Lieutenant-Colonel H-N. Langlois
Fusiliers Mont-Royal

In his speech Lt-Col J.G. Gauvreau mentioned the long and hard career of Lt-Col H.N. Langlois, ED, 23 years with the unit, who worked his way up from the rank of Pte to Lt-Col commanding Les Fusiliers Mont Royal.

(War diary, 18 Feb 1944)

Born in Connecticut in 1905, Henri-Noël Langlois had joined Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal as a private in 1921. He would be soon commissioned and served as adjutant after mobilization for active service in September 1939. He returned to Canada to take a staff officer course at RMC and rejoined the Fusillers after the Dieppe Raid as second-in-command under commanding officer Lieutenant-Colonel Guy Gauvreau.

When Gauvreau left for the war staff college at Camberley, England in February 1944, he left the FMR to Langlois. Two months later he fell ill and was replaced by Major Paul Sauvé who then led the battalion to France in July before Gauvreau resumed command during the Normandy campaign.

Langlois returned to Quebec where he was appointed in December 1944 to head the new depot battalion for the Fusiliers Mont-Royal. One newspaper described the army’s recruitment strategy for the province: “The setting up of these Depot Regiment is a further effort to encourage recruiting and enlisting for general service of French-speaking and bilingual Canadians.” Rather than enter the general reinforcement stream volunteers could select the francophone unit of their choice.

Langlois died in St. Laurent, Quebec on 23 May 1972.