Private Armand Berthiaume

Name: Berthiaume, Armand

Religion: Church of England

Date of death: 1916-09-26

Cause of death: Killed in action

Buried: Vimy Memorial, N/A

Highest Rank: Private (14th Battalion)

Battle wounded/killed: Kenora and Sudbury Trenchs, Somme Salient

CVWM ID: No CVWM ID in our database, but try this.

LAC ID: 41211

Attestation record(s): image 1, image 2

Service file: B0691-S059

Uploader's Notes: Private Armand Berthiaume, the son of Mrs. Alvina Robert (formerly Berthiaume), of 8693 Archdale Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, formerly of Hemmingford, Quebec.enlisted in the CEF in September 1915, probably while doing seaonal harvest work in western Canada. He likely went to England for advanced training in late 1915 and was likely in France/Belgium in early 1916. He was killed in the early afternoon on 26 September, 1916 while the 14th Battalion was attempting to capture the Kenora and Sudbury Trenchs on the Somme Salient. The attack had all the markings of a disaster: it occurred just after noon on on a clear day, with good visibility, the Germans were warned of the attack by machine gun fire that started just before the attack, there was no successful followthrough with attacks on eother side, so both flanks were exposed, and the rolling barrage of mortar fire that was supposed to proceed the troops was slower than the actual advance. The result was that most officers and troops were killed by friendly fire, as they advanced into the barrage of morter fire that was supposed to protect them. 396 Canadians from the 14th Battalion were killed or wounded in this attack. Many of those killed by mortar fire were never identified. Their names are inscribed on the Vimy Memorial outside of Arras. Private Berthiaume was one of those never identified, whose remains still lie in unmarked graves in Flanders.

Uploader's Research notes: [Private Army Canadian Infantry 53rd Battalion Private Army Canadian Infantry 14th Battalion ]

Date added: 2004-09-04

Last modified: 2013-07-20