Many Canadians have a personal connection to Remembrance Day with a family member who served or is currently serving in the military.

But as a generation of veterans disappears there is an urgency to keep their stories alive.

In the case of a Chateauguay family, a Google search helped connect them to the final days of a long lost loved one, far away in a tiny village in France.

 

Cordebugle, France has a population of just 134, but for Robin Walsh this obscure village holds a special place in his heart, as well as the answer to what happened to his beloved uncle Bobbin.

"I probably met him but I was four-and-a-half when he was killed. From my mother's perspective, she was always talking about Bobbin. His name was Rupert but his nickname was Bobbin and we always called him uncle Bobbin," said Robin.

Rupert Edward Clarkson McCaul was a lieutenant in the Royal Regiment of Canada, killed by German soldiers in the weeks after D-Day, only 25 years old.

Though the family knew the cemetery where he lay the details surrounding his death were sketchy, so Robin's son, Jeff Walsh, started digging for answers using modern-day tools.

"I found a website the government of France had put together, that they'd gone through and archived every memorial from Napoleon up to the current day," said Jeff.

One of those monuments lies in the village of Cordebugle, roughly 160 km west of Paris.

"This small, little village was liberated on Aug. 23, 1944, and on this monument that was put there for WWI,"  they had added a plaque commemorating the deaths of seven soldiers during WWII.

"One of them was my great-uncle," said Jeff.

In June 2013, the Walshes went on a father-son trip to visit the major sites of WWII, and Cordebugle.

What they found was a town unchanged by time and a local historian who lived through the war and knew what happened to those Canadian soldiers.

He showed them a spot, marked by a flag, where the Canadians were ambushed and killed.

They were buried for eight years before their remains made it to the Canadian cemetery.

Standing where uncle Bobbin died was a powerful moment for father and son.

"Oh it was surreal, it really was," said Robin. "He knew so much this old guy and his stories were wonderful."

Canadian flags still fly in gratitude to soldiers like uncle Bobbin.

"Small, little town. Seven soldiers died liberating it, and the town has not forgotten," said Robin.

A memory of sacrifice the Walshes longed to hear.

"Closing a loop on a family story that we didn't quite understand. My great uncle, as far as I knew, went overseas, fought, and died," said Jeff.

"Now there's some backstory that I can explain to my kids."