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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Benoit Bouchard

In memory of:

Private Benoit Bouchard

October 9, 1943
Jelsi, Italy

Military Service


Service Number:

D/57922

Age:

23

Force:

Army

Unit:

Royal 22e Régiment, R.C.I.C.

Citation(s):

1939-1945 Star, Italy Star, Defence Medal, 1939-1945 War Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with bar

Additional Information


Born:

May 22, 1920
St-Marc-du-Lac-Long, Témiscouata, Quebec

Enlistment:

August 28, 1940
Val-d’Or, Abitibi, Quebec

Son of Georges Bouchard and Anne Marie Lemay from Sullivan Mines, Abitibi, Québec ; stepson of Alice Montminy from Sullivan Mines.

Enlisted in the Régiment de Maisonneuve, he left for Great Britain, arriving on 3 March 1941. Transferred to the Royal 22e Régiment on 1 June 1943, he took part in the landing in Sicily, Operation Husky, on 10 July. He also fought at Valguarnera, Catenanuova and Adrano. He landed on the Italian mainland at Reggio. He was killed in action on 9 October 1943 in the hills near Jelsi, Italy. He was buried on the 10th at Gambatesa, Campobasso, near a red house before being exhumed and reburied in the Moro River Cemetery, Ortona, Italy. He had 1,138 days' service, including 965 overseas.

Commemorated on Page 138 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:
Grave Reference:

III. D. 9.

Location:

By the winter of 1943, the German armies in Italy were defending a line stretching from the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Naples, to the Adriatic Sea south of Ortona. The Allies prepared to break through this line to capture Rome. For its part, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division was to cross the Moro River and take Ortona. In January 1944 the Canadian Corps selected this site, intending that it would contain the graves of those who died during the Ortona battle and in the fighting in the weeks before and after it. Today, there are 1,615 graves in the cemetery, of which over 50 are unidentified and 1,375 are Canadian.

The Moro River Canadian War Cemetery lies in the locality of San Donato in the Commune of Ortona, Province of Chieti, and is sited on high ground near the sea just east of the main Adriatic coast road (SS16). The cemetery can be reached from Rome on the autostrada A25 (Rome-Pescara) by branching on the autostrada A14 and leaving it at Ortona. The approach road to the cemetery from the main road passes under an arch forming part of the little church of San Donato. The cemetery is permanently open and may be visited anytime.

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

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