Tommy Prince

Sergeant Tommy Prince was the most decorated Indigenous soldier of World War II, serving with the legendary 1st Special Service Force — the joint Canadian-American "Devil's Brigade." An Ojibwe from Manitoba, Prince's exceptional skills as a scout and sniper made him invaluable in the Italian campaign. In one famous incident near Anzio, he crawled 200 yards through enemy lines disguised as an Italian farmer to repair a severed telephone wire, then reported enemy positions from within their own lines. He served through the invasion of Southern France and the liberation of the Riviera. After the war, he struggled with discrimination and poverty. Cardiff's Commonwealth heritage project features his story as representing the contribution of Indigenous peoples to Allied victory.