Military service
Burial/memorial information
Son of Israël Desroches and Théodora Sabourin of Ottawa, Ontario. Brother of Pierrette, Marcel, Germaine, Jeannette, Jacqueline, Joseph Maurice and Françoise.
Israël served in the First World War without having taken part in the combat, regimental number 2776922, with the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps.
Served in Ontario, Québec, Hong Kong with C Force. Had 838 days of service, including 59 overseas.
1939-1945 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-1945, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp.
Digital gallery of Corporal Gérard Gilbert Desroches
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Newspaper Clipping
From the Ottawa Citizen. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me -
Grave Marker
The Sai Wan Memorial is located at the entrance of Sai Wan Cemetery. 1,505 Commonwealth casualties of the Second World War are buried or commemorated at this cemetery, of which 444 of the burials are the remains of unidentified soldiers, including those of 107 Canadian soldiers, most of whom were killed or died of wounds during the defense of Hong Kong, which took place from December 8th to December 25th, 1941. This is one such grave marker. There is a possibility that the remains of Corporal GÉRARD GILBERT DESROCHES lie beneath this grave marker, or one of the other 106 grave markers in Sai Wan Cemetery that simply read, A SOLDIER OF THE 1939-1945 WAR. A CANADIAN REGIMENT. KNOWN UNTO GOD. The unidentified soldiers are commemorated at the Sai Wan Memorial. -
Memorial
Corporal GÉRARD GILBERT DESROCHES, Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps, is one of 11 Canadian soldiers who are commemorated on this panel of the Sai Wan Memorial, and one of 290 Canadian soldiers killed during the defense of Hong Kong, from December 8th to December 25th, 1941. -
Newspaper Clipping
Corporal GÉRARD GILBERT DESROCHES was reported to have been Killed in Action in the Canadian Army¿s 244th overseas casualty list of the war published in the Globe and Mail on January 9, 1943. -
Dedicatory Inscription of the Sai Wan Memorial
Dedicatory inscription of the SAI WAN MEMORIAL. This memorial bears the names of more than 2,000 Commonwealth servicemen, including 228 Canadians. -
Canada and the Defence of Hong Kong
Source: Veterans Affairs Canada. -
Canadian Casuatlies in the Defence of Hong Kong
Source: Veterans Affairs Canada. -
Newspaper Clipping
Remembered on the pages of the Ottawa Journal. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me -
Newspaper Clipping
Remembered on the pages of the Ottawa Journal. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
Digital gallery of
Corporal Gérard Gilbert Desroches
Digital gallery of
Corporal Gérard Gilbert Desroches
Digital gallery of
Corporal Gérard Gilbert Desroches
Digital gallery of
Corporal Gérard Gilbert Desroches
Digital gallery of
Corporal Gérard Gilbert Desroches
Digital gallery of
Corporal Gérard Gilbert Desroches
Digital gallery of
Corporal Gérard Gilbert Desroches
Digital gallery of
Corporal Gérard Gilbert Desroches
Digital gallery of
Corporal Gérard Gilbert Desroches
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 28 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.
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