Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Roméo Benoit
In memory of:
Private Roméo Benoit
December 30, 1943
Torre Mucchio, Italy
Military Service
E/4366
22
Army
Royal 22e Régiment, R.C.I.C.
1939-45 Star, Italy Star, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939-45, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp.
Additional Information
February 9, 1921
Cornwall, Ontario
October 19, 1939
Montreal, Quebec
Son of Joseph Benoit and Diana Langlois from Casselman, Ontario. Brother of Rolland, Percy, Florient, Fernand, Giles, Irene, Simone, Georgette and Auriette.
On 29 December 1943, the orders were to seize the heights located in the fork of the Riccio river at Torre Mucchio, near Ortona, in Italy. The objective was reached on the morning of the 30th after two costly setbacks the previous day. He was killed in action on the 30th near the Riccio and Arielli rivers. He was buried on the 31st near the chapel in Ortona. Exhumed after the war, he was reburied at Moro.
Commemorated on the Casselman Cenotaph.
Commemorated on Page 136 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.
Burial Information
VI. G. 12.
By the winter of 1943, the German armies in Italy were defending a line stretching from the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Naples, to the Adriatic Sea south of Ortona. The Allies prepared to break through this line to capture Rome. For its part, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division was to cross the Moro River and take Ortona. In January 1944 the Canadian Corps selected this site, intending that it would contain the graves of those who died during the Ortona battle and in the fighting in the weeks before and after it. Today, there are 1,615 graves in the cemetery, of which over 50 are unidentified and 1,375 are Canadian.
The Moro River Canadian War Cemetery lies in the locality of San Donato in the Commune of Ortona, Province of Chieti, and is sited on high ground near the sea just east of the main Adriatic coast road (SS16). The cemetery can be reached from Rome on the autostrada A25 (Rome-Pescara) by branching on the autostrada A14 and leaving it at Ortona. The approach road to the cemetery from the main road passes under an arch forming part of the little church of San Donato. The cemetery is permanently open and may be visited anytime.
Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial
To learn more please visit our help page. If you have questions or comments regarding the information contained in this registry, email or call us. For inquiries regarding the names and information found in the RCMP Honour Roll, please email the RCMP.
- Date modified: