Raphael Louis Zengel was born on 11 November 1894 in Faribault, United States. While he was still very young, he and his mother moved from the United States to a homestead in Saskatchewan. Zengel enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in December 1914. He served overseas with the 5th Infantry Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, taking part in several raids on German trenches. For his role in one of these raids, near Passchendaele in Belgium in 1917, Zengel received the Military Medal.
On 9 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. Zengel died in Vancouver, British Columbia on 27 February 1977.
After the war, Zengel lived in Calgary and joined the Calgary Fire Department in 1919 and served until 1927. He spent most of the rest of his life in Rocky Mountain House where the local Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 8 was named in his honour. He donated his Victoria Cross to the Legion where it is kept in a safety box and a replica along with the rest of his medals are on display. His headstone can be found at Pine Grove Cemetery, Rocky Mountain House, Canada.
