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In memory of:

Sergeant Réal Fortier

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Citation(s);

1939-1945 Star
Italy Star
War Medal 1939-1945
Canadian Volunteer Service Medal

Military service

Service number: E/23385
Age: 25
Rank: Sergeant
Force: Army
Unit/Regiment: Royal 22e Régiment, R.C.I.C.
Birth: December 1, 1918 Montmagny, Québec
Enlistment: August 26, 1939 Camp Valcartier, Québec
Death: January 7, 1944 San Vito, Italy

Burial/memorial information

MORO RIVER CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY
Grave reference: IX. E. 12.
Additional information

Baptized Joseph Réal Lucien Fortier, Son of Alfred Freddy Fortier and Éva Fournier of Montmagny, Québec. His brother, Private Roland Fortier, serial number E-14996, was also wounded in combat in Italy while serving with the Royal 22nd Regiment.

He served with the Voltigeurs de Québec-NPAM from June 27 to July 8, 1937, serial number 809, at Camp Valcartier north of Quebec City, Quebec. On August 26, 1939, he transferred to the regular forces of the same unit, serial number E-23385. On July 21, 1943, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he embarked for Great Britain and landed in Greenock, Scotland, on the 28th. Incorporated into Force M, he embarked for the Mediterranean on September 13, 1943, and was transferred the same day to the 4th Battalion of the Royal 22nd Regiment. He landed in Italy on the 24th. He was fatally wounded on January 5, 1944, by a bullet to the chest while on patrol along the Senio dikes between Lugo and Bologna. Despite his injuries, he managed to rejoin his company and report on the enemy situation before passing away on the 7th. He was buried on the 8th in San Vito. On August 6, 1944, his body was exhumed and reburied in the Moro River cemetery near Ortona. He had served 1,581 days, including 170 overseas.
 

Related media

Second World War (1939 – 1945)

In the Books of Remembrance

Commemorated on:

Page 307 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.
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MORO RIVER CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY Italy

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.

For more information, visit Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

 

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