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
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”. 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.