Lance Corporal Fernand Joseph LeBlanc

Baptized Joseph Omer Fernand Leblanc. Son of Joseph Lebland and Zénaïde Grenier, of Sherbrooke, Québec. Brother of Private Roland Lebland, prisonner of war in Germany in November 1944 and Private Augustin Leblanc in service in Germany. They survived the war.

He enlisted on May 28, 1942, in the Fusiliers de Sherbrooke, service number D-150099. Sent to the camp in Debert, Nova Scotia, on September 14, he took advantage of a leave of absence on the 19th to flee. He was declared a deserter on June 11, 1943. In the meantime, On May 5, 1943, at the 1st Military District Depot in Windsor, Ontario, he re-enlisted, giving his name as Fernand Joseph Leblanc. He was assigned service number A-117941, which would eventually be replaced by D-150099. He embarked for Great Britain on December 14, 1943, and arrived at his destination on the 21st. He was transferred to the 1st Battalion of the Royal 22nd Regiment on January 26, 1944, embarked that same day with Force M bound for the Mediterranean, and landed in Italy on April 9. On May 25, he was assigned to the 4th Battalion of the same regiment. He was killed in action on September 1, 1944, at Borgo Santa Maria. He was buried in a cemetery in Pesaro, grave number 4. On March 22, 1945, his remains were exhumed and reburied in Montecchio, grave number III.C.10.