Desmond Gerald Crofton NBL was born at Ganges, British Columbia, son of Alfred and Nona Crofton.

In Eastern Holland to the east of Nijmegen and close to the border of Germany, at places where the Rhine River runs almost east to west, the 1st Battalion, Canadian Scottish Regiment, under Lieutenant Colonel Desmond Crofton took its full share of patrolling and gathering information in the flooded Nijmegen area from November 1944 to February 1945.

Crofton prepared and briefed the battalion for its role in the big push of 8 February 1945. The operation was extremely difficult, being chiefly waterborne; all units using caterpillar tracked amphibious "Buffalo" vehicles, departed successfully. During the night of February 8-9, Battalion units had no information on forward units, so Crofton went forward to investigate.

At approximately 0400 hours, Crofton’s party had reached the town of Niel and made no contact with the units in question. Realizing that daylight was approaching, he decided to move into shelter in a group of buildings with his staff. On reaching these buildings, enemy fire poured on his small party, wounding the commanding officer, intelligence officer and some of the staff.

Although seriously wounded, Crofton continued in his endeavour to reach his men and to control his small party. Unfortunately, his wounds were so severe that he had to drag himself to the shelter of a tiny building, instructing others to reach their line to the rear. Crofton remained seriously wounded in an exposed position for 12 hours, when he was finally evacuated by the Medical Officer.

Throughout the actions in Holland, Crofton’s fearless leadership, gallantry and devotion to duty were an inspiration to all ranks. For this action and others on the Leopold Canal and in the Breskins Pocket, Crofton was awarded the Netherlands Bronze Lion.