Phil Egan

Dave Thomson has been called a human “medal detector.”

It’s an accurate moniker for a man who has, to date, recovered and returned an estimated 800 medals from E-Bay and other auction sites to family members, museums, historical societies, legion halls and military regiments.

This fall he brought his campaign to Sarnia.

Thomson, who has been recognized by Veterans Affairs Canada for his work, spotted a Canadian Memorial Cross on eBay. The medal, also known as the Silver Cross, is presented to the next-of-kin of soldiers who fall on active duty.

The medal was presented in 1943 to the young wife of John Henry Northcott following his tragic and accidental death in England.

Information about Northcott is available on the Sarnia Historical Society website, thanks to the indefatigable research of Sarnia military historian Tom Slater. The author of the Sarnia War Remembrance Project has poured years of research into publishing the definitive history of the city’s fallen soldiers.

Thomson found Northcott’s name, made the connection to Sarnia, and contacted the Sarnia Historical Society.

When informed the eBay price to bring the Silver Cross back to Sarnia was $260, society president Ron RealeSmith didn’t hesitate. “Make the purchase,” he told Thomson.

“This is why the Sarnia Historical Society exists,” RealeSmith said. “We see it as our critical duty to bring these sacred artifacts home.”

“John Henry Northcott was born on April 17, 1921,” according to Slater’s research, “the son of Jack Northcott and Iva Luxton Northcott.” A truck driver, he married Johanna, a woman from Sudbury.

He signed up in Sarnia five days after war was declared and joined the Royal Canadian Engineers 11th Field Company, with the rank of Sapper. He did his training at Camp Petawawa before being shipped overseas.

John Northcott lost his life in England on May 2, 1943. While on weekend leave in London, he was struck by an electric tube train, the last one of the night. In inquest determined his death was entirely accidental.

Slater, who has spent the past five years researching and updating the history of Sarnia’s fallen soldiers, plans to add a photograph of the Northcott Silver Cross to the material. Northcott’s entry has grown substantially since the War Remembrance Project’s was first published in 2014.

The Sarnia Historical Society plans to put the Silver Cross on display at its November public meeting.