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{{short description|British-Canadian military officer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2022}}
'''Michael George Levy''' (1925 – 4 June 2007) was a British and Canadian military officer.

Levy was born in Bombay (now [[Mumbai]], India) as the oldest of four siblings and raised in [[Shanghai]], where he attended the Shanghai Public School for Boys.<ref name=military>{{cite web|url=https://themilitarymuseums.ca/mmural/101-150/145/m145.html|publisher=The Military Museums|title=Mike Levy|accessdate=2 May 2021}}</ref><ref name=esprit>{{cite web|url=http://espritdecorps.ca/battle-of-kapyong/2016/5/9/the-spirit-of-a-solider|website=Esprit de Corps|author=Jack Bates|title=The Spirit of a Soldier|date=9 May 2016}}</ref> During the [[Second World War]] he was arrested by the Japanese and sent first to [[Pootung Internment Camp]], and subsequently transferred to the [[Lunghua Civil Assembly Centre]]. He escaped from Lunghua with four other internees who made their way on foot and by [[junk (ship)|junk]] to India.<ref name=military/> <ref name=esprit/>

Once in India, he was recruited by the [[Special Operations Executive]] of the [[British Army]], which offered him training in [[guerrilla warfare]] and [[espionage]]. They made him second in command of a Force 136 patrol liaison team with the wartime rank of captain. The team was dropped in the jungles of [[British Malaya|Malaya]] in July 1945. After the Japanese surrender in August 1945 they were "engaged in diffusing hostilities between the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) and collaborators as well as maintaining control of the Japanese and warding off bandits".<ref name=esprit/> He was [[mentioned in despatches]] for bravery. Levy served as an investigator with the [[War Crimes Tribunal]], in which capacity he supervised the repatriation of remains from Shanghai's Hung Jao Road Cemetery to British Hong Kong.<ref name=esprit/>

In 1948 Levy resigned from the British Army and moved to [[Vancouver]], joining [[The Irish Fusiliers of Canada (The Vancouver Regiment)]]. He served in the [[Korean War]] as a lieutenant with the Second Battalion, [[Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry]] (PPCLI).<ref name=esprit/> During the [[Battle of Kapyong]], he ordered an artillery bombardment on his own company's position.<ref name=esprit/> This prevented his company from being overrun by a Chinese attack with far superior forces.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://valourcanada.ca/military-history-library/battle-of-kapyong/|publisher=Valour Canada|accessdate=2 May 2021|title=Battle of Kapyong}}</ref>

His subsequent postings included Germany, Vietnam, and Cyprus, where he was deputy commander of the Canadian peacekeepers. From 1968-69 he attended and graduated from the United States Marine Corps Command And Staff College in Quantico, Virginia. He then served with the Canadian Defence Liaison Staff in Washington, DC, and with the Military Intelligence Directorate at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa. He retired in 1974 at the rank of major.<ref name=esprit/>

He and his wife Marjorie, whom he married in 1951, had four children.<ref name=esprit/> His escape from the Japanese internment camp was featured in the 1992 documentary ''[[Across the Jade Divide]]''.<ref name=esprit/> His military decorations included the [[Defence Medal (United Kingdom)|Defence Medal]], [[War Medal 1939–1945|War Medal]] with [[Mention in Despatches|Oak Leaf]], [[Burma Star]], [[Korea Medal]], [[Volunteer Service Medal]], [[NATO Medal]], [[Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal|Canadian Peacekeeping Medal]], [[United Nations Korea Medal]], [[Canadian Forces' Decoration]], and the [[United States Presidential Unit Citation]].<ref name=esprit/> He was posthumously awarded an Apostle of Peace Medal by the Democratic Republic of Korea in 2017.<ref name=lookout/>

Unlike many of his compatriots, Levy did not receive a [[Military Cross]] for his actions at Kapyong.<ref name=lookout>{{cite web|url=https://www.lookoutnewspaper.com/forgotten-hero-forgotten-war/|website=CFB Esquimalt Lookout|title=A forgotten hero of a forgotten war|date=8 November 2019|author=Peter Mallett}}</ref> Author [[Hub Gray]] later discovered an incident recorded by communications officer Mel Canfield regarding Levy. Canfield wrote that Colonel [[James Riley Stone]] had remarked that he would "not award a medal to a Jew"; this antisemitic prejudice (although Levy did not identify as Jewish) resulted in the award instead going to Captain Wally Mills, who had relayed Levy's coordinates during the battle.<ref name=lookout/><ref name=post/> Stone's comment was shared widely among the PPCLI at the time, causing issues with morale.<ref name=lookout/><ref name=post>{{cite news|author=Dan Bjarnason and Bernie M. Farber|newspaper=The National Post|date=30 November 2018|title=A Canadian war hero you've never heard of, but should have|url=https://nationalpost.com/opinion/a-canadian-war-hero-youve-never-heard-of-but-should-have}}</ref> As a result of Gray's advocacy, in 2004 Levy received a [[grant of arms]]; the motto on his coat of arms was "I have prevailed".<ref name=esprit/><ref name=post/><ref>{{Cite web|publisher=The Office of the Secretary to the Governor General|title=Levy, Michael George [Individual]|url=https://reg.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=375&ShowAll=1|accessdate=11 June 2021}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://archives.ppcli.com/mike-levy-fonds Mike Levy fonds], PPCLI

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Michael George}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Special Operations Executive personnel]]
[[Category:Canadian military personnel of the Korean War]]
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:British emigrants to Canada]]
[[Category:People from Mumbai]]
[[Category:People from Shanghai]]
[[Category:British people in colonial India]]
[[Category:British expatriates in China]]
[[Category:Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry officers]]
[[Category:Irish Fusiliers of Canada (The Vancouver Regiment)]]
[[Category:The Irish Fusiliers of Canada (The Vancouver Regiment) officers]]

Michael George Levy - Revision history

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