Queen Victoria[Bertha Müller/British National Portrait Gallery/Wikimedia]

In 1964, after some eight months of painstaking research for the Defence Department, Canadian Bombardier Kenneth Richardson found what he was looking for. His search had drawn to a close in Cork, Ireland.

Not only had the decades-old scarf been crocheted by the 19-century sovereign in the final years of her life, but it had been gifted to a Canadian veteran for exemplary service in the Boer War. 

Known as the Queen’s Scarf of Honour, it was made from khaki-coloured wool and adorned with the monarch’s “VRI” royal cypher and had once belonged to Richard Rowland Thompson. Born in Cork before emigrating to Ottawa, the Irish medical student answered Canada’s call to arms in 1899.

“The thing we must remember,” said historian and Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) Major Jayson Geroux, “is that the Second Boer War was Canada’s first foreign conflict when we were considered a new, fledgling nation loyal to Britain.”

Thompson was destined to be in the right place at the right time—and with the right spirit—when Canadian forces engaged the Boers at the Battle of Paardeberg on Feb. 18, 1900.

Richard Thompson [LAC/C-016701]

During a charge on enemy positions, Thompson’s comrade, Private James L.H. Bradshaw, had been shot through the neck. In response, Thompson harnessed his medical skills and went to the man’s aid, pressing a bandage against the ruptured jugular for more than seven hours until assistance arrived.

His exploits didn’t end there. On the battle’s last day—Feb. 27—Thompson again disregarded his personal safety to treat another mortally wounded soldier. In the words of his commanding officer, “[He] immediately dropped his rifle, put his pipe in his mouth and coolly walked out…in the face of a hot fire to the assistance of the man who expired just after [Thompson] reached him.”

Queen Victoria, Richard Thompson and his Scarf of Honour, awarded for his actions at the Battle of Paardeberg in February 1900.[CWM/IL1965033-001]

Although the RCR private was unable to save the soldier’s life, he had nevertheless displayed extraordinary courage that warranted recognition.

By April 1900, Queen Victoria had crocheted four woollen scarves with instructions that they be “distributed to the most distinguished soldiers of the Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and South African Forces.” These were followed by four additional scarves awarded to soldiers of British units.

Thompson became the Canadian recipient of the Queen’s Scarf of Honour, which remained a prized possession until his death of acute appendicitis in 1908, aged 31. It subsequently passed to his family who had remained in Cork—where Richardson’s search came to its fruitful end.

By that time, all eight scarves had been the topic of fierce debate following claims that they were equivalent to the Victoria Cross. Documented evidence indicated otherwise, however, and the matter was eventually dropped.

Few, however, could deny their unique prestige. In 1965, Thompson’s Scarf of Honour was permanently loaned to Canada. The royal handcrafted treasure has since been displayed at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

Battle of Paardeberg [Arthur H. Hider/LAC/1983-38-2]