Military service
Burial/memorial information
Baptized Joseph Charles Ovila Garceau, he served under the name Ovila Garceau.
From 1929 to 1935, he served in the Trois-Rivières Regiment – NPAM – and finished with the rank of sergeant. On August 8, 1935, he enlisted in the permanent forces of the army, service number P-48782, at Camp Valcartier, located north of Quebec City. On September 1, 1939, he was promoted to sergeant in the 4th Platoon (Bren Carriers) of the headquarters company. On the 9th, he enlisted in the Royal 22nd Regiment. As a regimental quartermaster sergeant (W.O.II), he sailed for Great Britain on December 9, 1939, and landed at Greenock, Scotland, on the 18th. Promoted to lieutenant on September 27, 1941, he returned to the Royal 22nd Regiment and on June 4, 1943, became a captain. On June 15, 1943, with Force M, he left for the Mediterranean and on July 10, he landed on the beaches of Pachino in Sicily with the second wave of the assault. From July 30 to October 21, 1943, he was seriously ill (dysentery). Assigned to the 4th Battalion on October 22, at the head of Company D, he took part in the fighting between Gambatesa and Gildone, then occupied the heights of Sangro in November, and fought at Ortona in December and at Casa Berardi. Promoted to major on March 30, 1944, he was mortally wounded by mortar shrapnel in the abdomen on May 23, 1944, in the Liri Valley. He died on the 24th at the 13th Canadian Field Dressing Station.
Digital gallery of Major Joseph Charles Ovila Garceau
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Newspaper Clipping
Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me -
Entrance
Entrance - Cassino War Cemetery - May 2013 … Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Cemetery
Cassino War Cemetery - May 2013 … Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Cross of Sacrifice
Cross of Sacrifice - Cassino War Cemetery - May 2013 -
Grave Marker
Grave marker - Cassino War Cemetery - May 2013 … Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Grave Marker
Headstone of Major Ovila C. J. Garceau in the Canadian Military Cemetery of Monte Cassino. Photo taken on August 8, 2015. -
Newspaper clipping
Announcement of his serious injury in combat. -
Award Citation
Citation for the award of the Distinguished and Non-Decorated Service Order.
Digital gallery of
Major Joseph Charles Ovila Garceau
Digital gallery of
Major Joseph Charles Ovila Garceau
Digital gallery of
Major Joseph Charles Ovila Garceau
Digital gallery of
Major Joseph Charles Ovila Garceau
Digital gallery of
Major Joseph Charles Ovila Garceau
Digital gallery of
Major Joseph Charles Ovila Garceau
Digital gallery of
Major Joseph Charles Ovila Garceau
Digital gallery of
Major Joseph Charles Ovila Garceau
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 312 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.
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