# Victoria Cross missing from museum seized by RCMP



## bossi (6 Apr 2004)

(yah gotta admit - the design is a work of art, unlike some latter day pieces of merde ...)

CBC article (with graphic) 

Victoria Cross missing from museum seized by RCMP 
Last Updated Mon, 05 Apr 2004 19:43:35 
WINNIPEG - The RCMP have seized a missing war medal from an Ontario auction house. 

The Victoria Cross medal was reported missing from the Canadian War Museum more than 30 years ago. It belonged to Filip Konowal, a Ukrainian Canadian, who won a medal for bravery in 1917. 


Courtesy: Vistoriacross.net


The Canadian War Museum purchased the medal in 1969. Four years later it was reported missing. 

Winnipeg MP Inky Mark says he found out on Friday that the medal was up for auction. Mark says the circumstances raise disturbing questions about security: 

"Especially today when we are talking about security of the country as a whole, terrorist activity around the world, and we can‘t even secure what we have under lock and key." 

One of the owners of Jeffrey Hoare Auctions in London has confirmed the medal has been turned over to the RCMP to determine ownership. Exactly how it got to the auction remains a mystery. 

"In this case, it isn‘t clear what the trail was that led the Victoria Cross to Jeffrey Hoare Auctions. Until we know that, we don‘t know if it was stolen, or how it landed in someone else‘s hands," said Mark O‘Neill, who speaks for the Canadian War Museum. 

Those answers aren‘t expected to come any time soon. O‘Neill says the employees who worked at the museum more than 30 years ago are no longer there. Some have died. 

The RCMP says it will take months before they are able to piece together what happened, and when, and how the medal disappeared.


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## LilMissChicky (6 Apr 2004)

Glad it‘s back in good hands


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## LilMissChicky (6 Apr 2004)

Does anyone know if the medal sustained any damages while being into public hands?
And is it gonna go back onto display at the War Museum (Ottawa???) anytime soon? 
Thanks


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## bossi (6 Apr 2004)

Wow - there‘s a LOT more to this story ...
(and, I‘m surprised the auction house didn‘t realise the history of this medal - thank goodness for the RMC prof!)



> Rare medal seized before auction
> Canadian won prestigious Victoria Cross
> 
> Ottawa museum says hero‘s award is missing
> ...


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## Michael OLeary (6 Apr 2004)

KONOWAL, Filip (Page at Victoria Cross Reference)


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## Michael Dorosh (6 Apr 2004)

Konowal was, like many VC winners, no saint.  Falling into near poverty, he was spotted by a fellow GGFG veteran and VC winner and employed as the personal janitor to the Prime Minister‘s personal office.  Quite an interesting story.

The whole discussion of authenticating the VC is a story into itself.  While the problem of reproduction medals was not a problem in the 1850s, there are some excellent copies being made today.  There are allegedly a handpicked few throughout the Commonwealth trained in authenticating VCs via "secret" marks left on the originals.  Don‘t know if that is true or if it will be brought to public light in this case.  There is a discussion of this going on at my own forum right now that has been interesting.


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## mattoigta (6 Apr 2004)

That‘s a pretty interesting story

If anyone here lives in Toronto, you can see a plaque on the wall for Filip Konowal beside the 360 club on Queen St W. (Which is under the Ukrainian Branch of the RCL)


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## bossi (8 Apr 2004)

Would-be seller wants anonymity
CP, Wednesday, Apr. 7, 2004 


London, Ont. -- The person who tried to sell a rare Victoria Cross medal at auction wants to remain anonymous until its disappearance from the Canadian War Museum has been investigated, an auctioneer said yesterday. Wendy Hoare, owner of Jeffrey Hoare Auctions in London, said the person who wanted to put Filip Konowal‘s Victoria Cross up for auction next month "has requested to remain anonymous until the matter is resolved." Hoare refused to say where the person is from or how they obtained the medal reported missing by the war museum in 2001, though it could never prove it had been stolen. The medal has been missing since the 1970s.


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