Robert Charles Dionne was born in Sarnia, Ontario, the second son of seven children of Raymond William and Golda Marie Dionne, of Oakwood Corners, Ontario. He enlisted in the Canadian Army on 19 August 1941 in London, Ontario declaring his civilian trade as a sailor working for the Canada Steamship Lines. He stated his training preference to be a motor mechanic and was assigned to the Royal Canadian Engineers.
His father, a veteran of the First World War, and three of his brothers, all served overseas during the Second World War. Dad and oldest brother Raymond James Dionne served as sappers and the other two as infantrymen. The father, also Raymond, died from injuries sustained in a bombing raid in England. The rest returned home. (See: Remarkable Dionne Family Sent Five Members to War)
Robert completed his basic training in Chatham, Ontario and his advanced sapper training in Camp Petawawa. After a few weeks in the Valcartier Garrison and time at sea, he arrived in Scotland in March 1942 and was sent south to the Aldershot area assigned to the Engineer Reinforcement Unit at Hawley. He joined the 11th Field Company in June 1942. He qualified as Pioneer Group ‘C’ in December 1942.
The 11th Field Company arrived in France on 7 July as part of 2nd Canadian Division Engineers. They participated fully in all operations during the Battle of Normandy and the advance across the Seine, through the Channel Ports and into Belgium, clearing routes and building bridges. The Division was then moved north of Antwerp in preparation for the Battle of the Scheldt. While the battle officially began on 2 October 1944 when the 2nd Canadian Division crossed the Antwerp-Turnhout Canal to clear the Beveland approaches, for the RCE, the Battle of the Scheldt started a few days earlier.
On the night of 30 September, the 11th Field Company struggled under fire to build an 80-foot Class 40 bridge across the canal just west of a weaken bridge built the night before by the 7th Field Company near Lockenberg. The task was costly when a direct hit on the bank seat party killed two and wounded four more, three of whom would die of wounds that day. Continued mortaring slowed the work during the day, but the bridge was open to traffic before the evening
Spr Robert Charles Dionne was killed in the blast. He is buried in the Bergen-Op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery in Holland. In 1948, the Belgium Government awarded the Croix de Guerre avec Palme to Sapper Dionne in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the liberation of that country. The medal was presented by the Belgian Embassy 1940 to his mother.
Return to Part 5: Tributes to the Fallen Sappers of the Scheldt