Photo: Pieter with Paul Arsenault and a photo of Patrick Raymond Arsenault. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
2017-08-07. With the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI coming up in 2018, Pieter has been actively searching for photos of the men listed on the Cenotaph who died during WW1 as he would like to have a Wall of Remembrance in the Legion.
Private Patrick Raymond Arsenault, who was born in Bedeque on October 14, 1896 to Joseph Arsenault and Isabella nee Richard, is one of the two men on the Cenotaph whose names are on the Vimy Memorial in France. In the lead-up to the centenary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in April, his story was told in newspapers, and in a French language interview on CBC Radio-Canada given by Don Arsenault. More coverage was given in the Journal Pioneer (see http://www.journalpioneer.com/news/local/2017/4/9/special-day-of-remembrance-for-bedeque-soldier.html ) and La Voix Acadienne following the commemoration ceremonies at the Legion in April. (See http://www.lavoixacadienne.com/index.php/patrimoine/1756-des-soldats-a-vimy-sont-honores.) Unfortunately, up to that time, no family had been found, and no photo was available.
On Saturday, August 5, Paul Arsenault of Borden-Carleton, great-great-nephew of Arsenault, contacted Pieter to say he had a photo of his great-great-uncle after his aunt, Eileen Perry, showed him an article about Arsenault in the County Line Courier (CLC Apr 5 2017 p9 Two Unsung Heroes of Vimy Ridge). “I found the photo in a chest that my mother Noreen had saved from her mother,” he said. Noreen and Eileen are the granddaughters of Private Arsenault’s sister Mary Ethel Gaudet.
Photo: Patrick Raymond Arsenault in 1916 in Summerside. (Photo courtesy of Paul Arsenault collection)
It’s wonderful when family members are willing to help in the Cenotaph Research Project! Thank you Paul! Readers, do you have more information on Patrick Raymond Arsenault? Let us know by commenting on this blog, or email Pieter at dariadv@yahoo.ca.
See related article published on August 9, 2017 CLC p30 Aug 9 2017 Face for Arsenault
© Daria Valkenburg
On The War Memorial Trail Research Project........ with Pieter and Daria Valkenburg 