Corporal Arthur Chrétien

Son of Jean Baptiste Chrétien and Célina Dubois of Midland, Ontario. Husband of Florence Evelyn Bulmer. Father of Florence Kathleen Marie, Marthe Muriel Evelyn and Arthur Albert Raymond Chrétien, all of Toronto, Ontario.

He was living in Winnipeg, Manitoba, when he enlisted with the Fusiliers Mont-Royal. On 30 June 1940, he left for Iceland, arriving on 7 July. He left Reykjavik, Iceland, for Gourock, Scotland, on 26 October 1940 and landed on 4 November. He returned to Canada from 13 March to 12 December 1942, leaving for Great Britain to land on 17 December. Transferred to the Royal 22e Régiment on 21 July 1943, he left for Sicily on 15 August, arriving on 27 August. He fought on the plain of Catania. On 3 September 1943, he set foot in Reggio, on the Italian mainland, and fought at Straorini, Delianuova, on the Aspromonte plain, on the Foggia plain and in the area upstream of the Fortore and Bifferino rivers. He was killed in action on 7 October 1943 in the hills during the Battle of Gambatesa. Buried the same day in a field north of the road, on 30 May 1944 his body was exhumed and reburied in Bari.