Lieutenant-Colonel M.L. de Rome
Régiment de Maisonneuve

Lieutenant Colonel de Rome has, during the last 8 months, trained and commanded with outstanding success the Special Force Detachment attached to H.Q., Canadian Army. His quick grasp of the unusual problems involved, his application, enthusiasm and drive, have been an inspiration to all ranks, British and Canadian, in his Detachment.”

(O.B.E. citation, 19 Apr 1945)

Born in Ottawa on 8 January 1911, Maurice Louis de Rome belonged to the Cadet Officer Training Corps at the University of Montreal and joined the Régiment de Maisonneuve in 1935. He joined the Royal 22nd Regiment on mobilization in September 1939. Then in July 1942, he succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel J.R. Roche in command of the Maisonneuve regiment. His tenure would be brief and returned to Quebec in November 1942. However, he would soon be assigned to more secretive and sensitive duties.

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