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Description
During a battle in the Netherlands, the chaplain was highly regarded by the soldiers but he was a little too reckless . . . .
Jacques Raymond
Né à Trois-Rivières, Jacques Raymond a perdu son père alors qu’il était très jeune. Il a été placé à l’orphelinat avec un de ses frères, sa mère ne pouvant s’occuper de ses sept enfants toute seule. À 17 ans, il revient à Trois-Rivières travailler à la Wabasso, une usine de coton. Lorsque la guerre éclate, il reçoit une lettre lui demandant de passer des examens à Longueuil. Il débute sa formation de deux mois à Valleyfield. Il passe six mois dans l’Ouest canadien, où il apprend l’anglais et où il poursuit sa formation. Il part d’Halifax au début de 1943 à bord du Nieuw Amsterdam vers Greenock, en Écosse, pour continuer sa formation. Il participe au débarquement de Normandie avec le Régiment de la Chaudière. Il participe aussi aux batailles de Carpiquet, de Falaise, de Caen et traverse la Belgique et la Hollande. Il se rend même jusqu’en Allemagne. Il est resté onze mois en Europe.
Transcription
“Those who die for their country go to heaven.”We had a padre, every regiment had a padre, a priest. We had one in the Régiment de la Chaudière. There were times when we were able to get together, when there were troop rotations and some would move forward. When the regiment was able to take a break, we would get a disused school or a church and he would give us a little sermon, and he would always bless us saying, “Those who die for their country go to heaven.” I remember that. We would make jokes about it and would tell girls; and we got lucky because they would say to us: “Do what you want, you’re going to heaven” (laughter). As for padre Delcourt, he came from Trois-Rivières; I too am from Trois-Rivières, and he was a curate at Saint-Sacrement. He was killed in Holland. It was the Battle of Holland, as they called it. And he was an adventurer, a tough guy. The Delcourts, they were known for that. He liked that, coming into the trenches at times, particularly when we were in Holland, and he would box with the guys. He was a tough guy. He had a big nose and he was the curate of Saint-Sacrement. They were known as a tough family. His brothers, too, were fighters in Trois-Rivières. At one time, we had a fairly hard battle in Holland and the weather was nasty, similar to today. It was raining and we had wounded men who had been left behind. We couldn’t get to them; we had to wait because it was too dangerous. The Germans were too close. He took a tracked vehicle and crossed the lines and he hit an anti-tank mine. That was a blow to the Regiment. That more or less killed us for 24 hours because he was so loved and he got himself killed . . . It was a big loss for us in the Régiment de la Chaudière. Today there is a monument because his family is from Louiseville. When you go to Louiseville, there is a monument and it’s marked: “padre Delcourt, régiment de La Chaudière, mort au champ d’honneur” [Padre Delcourt, Régiment de la Chaudière, died on the field of honour]. That goes to show, when you’re on the front, you shouldn’t be reckless. You should do what you’re supposed to do, and no more than that. He didn’t have the right to do what he did. He said, “I’m going to fetch my wounded.” Well, he died . . . They apparently picked up his remains in a blanket. I wasn’t close by.