Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Louis Jacques Joseph Cyrille Benoit
In memory of:
Lieutenant Louis Jacques Joseph Cyrille Benoit
December 29, 1943
Ortona, Italy
Military Service
25
Army
Royal 22e Régiment, R.C.I.C.
1939-1945 Star, Italy Star, Defence Medal, War Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with Bar.
Additional Information
August 25, 1918
Montreal, Quebec
October 2, 1939
His full name is Louis Jacques Rémi Cyrille Benoit and signed Cyrille Benoit and served with this first name.
Son of Rémi Benoit and Éva Morneau from Montréal, Québec.
He served as a 2nd lieutenant in the Régiment de Châteauguay (MG) from 1937 before being incorporated into the regular forces of that unit on 9 October 1939. He sailed for England with the Royal 22e Régiment on 6 October 1941 aboard the SS Andes. He was officially incorporated into the regiment on 4 June 1942. He was shot and killed in action on 29 December 1943 near the rivers Riccio and Arielli, Italy. He was first buried near the chapel in Ortona, then reburied in the Riviere Moro cemetery.
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. 5.
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.
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