Private Edward John Gadbois

Son of Alfred Gadbois and Alice Riopel (deceased in 1901). His father remarried to Rose Gagnon in 1902 and died in 1911.

He declared his brother Wilfred (“Fred”) and his sister (Ms. Fred St. John), of Holyoke, Massachusetts, as his next of kin. 

Enlisted in the 60th Reserve Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, he claimed to have served for two years in the US Marine Corps. He sailed for Great Britain on August 26, 1915, and landed in Portsmouth, England, on September 4. He was a very undisciplined soldier and often ill. In the fall of 1915, he was transferred to the 23rd Reserve Battalion. On May 1, 1916, he was transferred to the 22nd Battalion and on the 2nd, he set foot in France. He went to the front on the 22nd. From February 25 to March 12, 1917, he was loaned to the 5th Canadian Machine Gun Company, then transferred to the 2nd Canadian Brigade Depot due to his health. He returned to the 22nd Battalion on February 16, 1918. On April 2, 1918, the battalion occupied the firing line in front of Mercatel. At dawn, a shell exploded on the side of the hut, knocking down a wall. He was killed in action in the trenches north of Mercatel, Pas-de-Calais, near Neuville-Vitasse.