155 www.on.legion.ca GAGNÉ, Napoléon Philippe Napoléon Philippe Gagné was born on June 18, 1877, into a loving and caring francophone family in the lower town ward of St. Roch in the city of Québec. He left for Saint-Jérôme in 1903 where he met and married Délima Therrien. The newly married couple returned to Montréal where he was employed as an interior decorator. As work became scarce, they relocated in various cities in the province of Québec to finally set foot in the LeBreton Flats area of Ottawa. In 1912, the Government of Ontario introduced a directive limiting French language teaching to primary schools (regulation 17). Both Napoléon and Délima, who were unilingual French, left Ottawa to live in Pointe-Gatineau across the Ottawa River in the Province of Québec. Unable to find work to support his family of six children, he enlisted voluntarily in the Régiment de Hull in 1914. World War I had just been declared, and he was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the well-being of his family. However, he would not leave with the First Canadian Contingent, C.E.F. Délima refused to let him enlist in the militia – in 1914, husbands could only enlist in the militia with the approval of their earner. Napoléon reenlisted in the military – this time without the approval of Délima since it was no longer required. He left in June 1915. In 1917, Napoléon, who was stationed in Hersin-Coupigny, France with the 13th battery, was called upon to assist a dying 53year-old woman in Houdain because he spoke French. When he arrived, two of her young children were at her side. Throughout the night and until morning, he sat with the dying women while her kids were sleeping. Upon her death in the morning, he prepared her body for the family visitation. In 2020, the family of the dying woman called Mme D’Houdain and the commune of Houdain held a special ceremony attended by Napoleon’s grand-daughter Lucie Gagné who was given the city’s medal of honour posthumously on behalf of her grandfather and for the two books she wrote on Houdain and on the 13th battery, CFA. Napoleon Gagné was killed in action on September 29, 1918, in Bourlon Wood and is buried in the Bourlon Wood cemetery, France. He was 43 years old. GAGNÉ, Philippe Elie Philippe was born on November 19, 1913, in Pointe-Gatineau, Quebec, where he later married Jeannine Aubry of Ottawa on November 27, 1950. After he enlisted in the armed forces (Regular) in Ottawa in April 1943, he was stationed in Churchill for training until his return to Ottawa where he was promoted to Staff Sergent and held various positions until September 1946. He re-enlisted in the armed forces until he retired in September 1964. Throughout his career, he was attached to several units including No. 9 Det, CMSC, AF, and later to the AHQ DST. He never talked about his service in the armed forces but often told his family that he loved the career he had chosen and felt that his contribution to the war efforts, along with those of his brother Georges and sister Georgina Gagné, was a tremendous pride to him. Philippe never knew his father Napoléon Gagné who was killed in action in Bourlon Wood, France, September 29, 1918 but he read the letters he sent to his mother Delima Gagné throughout his three and a half years on the battlefields in France and Belgium. He was always proud of his father’s heroic efforts but missed him tremendously as did his family. Philippe passed away on May 28, 2001. We Will Remember Them Ontario Command
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