Constable Robert G. McBeath V.C., PC#98

Appointed, August 12th, 1921, Fallen Oct 9th, 1922

From a young age, Robert McBeath showed himself to be a man of great courage. Raised in Sutherland, Scotland by adopted parents, at the age of sixteen McBeath enlisted with the Seaforth Highlanders at the start of the First World War. Three years later, McBeath was awarded the Victoria Cross for outstanding bravery at the Battle of Cambrai, during which he had single-handedly attacked a nest of enemy machine guns and captured three officers and thirty men. 

After the war, McBeath married Barbara MacKay, and together they immigrated to Vancouver, Canada to start a new life. Upon arriving, McBeath joined the BC Police and then the VPD where he was sworn in as Constable on August 12, 1921. 

On October 9th, 1922, while walking the beat on Granville and Davie St., Constable McBeath and his partner Detective Quirk arrested a man by the name of Fred Deal for impaired driving. Deal had been driving recklessly, and only by jumping onto the running boards were the officers able to stop him.

While escorting the prisoner to the nearest call-box, Deal pulled a handgun from his pocket. He shot Quirk in the hand and the shoulder and McBeath in the chest. Both officers were rushed to St. Paul’s hospital, but Mcbeath died shortly after arrival. 

Fred Deal sat trial for the murder, and sentenced to death, later this conviction was repealed and changed to life imprisonment. He served 21 years and was then released/deported to his native Jacksonville, Florida where he died a few years later.