Private
Doucette, Ernest
Unit
78th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Winnipeg Grenadiers)
Branch
Infantry
Service Component
Canadian Expeditionary Force
Service Number
712480
birth
1899/11/22
Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada
death
1918/08/24
Somme, France
grave
Hillside Cemetery, Le Quesnel, France
Gender
Male
Ernest Doucette was born in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, on 22 November 1897. He was the son of Charles and Madeleine Doucette.
A labourer, Doucette enlisted in the 105th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Prince Edward Island Highlanders) in his hometown on 10 April 1916. After receiving initial training at Valcartier, Quebec, the battalion was shipped to England on SS Empress of Britain, embarking in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 13 July 1916. It arrived in Liverpool on 25 July 1916 and proceeded to Shorncliffe Camp, in Kent.
Doucette was hospitalized in England with influenza from 20 to 27 December 1916. He was transferred to the 104th Canadian Infantry Battalion on 26 January 1917 and then to the 13th Reserve Battalion on 3 March 1918 in preparation for being shipped to France as a reinforcement. On 4 April 1918, he was transferred to the 26th Canadian Infantry Battalion (New Brunswick) for service in France. Doucette arrived in France on 5 April 1918 and joined his unit in the field soon afterwards. He was transferred once again on 15 August 1918, this time to the 78th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Winnipeg Grenadiers). On 24 August 1918, while marching from Caix Wood to Gentelles Wood, Doucette was killed by a bomb dropped from a German airplane.
Ernest Doucette is buried in Hillside Cemetery, Le Quesnel, France.
