Citation(s);
Military service
Burial/memorial information
Baptized Joseph-Wilbrod-Roméo Laforest, he was the son of Marie-Louise Brisson (died in 1905) and Magloire Laforest, who remarried Célanire Brisson in 1906 and died in 1910. When he enlisted, he declared that he had been born in 1899.
He named his sister, Marie Tessier (wife of Télesphore Tessier of Lachute), as his next of kin, but enlisted under the first name “Wilfrid,” perhaps to conceal his enlistment from her until he had been sent overseas.
Enlisting in the 163rd Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, at just 16 years of age, he sailed for Bermuda on May 26, 1916, arriving on May 29. On November 18, 1916, he embarked once again, arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on November 26, before departing for Great Britain the following day. He arrived in Liverpool, England, on December 6, 1916.
From January 7 to September 18, 1917, he served with the 10th Reserve Battalion. Because of his young age, he was removed from active service and assigned to the Young Soldiers Battalion until May 30, 1918. On June 26, 1918, he was transferred to the 22nd Battalion, and two days later crossed to France.
He joined the front lines on August 6, 1918, and was killed in action ten days later, on August 16, during the fighting to capture Vrély and Méharicourt as part of the Battle of Chérisy.
Digital gallery of Private Wilfrid Laforest
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Newspaper clipping
La Presse September 5th 1918 -
Grave marker
Grave marker
Digital gallery of
Private Wilfrid Laforest
Digital gallery of
Private Wilfrid Laforest
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 444 of the First World War Book of Remembrance.
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