Bravery Under Fire: A 22-Year-Old’s Final Mission

Private Adélard Martin’s grave at the Adegem Canadian War Cemetery.

Article written by Amynte Eygun, MA.

Westmount, Quebec – 16 October 2024: Joseph Adélard Roger Martin was a francophone Private in the RMR who was only 22 years old when he was killed in action on the banks of the Leopold Canal. Born to Joseph Ernest Martin (1897-1954) and Laura Pare-Martin (1896-1980), Adélard was the eldest of 8 children. His siblings were Marie Clotilde Fernande Martin (1924-), Marie Fleurette Jacqueline Martin (1925-1983), Joseph Yves Real Martin (1927-), Joseph Theodule Real Martin (1930-), Joseph Ernest Raymond Martin (1931-), Marie Theodora Elise Martin (1933-) and Joseph René Réjean Martin (1938-). The Martin family was Roman-Catholic, which was a very common denomination for French-Canadians in the 19th-20th centuries. Judging by the first names given to the 8 children; Joseph and Marie, catholic faith would have been a pillar of the family’s structure. 

The Martin family lived at 184 Murray Street in the heart of Griffintown. Today, their home no longer exists, being replaced by modern condos after the demolition of the neighbourhoods in the last decades of the 20th century and the mass gentrification of the area of the 2000’s. Griffintown was known as a majority Irish area, with an influx of immigrants arriving in the early – mid 19th century especially during the 1840s famine in Ireland. The francophone Martin family would have been surrounded by Irish neighbours, both cultures united by their dedication to the catholic church. 

Northern Electric Company building, Pointe Saint Charles, Montreal, 1902.

Before the war, Adélard Roger worked as an apprentice machinist for Northern Electric, in a factory in Pointe-Saint-Charles. Luckily for him, the factory was only a 15 minute walk from his house! The company was established in 1895 as an offshoot of the Bell Telephone Company, with the goal of manufacturing telephone parts. Throughout the 1930’s, the time Adélard Martin would have been working at the factory, the Northern Electric and Manufacturing Company employed 4,686 individuals, Martin included. The company boasted one of Montreal’s largest factories until 1974 when they moved to a new facility. Adélard Martin had been working for the corporation for a year and a half at the time of his enlistment on June 2nd 1942. He was making a weekly wage of $19, equivalent to about $388 today in 2024. Private Martin’s enlistment paperwork states that he enjoyed working as a machinist, and that he hoped to continue that career after the war. 

Before his time in the workforce, Private Martin had been educated up to the 7th grade, likely leaving school to work and help make money for his large family. However, between 1937 and 1938 he took some typing classes at St. Ann’s Academy, a school that was associated with St. Ann’s catholic church, a pillar of Griffintown. In his spare time, Adélard was quite active in sports; he was an active swimmer, he played baseball as 1st baseman and as a centre in hockey.

St. Ann’s Catholic Church, Griffintown, Montreal, 1930s. Sources: Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec, https://www.tfcg.ca/history-of-griffintown

Martin enlisted in the war a little later than others who fought at Leopold Canal, as Canada had been involved in the war since September 1939. According to Martin’s 1942 enlistment paperwork, his reason for enlistment was that one of his younger brothers had joined the navy, lighting a fire in him to go serve his country. He wanted to be a machine-gunner, despite never having fired one before his enlistment, and was interested in driving trucks.

On October 6th of 1944, Private Martin was 22 years old and a part of Sergeant Craddock’s platoon 3. Martin had made it across the canal and along with his platoon, was ordered by Captain Schwob to push towards the Maldeghem – Aardenburg road. The men were quickly under enemy fire from all angles. The letter sent from Sergeant Craddock to Major Lowe recounting the situation explains the circumstance of Private Martin’s death;

“The enemy really had us pin-pointed here; things got pretty hot, fire coming from our front, from the left, and after setting a haystack on fire, we got fire from rear from MG. We had done considerable crawling here; were about 200 years (yards) from the houses. Was unable to use Bren guns, they both jammed through mud. At this stage I was wounded by a grenade. Jerry had come up the ditch on opposite side of road. Pte Martin was killed next, bullet in head.”

Private Adélard Martin’s Memorial Cross. Library and Archives Canada.
Private Adélard Martin’s medals and memorials form. Library and Archives Canada.

The last moments of Adélard Roger’s life would have been terrifying, exhilarating and full of adrenaline. They were in the heat of the action, grenades and machine gun fire all around them. Martin was killed instantly by a bullet in the head, hopefully quick enough that he didn’t notice or feel it. Private Martin was buried at the Adegem Canadian War Cemetery in Adegem, Belgium. 

Lest We Forget.

Share your thoughts