Lieutenant-Colonel H. Lefort Bisaillon
Régiment de Maisonneuve

Not once, even when under exceedingly difficult situations, has he neglected doing the utmost for those under his command. His calmness and mastery of himself were a striking example to all ranks and whenever the battle was at its highest pitch he would go around to the coys to counsel and help them out.

(War diary, 18 Aug 1944)

Born in Quebec in 1907, Henri Lefort Bisaillon was the son of Colonel Pierre Bisaillon who had commanded the 85th Regiment from 1915 to 1920. He took a commission in his father’s old unit, now redesignated Régiment de Maisonneuve, in 1928. While stationed in the United Kingdom, in November 1942, he succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel M.L. de Rome and would lead the unit to France as part of the 5th Brigade, 2nd Division after D-Day.

On 7 July 1944, the regiment embarked, in the words of the unit war diary, “on the Great Adventure i.e. to do our part in the liberation of Europe.” Two weeks after arriving in Normandy, the brigade was thrown into action for the first time. On 18 July, with a company commander was killed along with dozens of casualties, Bisaillon immediately worked to restore order.

After a month of confused fighting and non-stop enemy shelling around Caen, Bisaillon received a rest in mid-August which soon turned into hospitalization and evacuation. He was replaced by Major Julien Bibeau, who had earlier taken charge of the battalion at several points in the campaign.

“We lose in him an excellent leader as at all times he has spent himself tirelessly for the benefit of his troops,” the war diary recorded. “We sincerely hope that he will be leading us again very shortly. In the meantime may he be granted a very speedy recovery.” In late 1944, he was one of the three members for No. 2 Officer Survey and Classification Board, which recommended the retention or return of Canadian officers stationed in England.

Bisaillon would not rejoin his original battalion in the field but would greet the troops on their arrival home to Quebec in November 1945

He died in Montreal on 4 May 1994.