Remembering World War I Yarmouth Connections

Alcide Raymond Doucette

Name: Service No Rank Battalion/Service Date of Birth: Place of Birth: Date of Enlistment: Place of Enlistment: Address at Enlistment: Age at Enlistment: Height: Complexion: Hair Colour: Eye Colour: Martial Status: Religion: Trade: Next of Kin: Discharged: Date of Death: Cemetery:

Alcide Raymond Doucette 4050130 Private 1st Depot Battalion NS Regiment Canadian Machine Gun Corps (3rd Battalion) November 19, 1896 Springhaven, Yarmouth Co., NS January 30, 1918 Halifax NS Springhaven, Yarmouth Co., NS 22 5 feet, 5 inches dark black brown Single Roman Catholic Farmer Thomas H. Doucet (Father) Springhaven, Yarmouth Co., NS May 1, 1919 (at Halifax on demobilization) January 23, 1982 Yarmouth Roman Catholic Cemetery, Yarmouth, NS Alcide Raymond Doucette was the son of Thomas and Charlotte (LeBlanc) Doucette of Springhaven, Yarmouth Co., NS. He completed his medical at Yarmouth on November 16, 1917 and officially enlisted with the 1st Depot Battalion, NS on January 30, 1918. He served in Canada for two months and embarked at Halifax on April 7, 1918 and disembarked at Liverpool, England on April 19, 1918. He sailed on the SS Ulua. In England, Private Doucette was taken on strength with the Canadian Machine Gun Corps on June 12, 1918 and assigned to the Canadian Machine Gun Reinforcement Unit at Seaford. East Sussex. He then joined the 3rd Battalion Canadian Machine Gun in France on August 29, 1918. On September 30, 1918 at Cambrai, Private Doucette was wounded, suffering a shrapnel wound to his left leg. He was returned to England and hospitalized until March 13, 1919. Although scarred from the wound he experienced no disability. On April 16, 1919 he embarked Liverpool on the SS Belgic and disembarked at Halifax on April 23, 1919. He was discharged at Halifax on May 1, 1919 having served two months in Canada, ten months in England and two months in France and Belgium. Alcide married Florence Muise on October 21, 1924. (Alcide Raymond Doucette’s official records list the spelling of his last name as “Doucet”)

Background photo: Battery of machine guns in the 3rd Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corps. The most Eastern Outpost on the British Western Front held by Canadians East of Mons. (November, 1918) [Photo: Canada - Dept. of National Defence Library and Archives Canada Sources: Photo of Alcide Doucette: Courtesy of Phyllis Pothier Library and Archives Canada

The machine gun battalions played an active role in the war's final battles, beginning at Amiens in August 1918. A massive Allied counter-attack set the static front in motion, creating a situation much more suitable for the weapon than static trench warfare. Portable and easily deployed, machine gun battalions supported advancing infantry with strategic 'indirect fire' and were called to the front lines when stiff enemy resistance halted their steady advance. During the period from August 22 to October 11, 1918, infantry and machine gun battalions participated in battles at Canal du Nord and Cambrai, suffering significant casualties. Infantry units recorded 4367 men killed in action, 1930 missing and 24,509 wounded during this time. Machine gun battalions, much smaller in size, nevertheless paid a heavy price, with 282 men killed in action, 23 missing and 1502 wounded. Source:

Testing a Vickers Gun, 1916

Alcide Raymond Doucette