James Riley Stone

James Riley Stone CM DSO & Two Bars MC CD (2 August 1908 – 24 November 2005)[1] was a Canadian soldier and military commander.[2]

James Riley Stone
Born	(1908-08-02)August 2, 1908 Winterbourne, Gloucestershire, UK
Died	November 24, 2005(2005-11-24) (aged 97) Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Service/branch	Canadian Army
Years of service	1939–1968
Rank	Colonel
Unit	The Loyal Edmonton Regiment
Commands held	The Loyal Edmonton Regiment Rocky Mountain Rangers 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Canadian Provost Corps
Battles/wars	Second World War Allied invasion of Sicily Italian campaign (World War II) Netherlands campaign Korean War Battle of Kapyong

Born in Winterbourne, Gloucestershire, he enlisted in the Loyal Edmonton Regiment in 1939 and fought in the Second World War, rising from the rank of private to lieutenant colonel. Stone won the Military Cross at the Battle of Ortona in Italy in 1943, one of the toughest battles of WWII, when as a major and company commander he single-handedly and on foot assaulted a German anti-tank gun that was blocking his company's advance and silenced it with a grenade.[3] As his battalion's commanding officer, he won a DSO at the Battle of Fortunato in Italy in 1944, where his actions hauling heavy guns up a steep mountain caused the German Gothic Line to withdraw from a strategic position. He was awarded a bar to his DSO in the Netherlands for actions against well-entrenched German forces in March 1945.

After returning to British Columbia during the post-war years, he commanded the Rocky Mountain Rangers, a unit of the Canadian Army Reserve.

During the Korean War, he was personally chosen to command the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.[1] He led the 700 men of this battalion in defence of the strategic Hill 677 against the fierce assault by a full division of about 20,000 soldiers of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army during the Battle of Kapyong in April 1951.[4][5][6] The UN position on Hill 677 prevented the enemy from breaking through to Seoul and potentially surrounding the U.S. forces in Korea. He received a second bar to his DSO for his leadership in this famous battle together with other actions during the 1951 year.

In December 2016, the Government of South Korea's Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs designated Stone posthumously as an official Korean War Hero. The citation stated "with their victory in the Battle of Gapyeong (Kapyong), Stone and his soldiers are remembered as the Legends of Gapyeong to this day."[7]

After the war, while serving in Ottawa as the Provost Marshal in command of the Canadian Provost Corps, he founded the Military Police Fund for Blind Children. He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1994.[4][8]