Premier - Canadien-Français à recevoir la Croix Victoria - First - French Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross - Sayabec, Québec
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member Weathervane
N 48° 33.962 W 067° 41.234
19U E 596849 N 5380047
Le caporal Joseph Keable est le premier Canadien Francais à s'être vu décerner la Croix Victoria. Corporal Joseph Keable is the first French-Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross.
Waymark Code: WMKQ82
Location: Québec, Canada
Date Posted: 05/15/2014
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Zork V
Views: 9

Le caporal Joseph Keable est le premier Canadien Français à s'être vu décerner la Croix Victoria. Un monument et un canon, datant de la première guerre mondiale, ont été érigés à sa mémoire dans le parc municipal de Sayabec.

Mitrailleur dans le 22e bataillon canadien-français d'infanterie, (aujourd'hui le Royal 22e Régiment)

Le caporal Joseph Keable est né à Saint-Moïse, mais a vécu à Sayabec. Il fut le premier Canadien-français à recevoir la Croix Victoria, la plus haute distinction militaire dans tout le Commonwealth. Il obtint cette distinction pour être demeuré au combat afin d’arrêter l'avancée ennemie alors qu'il était blessé par des fragments d'obus et de bombes. Aujourd'hui, plusieurs institutions militaires portent son nom de même qu’une rue à Sayabec et à Rimouski, et le corps de cadets d'Amqui. Un canon vestige de la Guerre 1914-1918, est érigé en monument et rappelle sa mémoire dans le Parc municipal de Sayabec.

Référence: (visit link)

Les faits d'armes du Caporal Joseph Keable

Dans la nuit du 8 au 9 juin 1918, dans la région d’Amiens en France, le caporal Joseph Kaeble, un vétéran du 22e, est installé dans une tranchée en première ligne où il commande une section de mitrailleurs Soudainement, l’artillerie ennemie déverse pendant près d'une heure un feu incessant sur la tranchée tenue par Kaeble et ses hommes. Lorsque le tir cesse, Kaeble constate qu'il est le seul soldat indemne de sa section. Étourdi, déboussolé, il regarde dans le no man's land et voit des dizaines de soldats allemands approcher au pas de charge.

Le caporal Kaeble saute par-dessus le parapet en tenant son fusil-mitrailleur à la hanche. Il vide environ 20 chargeurs de 47 cartouches en direction de l'ennemi. Blessé plusieurs fois par des fragments d’obus et de bombes, il ne cesse de tirer. Puis, il tombe à la renverse dans la tranchée, grièvement blessé et les jambes brisées. Étendu sur le dos, il tire ses dernières cartouches par-dessus le parapet. Les Allemands reculent. Avant de s’évanouir, il hurle aux blessés qui l’entourent : « Tenez bon les gars! Ne les laissez pas passer! Il faut les arrêter! » Transporté à l’hôpital, le caporal Kaeble meurt de ses blessures le lendemain soir. Il est le premier militaire canadien de langue française à être décoré de la Croix de Victoria.

Référence: (visit link)

Corporal Joseph Keable is the first French-Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross. A monument and a canon, from the First World War, were erected in his memory in the Sayabec Municipal Park.

Gunner in the 22nd French-Canadian Infantry Battalion (now the Royal 22e Régiment) (Translation)

Corporal Joseph Keable was born in Saint-Moïse, but lived in Sayabec. He was the first French Canadian to receive the Victoria Cross, the highest military award in the Commonwealth. He received the award for having remained in battle to stop the enemy advance when he was wounded by shrapnel and bombs. Today, several military institutions bear his name as well as street Sayabec and Rimouski, and Amqui Cadet Corps. An old 1914-1918 cannon was erected as a monument in his memory in the Sayabec Municipal Park.

The feats of arms of Corporal Joseph Keable

On the night of June 8, 1918, in the region of Amiens in France, Corporal Joseph Kaeble, a veteran of the 22e Régiment, was posted in a front-line trench where he commanded a machine gun section. Suddenly, the enemy artillery began to bombard the trench held by Kaeble and his men, and kept on firing for close to an hour. When it ended, Kaeble realized that he was the only uninjured soldier in his section. Stunned and disoriented, he looked out into no man’s land only to see tens of German soldiers charging his position.

Corporal Kaeble jumped over the parapet and, with his machine gun on his hip, preceded to fire some 20 magazines with 47 cartridges each at the enemy. Though hit several times by shrapnel, he kept on firing until he finally fell backward into the trench. Lying on his back, gravely injured, his legs broken, he fired his last cartridges over the parapet. The Germans retreated. Before losing consciousness, he shouted to the injured around him, “Hold on boys! Don’t let them through! We have to stop them!” Corporal Kaeble died from his wounds in hospital the next evening. He was the first French Canadian soldier to be decorated with the Victoria Cross.

Reference: (visit link)
FIRST - Classification Variable: Person or Group

Date of FIRST: 06/08/1914

More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]

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