and sabotage their installations.
  • However, the special force explored the area to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Prince became one of the distinguished members.
  • On February 8, 1941, a few months after the force was assigned to Italy, Prince was sent forward to report several German assembly points and artillery positions.
  • He disguised himself as a farmer for three days and reported to the special forces from an abandoned farmhouse about 200 meters (660 ft) from the German assembly area. He was able to communicate the location of the enemy’s emplacements through a 1400 telephone wire.
  • The allies attempted to attack out the guns, as reported by Prince, which led to a duel that cut the telephone lines. He tried to locate the damaged wires, pretending to be a scared farmer as he was in full view of German soldiers. When he found the severed lines, he bowed down as if he was tying his shoe and rejoined the wires.
  • He returned to his lookout spot and continued his reports. In 24 hours, four German batteries collapsed. Prince was awarded a Military Medal because of this with a citation that read, “Sergeant Prince’s courage and utter disregard for personal safety were an inspiration to his fellows and a marked credit to his unit.“
  • After Italy, the special force moved to southern France to be part of Operation Dragoon. On September 1, 1944, Prince and a private were ordered to move forward into German lines and scout their positions near L’Escarène.
  • They discovered an encampment area of an enemy reserve battalion. On their way back to report, they encountered a battle of some Germans and a squad of French Partisans. They started sniping Germans until they eventually withdrew.
  • They continued their journey back to their unit. Prince led the team back to the encampment. They were able to capture about 1000 men, an entire German Battalion. This mission in L’Escarène had Prince without food, water, or sleep for 72 hours. He also had to endure walking in rugged, mountainous terrain. He was endorsed to receive the American Silver Star afterward.
  • The 1st Special Service Force was disbanded with the US forces. Prince returned to the UK, where King George presented him with his Military Medal (MM) at Buckingham Palace on February 12, 1945.
  • He also received his Silver Star from US Brigadier-General E.F. Koenig on behalf of the US president on April 24, 1945.
  • From 1939–1945, Prince received the Italy Start, France, and Germany Star, the Defence Medal, the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, and the War Medal. He returned to Canada after he was honorably discharged on June 15, 1945.

AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR

  • Prince received some funding from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, which he used to start a cleaning business in Winnipeg. Around this time, he married Verna Sinclair, with whom he had five children.
  • Prince suffered discrimination from the Canadian government because of his indigenous roots. He was denied the right to vote despite his wartime service and did not get the same benefits as other Canadian veterans.
  • He left his business in the hands of friends so he could serve as a spokesman, and eventually chairman, for the Manitoba Indian Association, to advocate for the improvement of the Native people’s condition. The effort had resulted in a very slight betterment of their lives.
  • He returned to Winnipeg and discovered that the business he entrusted to his friends failed in his absence. Prince worked in lumber camps and concrete factories to feed his family.

KOREAN WAR

  • In August 1950, Prince enlisted himself in the Canadian Army to fight with the United Nations in the Korean War. He was reinstated to his previous rank as a sergeant and became a member of the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (2 PPCLI). He once stated, “As soon as I put on my uniform, I felt a better man.”
  • The Patricia’s were the first Canadian Unit to land in Korea. He was second-in-command of his rifle platoon and eventually led an eight-man evening “snatch patrol” into an enemy encampment. They successfully captured two machine guns. Prince conducted several more raids. As these raids risked the lives of his soldiers, his CO stopped assigning him patrols.
  • The 2 PPCLI was the first Canadian Unit awarded the United States Presidential Unit Citation for their extraordinary service in the Battle of Kapyong on April 24–25, 1951, where Prince was present.
  • During this time, Prince was already enduring the effects of his wartime duty as his knees had started to have painful swelling and premature arthritis. He was hospitalized, and his medical reports in May 1951 resulted in putting him on administrative duties and returned to Canada.
  • In March 1952, Prince’s knees had improved. He volunteered for a second tour of duty and became a part of the 3rd Battalion PPCLI in October. On November 18, the battalion was called to defend the rear of the UN forces. The PPCLI was successful, but Prince got injured again and spent weeks in hospital.
  • Prince won Korean, Canadian Volunteer Service, and United Nations Service medals for his two tours of duty in the Korean War. He remained in the army when he returned to Canada, serving at Winnipeg’s personnel depot. He was honorably discharged in September 1954.

CIVILIAN LIFE

  • After his outstanding services in the army, civilian life had been hard for him. His aching knees made his capabilities limited, and the discrimination against Native people made his life increasingly difficult. He turned to alcohol to numb the physical and emotional pain.
  • Prince made news when he saved a man from drowning at the Alexander Docks in Winnipeg, but after that his life got back to normal. His alcoholism overtook him, which caused estrangement from his family. He spent his life virtually alone, living in a Salvation Army Hostel. He sold off his medals to support himself.
  • During an interview, his family talked about how Prince’s worst experiences in Korea stayed with him. They also wondered how different it would be if their father had not kept his demons to himself and talked about it with them.
  • Prince died in 1977 at Winnipeg’s Deer Lodge Center. Since his passing, numerous honors were given to him, including naming schools, buildings, roads, and awards after him.
  • In June 2020, several Conservative Party of Canada Members of Parliament started a petition to have Prince’s face displayed on the Canadian $5 bill.

Tommy Prince Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Tommy Prince across 25 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Tommy Prince worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Tommy Prince who was an Indigenous Canadian war hero who served in World War II and the Korean War. He was one of Canada’s most decorated Indigenous soldiers and an expert in reconnaissance. Prince also fought for the improvement of the lives of Native peoples in Canada.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Tommy Prince Facts
  • Prince’s Profile
  • Master of Surveillance
  • Problems of Prince
  • His Heroic Acts
  • The Sergeant’s Infantry
  • Prince’s Inquiry
  • Military Achievements
  • Food or Medals
  • The Aftermath of Wars
  • A Hero on a Dollar

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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