Louis Jules Rodolphe Lemieux

He led his men through intense fighting at Amiens and Arras.

Louis Jules Rodolphe Lemieux was born at Montreal on 27 April 1898, the son of politician Rodolphe Lemieux and Berthe Jette. Known as Roddy, he studied at Bishop's University at Lennoxville before volunteering for service in the First World War.

He enlisted at Montreal on 8 June 1917 and went overseas as an officer with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He eventually joined the 22nd Battalion, the French-speaking infantry battalion serving with the Canadian Corps.

In the summer of 1918, the Canadian Corps took part in the Allied offensive beginning at Amiens and continuing towards Arras. Lemieux served during these operations, which required repeated attacks against defended positions as the German army withdrew through prepared lines. His gallantry brought the Military Cross and French recognition as a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.

He was killed at Cherisy on 29 August 1918, aged twenty, during the Canadian advance in the Arras sector. His death ended a brief military career only a little more than a year after enlistment. He was buried in Ligny-St Flochel British Cemetery.

His family, fellow students and the wider French Canadian community commemorated him after the war. A tribute in the Bishop's University journal remembered the young man they had known before he went overseas. His family's memorial in Ottawa recorded his military decorations and the campaigns in which he had served.

A stained-glass memorial at Ligny-St Flochel also preserved his name near the cemetery where he lay. His loss deeply affected his parents, while surviving photographs, memorials and contemporary tributes retained the connection between the student from Montreal and the officer who died during the final Canadian offensive.