Alfred Cormier

Prepared by the Witnesses of War team

Alfred Cormier was born on 25 February 1925 in Boston, Massachusetts, to a family with Canadian roots. When he was seven, his family moved to Adamsville, New Brunswick, following his father’s declining health. Growing up during the Great Depression, Alfred left school at thirteen to help support his family and worked on his uncle’s farm. In 1941, aged sixteen, he lied about his age to enlist in the Canadian Army.

Alfred joined the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, part of the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. After crossing the Atlantic, he trained in England for the invasion of occupied Europe. On 6 June 1944, nineteen-year-old Alfred landed in the first assault wave on Nan Red sector of Juno Beach, at Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer. He survived the landing and spent his first night in France in the town.

The Normandy campaign brought further bitter fighting. Alfred participated in the assault on Carpiquet on 4 July 1944, during Operation Windsor, aimed at capturing the village and nearby airfield west of Caen. He remembered his regiment suffering heavier losses there than on D-Day. His service subsequently took him through Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

After Germany’s surrender in May 1945, Alfred remained with the occupation forces in northern Germany before returning to Canada. He married in New Brunswick and later moved with his wife to Montreal, where he worked for Eaton’s. France awarded him the Légion d’honneur in recognition of his contribution to its liberation.