Name/Title
1955 - Major Olivar Asselin, L d'Hon (France) - CGG 87th Battalion Officer - Famous French-Canadian Author, Journalist, Politicain and Soldier who has the prestigious Quebec Grand-Prix-De-Journalism named in his honour.Scope and Content
1955 - Major Olivar Asselin, L d'Hon (France) - CGG 87th Battalion Officer - Famous French-Canadian Author, Journalist, Politician and Soldier who has the prestigious Quebec Grand-Prix-De-Journalism named in his honour. First named in 1955
NOTABLE FRENCH-CANADIAN JOURNALIST, AUTHOR AND QUEBEC MNA POLITICIAN
CO-FOUNDER OF LE DEVOIR NEWS PAPER WITH HENRI BOURASSA
FORMER PRESIDENT OF ST. JEAN BAPTISTE SOCIETY
CANADIAN DELIGATE AT THE PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE (1919)
ONE OF 6 CGG OFFICERS TO FOUND & COMMAND A CEF BN (163ieme Bn)
ONE OF 3 CGG MEMBERS TO FIGHT IN SPANISH AMERICAN WAR
ONE OF 29 OFFICERS STILL ON STRENGTH WITH 87th BN ON RETURN HOME TO MONTREAL
PRESTIGIOUS FRENCH CANADIAN GRAND-PRIX-DE-JOURNALISM (Prix Olivar-Asselin) NAMED FOR HIM
ABOUT THE CGG OFFICER:
“With the onset of the First World War, Asselin was sympathetic to the plight of France, which he considered to be “essential for the survival of the French Canadian civilization.” He became a recruitment officer, co-founding the 163rd Battalion (called les Poils-aux-pattes) in 1915 alongside Colonel Henri DesRosiers. After garrison duty in Bermuda, the unit was disbanded in England in early 1917. Asselin joined the French Canadian 22nd Infantry Battalion as a lieutenant and fought on the Western Front for the remainder of the war. He obtained an award for bravery at the Battle of Vimy Ridge. After suffering a bout of trench foot and clashing with Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas-Louis Tremblay, Asselin moved to the 87th Battalion in 1918 where he helped liberate occupied Belgian and French villages. In 1919, he was bestowed the French Legion of Honour for his wartime service.” – The Canadian Encyclopedia
Incidentally, with the change in recruiting practices to regional recruiting in mid 1917, including conscription, by the fall of 1918 so many reinforcements were arriving at the 87th. Bn. who spoke only French that on Oct. 29, it was decided to transform C Coy into a francophone sub-unit. Aside from the 22nd. Bn., to my knowledge this was the only French speaking unit of the Canadian Corp in the field. Capt. Asselin took a voluntary reduction in rank from Major to be the second in command of this French speaking unit. As did the new coy commander, Major Hercule Barre who volunteered to take a reduction in rank from LCol. in the 150th. Bn. to join the 87th. As now a francophone unit, C Coy helped earn our last battel honour for WW1, the capture of the village of Valenciennes. As noted above Asselin led a delegation of 9 members of C Company to aid the British (not Canadian) delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 where they served a bi-lingual telephone operators/translators _ the internation language of diplomacy being French. Again, to my knowledge, no other Candian Bn. received this request.Created By
Lieutenant Michael Hayes-Rivet, retired.Create Date
October 25, 2024Updated By
R. John Dolbec C/Sgt. (ret.)Update Date
August 7, 2025
