#Story
Gaston Nadeau – A war victim in peacetime
Private Gaston Nadeau survived the war but he would never see his homeland again. Who was this unknown Canadian soldier who lost his life seven days after the liberation of the Netherlands?
Gaston Nadeau grew up as a farmer’s son in a family of 11 children in Sainte-Germaine, Quebec, Canada. At the age of 21, he enlisted in the Canadian Army. His first deployment as a private came in 1943, when he was sent to Italy to fight with the Canadian Liberation Army against the German occupiers. Nadeau was wounded and transferred to a military hospital to recover.
In February 1945, Private Gaston was sent back to the front in Northwest Europe. After the liberation of Diepenheim (on 1 April 1945), the 4th Medium Regiment stayed in the town for several days.
On 12 May 1945, during a short leave, Nadeau went swimming with five fellow soldiers in the millpond of the Den Haller watermill on the Diepenheimse Molenbeek. Tragedy struck when he suddenly disappeared beneath the surface. Attempts to save him were in vain. It was only after about fifteen minutes that his lifeless body surfaced. It is believed he was pulled down by a deep hole or whirlpool created by the swirling water, where he drowned.
Following the tragic event, Nadeau was buried a total of three times. First temporarily at the roadside, then he was moved to the General Cemetery in Diepenheim. On 9 August 1946, he was reburied with honour at the Canadian War Cemetery in Holten, Plot 12, Row H, grave number 13.