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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Alexandre Laviolette

In memory of:

Lieutenant Alexandre Laviolette

April 9, 1917
Vimy, France

Military Service


Age:

22

Force:

Army

Unit:

Canadian Infantry (Quebec Regiment)

Division:

42nd Bn.

Additional Information


Born:

March 11, 1895
Montréal (St-Jacques), Quebec

Enlistment:

September 27, 1915
Valcartier, Quebec

Baptized Joseph-Rodolphe-Alexandre-Arthur Laviolette. Son of Dumont Laviolette (deceased in 1906) and Mary-Anna McDonald of Montréal, Québec.

He had served three months at the front as an officer with the 22nd Battalion and had been expelled by a court martial due to alcohol abuse. He immediately re-enrolled as a private and made amends a month and a half later at Vimy with the 42nd Battalion, where he died. A year later, in recognition of his exemplary behavior since reenlisting, his was granted a pardon and he was reinstated posthumously to his former rank of lieutenant.

Brother of Major Lambert-Dumont Laviolette, who was severely wounded while serving with the Canadian Infantry (Quebec Regiment) during the assault on Regina Trench near Courcelette and died of wounds one year later in Canada.

Commemorated on Page 272 of the First World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:

VIMY MEMORIAL
Pas de Calais, France

Grave Reference:

N/A

Location:

Canada's most impressive tribute overseas to those Canadians who fought and gave their lives in the First World War is the majestic and inspiring Vimy Memorial, which overlooks the Douai Plain from the highest point of Vimy Ridge, about eight kilometres northeast of Arras on the N17 towards Lens. The Memorial is signposted from this road to the left, just before you enter the village of Vimy from the south. The memorial itself is someway inside the memorial park, but again it is well signposted. At the base of the memorial, these words appear in French and in English:

TO THE VALOUR OF THEIR COUNTRYMEN IN THE GREAT WAR AND IN MEMORY OF THEIR SIXTY THOUSAND DEAD THIS MONUMENT IS RAISED BY THE PEOPLE OF CANADA


Inscribed on the ramparts of the Vimy Memorial are the names of over 11,000 Canadian soldiers who were posted as 'missing, presumed dead' in France. A plaque at the entrance to the memorial states that the land for the battlefield park, 91.18 hectares in extent, was 'the free gift in perpetuity of the French nation to the people of Canada'. Construction of the massive work began in 1925, and 11 years later, on July 26, 1936, the monument was unveiled by King Edward VIII. The park surrounding the Vimy Memorial was created by horticultural experts. Canadian trees and shrubs were planted in great masses to resemble the woods and forests of Canada. Wooded parklands surround the grassy slopes of the approaches around the Vimy Memorial. Trenches and tunnels have been restored and preserved and the visitor can picture the magnitude of the task that faced the Canadian Corps on that distant dawn when history was made. On April 3, 2003, the Government of Canada designated April 9th of each year as a national day of remembrance of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

Send us your images

  • Newspaper clipping– From the Montreal Star c.1917. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Photo of Alexandre Laviolette
  • Memorial
  • Memorial
  • Vimy Memorial– Canada's Vimy Memorial, located approximately 8 kilometres to the north-east of Arras, France. May the sacrifice of so many never be forgotten. (J. Stephens)
  • Inscription– His name as it is inscribed on the Vimy Memorial. Over 11,000 fallen Canadians having no known place of burial in France, are honoured on this Memorial. May they never be forgotten. (J. Stephens)

Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial

To learn more please visit our help page. If you have questions or comments regarding the information contained in this registry, email or call us. For inquiries regarding the names and information found in the RCMP Honour Roll, please email the RCMP.

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