Military service
Burial/memorial information
Baptized Joseph Paul Gérard Gagnon, Son of Joseph Antoine Gagnon and Valentine Fournier of Loretteville, Quebec. Brother of Yvonne, André, Antoine et Gaudoise.
Brother of Private Jules Alphonse Gagnon , service number L-12289 who died while serving with the South Saskatchewan Regiment, R.C.I.C. during the raid of Dieppe on August 19, 1942.
Enlisted in the Royal 22nd Regiment, he sailed for Great Britain on May 12, 1940, and landed in Liverpool, England, on the 21st. He was awarded the Good Conduct Badge on February 12, 1942, and received it on the 28th. On June 15, 1943, he joined Force M and sailed for Sicily to take part in Operation Husky. On July 10, he landed on the beaches at Pachino around noon with the second wave of the assault. On July 30, 1943, with two comrades, he attempted to capture a German 88 mm gun embedded in a casemate on Mount Santa Maria when a German soldier came out waving a white flag. Gagnon exposed himself to capture him. At the same moment, a German soldier who had remained inside fired a bullet at him.
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Private Gérard Gagnon
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Private Gérard Gagnon
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Private Gérard Gagnon
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Private Gérard Gagnon
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Private Gérard Gagnon
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Private Gérard Gagnon
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Private Gérard Gagnon
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Private Gérard Gagnon
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Private Gérard Gagnon
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In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 161 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.
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AGIRA CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY Italy
Agira Canadian War Cemetery lies in the Commune of Agira, Province of Enna, in the centre of Sicily. From the autostrada A19, Catania-Palermo, take the exit to Catenanuova. Follow signposts to Regalbuto, then pass Regalbuto, going in the direction of Agira. The Cemetery is then signposted about 12 kilometres from Regalbuto.
On 10 July 1943, following the successful conclusion of the north African campaign in mid May, a combined allied force of 160,000 Commonwealth and American troops invaded Sicily as a prelude to the assault on mainland Italy. The Italians, who would shortly make peace with the Allies and re-enter the war on their side, offered little determined resistance but German opposition was vigorous and stubborn. The campaign in Sicily came to an end on 17 August when the two allied forces came together at Messina, but failed to cut off the retreating Axis lines. Agira was taken by the 1st Canadian Division of 28 July and the site for the war cemetery was chosen in September for the burial of all Canadians who had been killed in the Sicily campaign. Agira Canadian War Cemetery contains 491 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War.
For more information, visit Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The Poppy Design is a trademark of The Royal Canadian Legion (Dominion Command) and is used with permission. Click here to learn more about the poppy.
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