Military service
Burial/memorial information
Baptized Joseph François Xavier Rolland Gosselin. Son of Joseph Gosselin and Albertine Drapeau, of Lac-Frontière, Montmagny, Québec.
When he enlisted with the Voltigeurs de Québec, he stated that he was born in 1922. On July 21, 1943, he embarked for Great Britain and landed in Greenock, Scotland, on the 28th. On February 17, 1944, he boarded a troop transport that set sail for Italy with Force M on the 18th. On the 19th, he was transferred to the Royal 22nd Regiment. He landed on the Italian mainland on March 3 and joined his new unit on April 7. On May 17, he was seriously wounded in combat by shrapnel to the abdomen during the Battle of Pignataro, near Cassino. On the day of his death, he was awarded the Good Conduct Badge. He died on May 18, 1944, and was temporarily buried in Pignataro. Around December 14 of that year, his body was exhumed and reburied in the cemetery in Cassino. He had served 850 days, including 302 days overseas.
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 319 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.
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CASSINO WAR CEMETERY Italy
CASSINO WAR CEMETERY lies in the Commune of Cassino, Province of Frosinone, 139 kilometres south-east of Rome. It is situated in the valley of the River Liri immediately below the southern spurs of the central Apennines. Above it at a distance of one kilometre is the dominating hill on which stands the Abbey of Monte Cassino, founded by St. Benedict in the year 529 on the site of an ancient temple of Apollo.
If approaching the CASSINO WAR CEMETERY by road, follow the Highway A2 from Rome to Naples and leave it at the Cassino exit. After passing the pay booths, follow the sign for Cassino. At the traffic lights, after a block of flats, turn right towards the locality of S. Angelo and the CWGC signs will then be seen.
For more information, visit Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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