Guardsman Basil LeBlanc (1924-2021) - 22nd Canadian Armoured Regiment (Canadian Grenadier Guards) painted by Chris Demerais Circa 1994.

Art

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Musée Canadian Grenadier Guards Museum

Guardsman Basil LeBlanc (1924-2021): In World War II, Gdsm Basil LeBlanc served with the Canadian Grenadier Guards as a radioman in a Sherman tank and was wounded in the Battle of the Rhineland. He lost contact with his regiment for 70 years, but serendipity engineered a reunion and he finally received his Wound Stripe in a 2014 ceremony at regimental headquarters in Montreal. He later represented his regiment in France for the centennial of the World War I Battle of Vimy Ridge.
Guardsman Basil LeBlanc (1924-2021)

In World War II, Gdsm Basil LeBlanc served with the Canadian Grenadier Guards as a radioman in a Sherman tank and was wounded in the Battle of the Rhineland. He lost contact with his regiment for 70 years, but serendipity engineered a reunion and he finally received his Wound Stripe in a 2014 ceremony at regimental headquarters in Montreal. He later represented his regiment in France for the centennial of the World War I Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Name/Title

Guardsman Basil LeBlanc (1924-2021) - 22nd Canadian Armoured Regiment (Canadian Grenadier Guards) painted by Chris Demerais Circa 1994.

Description

2nd to last known surviving member of 22nd CAR (CGG) In 2013, the then Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding of the Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Gourdji, and his wife were vacationing in Palm Springs California when they decided to visit an aviation museum. While Henry was busy looking at all the aircraft, his wife Mrs. Joëlle Gourdji saw a painting on the hangar wall of a young WWII soldier wearing a Beret with the Canadian Grenadier Guards cap badge. The painting had been briefly on loan to the museum, and by a serendipitous convergence of events, LCol Henry and Joëlle Gourdji happened upon it at just the right time. The painting was a portrait of Basil LeBlanc, back to a time when he was a 19-year-old tank gunner and radio operator. Next to the painting was some text penned by the soldier himself, and the year 1994 when the painting was created and signed by the artist Chris Demarest. The Artist was in Palm desert at the time and had been traveling around the U.S. with the painting, loaning it to various exhibits along the way. With the help of Chris, Henry connected with Basil, and this led to a journey in which Basil rediscovered his old Regiment after 70 years.

Created By

Lieutenant Michael Hayes-Rivet, retired.

Create Date

December 27, 2021

Updated By

Major Brian Tracey, MMM, CD4, retired

Update Date

January 3, 2022