Return Canadian soldier backpack

[Lorenzo Campus]

Hi, I'm looking for this soldier to return his backpack to the family, i found it in Italy .
On the backpack it says: P. E. St Laurent, service Number E47068.
I do not want anything in return, only to restutuido, I attach a photo, greetings Lorenzo Campus

[Phil]

I found two P. E. St. Laurent graves so far,

St-Laurent, P. E.
Naissance : 1924 - Décès : 1993
http://www.cimetieresduquebec.ca/bas-sa ... os/182617/

St-Laurent, Paul-Emile
Naissance : 1928 - Décès : 2013
http://www.cimetieresduquebec.ca/bas-sa ... os/183024/

[Lorenzo Campus]

Thanks Phil, the soldier is from est Québec

[Lorenzo Campus]

The man in 1928 is young for military Service? I think is the first, is possible to contact the family of this 2 man and demands to they if they're granpa fight on italy soil during ww2

[Phil]

I will see if I can find a contact for the man born in 1928, you mentioned that you had an image, but it didn't seem to be attached.

[BFBSM]

The conclusion:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal ... xU4mtIyGGM

[Phil]

From the CBC article,

P.E.St-Laurent-Backpack.JPG (32.96 KiB) Viewed 33261 times

Who was Paul-Étienne Saint-Laurent?

Paul-Étienne Saint-Laurent was born in 1919 in Matane, Que., on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, 400 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.

His father died when he was nine years old, leaving his mother with eight children she couldn't support.

Placed in an orphanage, he went to work at the age of 13.

He enlisted in the war effort in 1941, joining the Royal Canadian Artillery's 57th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment as a gunner, shooting down German aircraft.

By 1944, he had transferred to the Royal 22nd Regiment, known as le Vingt-deuxième, or, in English, as the Van Doos.

Historian David O'Keefe said that toward the end of the war, gunners like Saint-Laurent weren't as critical to the war effort, since there weren't as many German aircraft left in the skies.

However, on the front lines, the Allied forces had suffered heavy losses and "desperately needed reinforcements," O'Keefe said.

Converted into infantrymen, many gunners fought in the Italian campaign — Allied operations in and around Italy from 1943 to 1945.

As a member of the Van Doos, Saint-Laurent would have faced some of the heaviest combat Canadians have ever seen.

P.E.St-Laurent.JPG (50.75 KiB) Viewed 33261 times

Paul-Étienne Saint-Laurent grew up in an orphanage in Matane, Que. He later enlisted to fight in the Second World War, eventually ending up on the front lines of the Italian campaign. This photo was taken in London. (Submitted by the Saint-Laurent family)

[Lorenzo Campus]

Thanks to all!!