February 12, 2025. Once you visit a Canadian War Cemetery and place down a flag by the grave of a soldier from the province where you live, it stays with you, and makes you wonder about the young man who is buried there. 

In 2017, when we visited the Canadian War Cemetery in Groesbeek, The Netherlands, with our friends Ad and Noor Scheepers, we had a list of soldiers from Prince Edward Island buried there, but only knew the story of one, George Preston SMITH, whose name is listed on the Cenotaph outside the Borden-Carleton Legion.  (See On the War Memorial Trail ….. At The Canadian War Cemetery in Groesbeek and On the War Memorial Trail ….. PEI Soldiers Buried In The Canadian War Cemetery in Groesbeek and https://onthewarmemorialtrail.com/2018/03/21/another-photo-for-wwii-soldier-george-preston-smith/)

Since then, Pieter has researched and we’ve told the stories of 12 more Islanders buried in that Dutch cemetery. Our 14th story is about Arthur GAUDET of Mount Carmel, Prince Edward Island.  While Arthur had been on the list of Islanders buried in Groesbeek, he was not on the cemetery’s photo wish list as they had a photo of him. 

Born February 28, 1924 in 15 Pointe, near Mount Carmel, Prince Edward Island, Arthur was the son of Joseph Stanley and Mary Jacqueline Gaudet.  He was one of 10 children, 8 of them still alive at the time that he enlisted at the No. 5 District Depot in Quebec City, Quebec on July 24, 1942.  His three older brothers were also in the Canadian Army.

According to his Personnel Selection Record, Arthur spoke English, not French, and had completed Grade 9.  He was working as a labourer for the PEI Bag Company. (See https://atlanticbusinessmagazine.ca/web-exclusives/89-years-in-the-bag-and-counting-for-p-e-i-bag-company/)

After completing his basic training, Arthur was sent to No. 22 Canadian Army Educational (Basic) Training Centre in North Bay, Ontario on September 19, 1942.

He remained there until December 2, 1942, when he was transferred to A1 Canadian Artillery Training Centre (CATC) in Camp Petawawa, Ontario, for training as a gunner.  While still at A1 CATC, he qualified as a Driver i/c Class III wheeled vehicles on January 29, 1943. (The term ‘Driver i/c’ refers to ‘Driver, internal combustion’.  Class III meant he was qualified to drive heavy trucks and armoured cars, but not tanks.)

On February 8, 1943, he was granted embarkation leave until February 21, 1943, the last chance he would have to see his family before going overseas.

….Arthur left Canada for overseas service….

On March 24, 1943, Arthur left Canada for the United Kingdom.  Upon arriving on March 31, 1943 he was assigned to No. 3 Canadian Artillery Reinforcement Unit (CARU). 

On June 18, 1943, Arthur was transferred to No. 3 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery for Light Machine-Gun and Rifle training, and undertook various Tests of Elementary Training (TOET).

Arthur was allocated to the X-4 Reinforcement List of the Canadian Infantry Corps (CIC), part of the 10th Battalion, 21st Army Group, on June 21, 1944, in preparation for going to North West Europe.

….Arthur was transferred to Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal….

On July 22, 1944 he left the United Kingdom for France, arriving a day later. On July 25, 1944, he was transferred to Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal, joining them in an area behind Etavaux in Normandy, France.

The Regiment remained in France until September 9, 1944 when it moved into Belgium.  Arthur received a promotion to Acting Corporal a few days later, on September 12, 1944.

.….Arthur was badly wounded during the Battle of the Scheldt ….

On October 2, 1944, the Battle of the Scheldt began and involved Canadian forces advancing through northern Belgium, including areas like Kapellen, to clear German defenses and secure access to the port of Antwerp.

The municipality of Kapellen, in Belgium, was liberated on October 4, 1944 by Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal. The war diary entry for October 4, 1944 for Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal confirmed this.  “…Advance up to Brasschaat.  In the afternoon, advance towards Cappellan, which we taken, then sweep towards north-east of town.  Positions at night, anti-tank ditch 2 miles from Cappellan…”   Cappellan is the old spelling of Kapellen.

Arthur, who was in ‘A’ Company, was wounded by a bullet in the shoulder on October 5, 1944 and was evacuated to No. 9 Canadian General Hospital (CGH) in Horsham, England.  After a recuperation period of three months, Arthur left the United Kingdom on January 10, 1945, returning to Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal 2 days later.  He joined them in Mook, The Netherlands, which is near Nijmegen.

.….Arthur lost his life during Operation Blockbuster ….

By February 17, 1945, the Regiment was in Germany, in place for Operation Blockbuster, as part of the 6th Canadian Infantry Brigade, along with several other Canadian Regiments. The Operation was to begin at dawn on February 26, 1945. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Blockbuster)

On February 25, 1945, the war diary for Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal recorded that during a briefing of troops for Operation Blockbuster, the brigade’s task was “…to capture high ground west of Kalkar. The attack is to be made at night with troops mounted on tanks….”  Kalkar is a municipality in the district of Kleve, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and is located near the Rhine River.

The war diary for February 26, 1945 described what happened.  “….The attack commenced at 0400 hrs under cover of an artillery barrage. Camerons of Canada regiment on our right encountered mines a few hundred yards from the FDL’s which caused the Commander’s tank to be knocked out resulting in considerable confusion. South Saskatchewan regiment on our left and our Battalion reached the objective…”  FDL refers to the French acronym for Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal.

During the February 26, 1945 attack, Arthur was wounded and died later that day.  He was two days short of his 21st birthday!

Arthur lost his life about a week before another soldier in the same Regiment, Joseph ‘Albert Noel’ LAMONTAGNE, whose story was previously told, lost his on March 3, 1945. See https://onthewarmemorialtrail.com/2025/02/05/on-the-war-memorial-trail-the-wwii-soldier-from-saint-basile-who-lost-his-life-during-the-advance-towards-xanten/

.….11 other soldiers died on February 26, 1945….

Arthur was one of 12 members of Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal who lost their lives on February 26, 1945.  The other 11 were:

• Private Rosaire BELLERIVE of Ste Flore, Quebec, aged 19
• Private Romeo BENOIT of Montreal, Quebec, aged 41
• Private Joseph Wilfrid Rheal GUERTIN of Moose Creek, Ontario, aged 19
• Private Marcel LAVIGNE of Henri, Montreal, Quebec, aged 19
• Private Maurice PAQUETTE of Sherbrooke, Quebec, aged 22
• Lieutenant Ovide Joseph PAQUETTE of North Bay, Ontario, aged 24
• Private Paul Eugene PARENT of St. Honore, Beauce County, Quebec, aged 24
• Private Alphie Raymond PELTIER, born in Chatham, Ontario, aged 30
• Private Jean Marie ST ONGE of Amqui, Quebec, aged 23
• Lieutenant Robert TALBOT of Quebec City, Quebec, aged 25
• Private Vincent THIBODEAU of Maria, Bonaventure County, Quebec, aged 24

.….Arthur is buried in Groesbeek….

Arthur was initially buried in the Canadian Military Cemetery in Bedburg, Germany, before being reburied in the Canadian War Cemetery in Groesbeek, The Netherlands. 

Thank you to Alice van Bekkum, Chair of the Faces To Graves Foundation Groesbeek, for sending Pieter that initial list of soldiers from Prince Edward Island who are buried in the Canadian War Cemetery in Groesbeek, The Netherlands.  If you have a story or photo to share, please contact Pieter at memorialtrail@gmail.com or comment on the blog. 

© Daria Valkenburg

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