Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Antonio Blais
In memory of:
Private Antonio Blais
December 30, 1943
Torre Mucchio, Italy
Military Service
E/5367
26
Army
Royal 22e Régiment, R.C.I.C.
1939-1945 Star, Italy Star, Defence Medal, 1939-1945 War Medal and the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with bar.
Additional Information
August 26, 1917
St-Jean-de-Dieu, Témiscouata, Quebec
Son of Joseph Blais and Léontine Lavoie of Rimouski, Quebec. Brother of soldiers Victor and Yvon Blais, who fought in Europe with the Royal 22e Régiment during the Second World War. They survived the war.
On 29 December 1943, orders were given to seize the heights in the fork of the Riccio at Torre Mucchio. After two unsuccessful attempts, the objective was reached on the morning of the 30th. Blais was mortally wounded on the 30th by a shell exploding, near the Riccio and Arielli rivers. He died of wounds on the same day and was buried alongside a wall near a sports ground in Ortona. He had 1,384 days' service, including 1,252 overseas. After the war, he was exhumed and reburied in the Moro River cemetery near Ortona.
Commemorated on Page 137 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.
Burial Information
VIII. G. 13.
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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