• Normandy Massacres

Date of birth:

October 26th, 1918 (Camperville/Manitoba, Canada)

Date of death:

June 8th, 1944 (France)

Buried on:

Canadian War Cemetery Beny-sur-mer
Plot: XIV. Row: B. Grave: 4.

Service number:

H/41294

Nationality:

Canadian

Louis H. Chartrand was born into a small Métis community on the western shore of Lake Winnipegosis. He was the son of Cyprien and Vernique Chartrand. Before the war, Louis worked as a labourer and lived in Camperville, where he was known for his quiet determination and strong ties to his family and community.

Chartrand enlisted in the Canadian Active Service Force on June 26, 1940, at Dauphin, Manitoba. He was assigned the regimental number H-41294 and joined the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. His attestation papers describe him as a single man of Roman Catholic faith, with dark hair, brown eyes, and a solid build—standing 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 125 pounds. He was in good health and had no prior military experience, though he had completed several years of schooling and spoke both English and French fluently.

After training in Canada and the United Kingdom, Chartrand was deployed overseas with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. He landed in Normandy as part of the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France. On June 8, 1944—just two days after D-Day—Rifleman Louis Chartrand was murdered by Waffen-SS soldiers during the fierce fighting that followed the landings. He was 25 years old.

Initially buried near the site of his death, Chartrand’s remains were later exhumed and reinterred with full military honours at Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery in France.

In the years following the war, his mother Vernique Chartrand received his personal effects and war service gratuity. She was also notified in 1945 that her son’s name might be mentioned in war crimes trials concerning the murder of Canadian soldiers by German forces.

Do you have more information about this person? Inform us!

• Photo 1: Operation Picture Me
• - Service record(s)

Helaas geen map gevonden.