Wilfred Pichette
Private 648987
224th Canadian Forestry Corps.
War Plot
Division 71 & 72
Wilfred Pichette was the son of Napoleon Pichette and Melina Matte, of 29, Demers Street, Quebec. He was found drowned on 10th October 1916, aged 23.
The Standard and the Mercury on October 14th 1916 carried an account:
Record of death of Alfred Pichette
It seems Alfred Pichette came to Reading for a weekend visit from his station at Bagshot – Lieut. G.H. Frith, acting adjutant of corps, said he had been a labourer in Quebec and enlisted in March. Aged about 25 years. “He was a steady man , and had only twice been absent without leave”.
Mysterious Death
An open verdict “found drowned”. The body was taken from the River Kennet – there were one or two mysterious points surrounding the drowning which fully justified the jury arriving at the decision they did. It was a mystery how Pichette came to be where he was. The Canadian Forester, was stationed at Bagshot. The adjutant stated that he believed the deceased to be a fairly steady man, he had two marks for “absence without leave”. He had gone away at the end of September and had not reported back. Witnesses could not account for how the body got into the water. Mr John Ernest Palmer, house-surgeon found no signs of external violence. The body was in a state of decomposition; it had been in the water about a week. Death was by drowning. A shunter for Huntley and Palmer who gave evidence as to assisting in taking the body from the water said “The clothing of deceased was not properly adjusted”.
Wilfred Pichette is remembered in the Canadian First World War Book of Remembrance