Military service
Burial/memorial information
Baptized Hector Paul Émile Giraldeau. Son of Joseph Eugène Giraldeau and Alice Brunet. Husband of Maidie Scott of Bethnal Green, London, England.
Enlisted in the Royal 22nd Regiment, he sailed for Great Britain on May 11, 1940, and landed in Liverpool, England. He was temporarily assigned to the Canadian Provost Corps from June 7 to 28, 1941. On February 21, 1942, he was awarded the Good Conduct Badge. From May 19 to June 4, 1942, he was incorporated into the 3rd Battalion of Force Wolfe. On June 24, he was assigned to Force M and left for the Mediterranean. He landed in Pachino, Sicily, on July 10 as part of Operation Husky. He was killed in action on July 18, 1943, by two bullets to the chest during a German ambush on the Monte delle Forme plateau. He was buried the same day. He had served 1,244 days, including 1,163 days overseas.
Digital gallery of Private Paul Émile Giraldeau
Digital gallery of
Private Paul Émile Giraldeau
Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
Digital gallery of
Private Paul Émile Giraldeau
Agira Canadian War Cemetery - 2013
Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
Digital gallery of
Private Paul Émile Giraldeau
Agira Canadian War Cemetery - 2013
Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
Digital gallery of
Private Paul Émile Giraldeau
Cross of Sacrifice - Agira Canadian War Cemetery - 2013
Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
Digital gallery of
Private Paul Émile Giraldeau
Digital gallery of
Private Paul Émile Giraldeau
Digital gallery of
Private Paul Émile Giraldeau
Digital gallery of
Private Paul Émile Giraldeau
Digital gallery of
Private Paul Émile Giraldeau
Agira Canadian War Cemetery - 2013
Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
Image gallery
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Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
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Agira Canadian War Cemetery - 2013 Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
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Agira Canadian War Cemetery - 2013 Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
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Cross of Sacrifice - Agira Canadian War Cemetery - 2013 Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
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Agira Canadian War Cemetery - 2013 Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 163 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.
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