b. 11/11/1894 Faribault, Minnesota, USA. d. 27/02/1977 Errington, BC, Canada.
Raphael Louis Zengel (1894-1977), known as Ray, was born on 11th November 1894 at Faribault, Minnesota, USA. His father, Luitpold “Louis” Zengel was born in Bavaria, and arrived in New York with his sister Eva on 19th May 1869. He married Mary “Minnie” Julia Payant, born in Minnesota. Ray gave her second name as Jane when he enlisted. Ray had six siblings.
Nothing is known about his schooling, and he was working on a farm near Virden, Manitoba, Canada in 1914. He enlisted on 19th December 1914, attested on 7th January 1915 at Virden, Manitoba and was assigned to 45th Battalion. He sailed for England on 1st June 1915 and was posted to Shorncliffe Camp, Kent, where he transferred to 9th Reserve Battalion on 16th July. On 18th July he sailed for France where he joined 5th Battalion. On 27th September 1916 he received a severe gunshot wound which fractured his jaw at Thiepval, Somme. He was evacuated to England and had to undergo an operation to remove three pieces of dead bone in January 1917. He did not return to duty until 18th May, and returned to France on 20th June 1917.
He was awarded the Military Medal for taking part in several trench raids including at Passchendaele, Belgium on 11th November 1917.
Raphael L Zengel VC MM
On 9th August 1918, Sergeant Zengel was leading his platoon forward during the second day of the massive Allied offensive against the German lines around Amiens, in France. When he noticed a gap on the flank of his platoon and an enemy machine gun firing on the advancing Canadians at close range, he quickly decided to deal with the machine gun position himself. Rushing 200 metres ahead of his platoon, Zengel charged the German emplacement, killing two of the machine gun’s crew and compelling the rest to flee. Later that day, when the progress of the 5th Battalion was blocked by heavy machine gun fire, he demonstrated great tactical skill in directing the fire of his platoon to eliminate the enemy resistance. Sergeant Zengel’s courage, leadership and disregard for his own safety inspired his men, and were important factors in enabling the advance to continue. For his conduct on this day, he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
The VC was gazetted on 27th September 1918. He received his medal from King George V at Buckingham Palace on 13th December 1918. After the war, Zengel lived in Calgary, Alberta, where he joined the Calgary Fire Department in 1919 and served until 1927. He married Veronica Margaret Elaine Lemieux at Calgary in 1921. They moved to Rocky Mountain House, Alberta soon afterwards.
In 1936, the government of Canada chose to name a lake in northeastern Saskatchewan in Zengel’s honour. Inexplicably, the feature became Zengle Lake, and so it remains today. In 1951, one of the mountains of the Victoria Cross Range, in Jasper National Park, was named in his honour. Mount Zengel is visible from Highway 16, east of Jasper, Alberta. Ray and his wife attended the VC Dinner at the House of Lord, London on 9th November 1929. He did enlist during World War II and served as a Regimental Sergeant Major of the Field Experimental Station, Suffield, Alberta. In 1956, he attended the VC Centenary Celebrations in Hyde Park. Sadly, Veronica died in 1965, and Ray remarried the following year to a lady named Myrtle.
He was a life member of the Royal Canadian Legion and in 1975 was appointed an honorary president. He died at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, Vancouver Island on 27th February 1977 and was buried in Pine Cemetery, Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. He is commemorated with RL Zengel VC Legion Park in Rocky Mountain House, a plaque at his homestead, a monument outside Pine Cemetery, and with Mount Zengel in Jasper National Park. He is also named on the VC obelisk in Barrie, Ontario and on Plaque No 18 at the York Cemetery VC Memorial in Toronto. He also has a VC commemorative stone placed at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire.
In addition to his VC and MM, he was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal 1914-20, Victory Medal 1914-19, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal 1939-45 (no clasp), War Medal 1939-45, George VI Coronation Medal 1937, Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 1953 and Canadian Centennial Medal 1967. He donated his medals to the Royal Canadian Legion RL Zengel VC Branch No 8, Rocky Mountain House, Alberta on 10th April 1972. They are still displayed there.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE LEGION, ALBERTA, CANADA.
BURIAL PLACE: PINE CEMETERY, ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE, ALBERTA, CANADA.
Acknowledgement:
Bill Mullen – Image of Zengel VC Grave in Pine Cemetery, Rocky Mountain House, Alberta.