B158610 Rifleman Lawrence (Larry) Cornelius O’Farrell was born in Harrisons Corners, South Stormont, Ontario, on 16 November 1924. His father, Patrick, came from the USA and his mother, Mary Margaret Moloney, was a Canadian. They married on 11 June 1905. Eleven children were born to this Roman Catholic family with Irish roots. Larry was the tenth child with five older brothers: Francis, Jerry, Patrick, Vincent, and John. His brother, Anthony, was two years younger. He had four older sisters: Mary, Loretta, Helena and Sheila. One sister died when she was three months old and a brother was stillborn.

When he was seven years old, Larry went to St Andrew’s school in Stormont County. He left school when he was fifteen to help his parents on the family farm. He worked there for three years. His father died in 1941 and one of his brothers took the farm over. Larry worked in building construction for a year and then became a miner at the International Nickel Company in Sudbury, Ontario.

He was keen on sports and joined the miners’ athletic club, playing basketball, baseball and hockey. He was social and made friends easily.

On 25 January 1944, after three and a half months in Sudbury, Larry joined the army in Toronto, a single man, nineteen years old. He was 5 ft. 7in. tall, weighed 154 pounds, and had hazelnut brown eyes. Asked about future plans, he said he would like to work as a mechanic after the war; apparently, he was not happy working on a farm and made it clear that he did not want to return there. Two of his brothers, Patrick and Vincent also served in the army. Patrick wanted to join the Air Force but was turned down because he had once suffered rheumatic fever. For the same reason, the navy would also not accept him.

Larry was healthy and never sick. In his assessment report, he was thought to be emotionally stable with social skills, enabling him to become a good soldier. During his basic training, he had problems firing his rifle because he could not keep his left eye shut, however, he was found to be a suitable driver or mechanic. Despite this advice, he was placed with The Queen’s Own Rifle Regiment of Canada and sent overseas. He left for the UK on 19 July 1944 with the Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit. Not a month later, on 11 August, Larry was sent to the European mainland, where he joined his regiment soon after.

At this point, The Queen’s Own Rifles, which had landed in France on D-Day, 6 June, were involved in the fighting to the south of Caen in Normandy. Constantly in combat with the enemy, they moved slowly eastwards and reached the Abbeville region at the beginning of September. Their goal was to free the channel port of Boulogne, which was heavily defended by the Germans.

At the beginning of October, they reached Belgium, where they took part in the month-long Battle of the Scheldt. Rifleman R.C. (Bob) Montgomery “Monty” was his best friend at the time.

On 12 October, the Regiment crossed the Scheldt River to the Netherlands, in amphibious Buffalo vehicles. The journey took forty-five minutes and as they arrived they were fired on. Hostilities finally ceased early in November and after a rest period of a few days, many regiments, including The Queen’s Own Rifles were transported ninety miles eastward to Nijmegen, in the Netherlands. The QOR convoy set off from Antwerp, late in the evening of 11 November, travelling via Tilburg and ‘s-Hertogenbosch, reaching Nijmegen the next day.

There followed three relatively quiet months until Operation Veritable was launched on 8 February 1945. This massive operation would clear the area to the south and force the enemy to the eastern side of the Rhine. Nijmegen is situated close to the German border and there were armed skirmishes and frequent shelling in this ‘quiet’ period. The QOR took its turn carrying out regular guard duties. A considerable amount of training took place during these months but there was also time for entertainment and relaxation. The weather was bad, with so much rainfall, that serious flooding occurred on the flat land leading to the river. Then there was snowfall, necessitating white camouflage over the uniforms when the men were on duty.

A massive bombardment on Kleve, 16 miles away in Germany on 7 February preceded the opening of Operation Veritable. The QOR moved in the direction of Millingen on the 9th and stayed in this badly flooded area on the border for some two weeks. Then they moved some ten miles through the Reichswald forest and Kleve to the Bedburg Hau region and prepared for the next Operation, Blockbuster. The city of Xanten, twenty miles to the south, is overlooked by the Hochwald forest ridge.

Slowly, The Queen’s Own Rifles, under constant attack, reached the area near Uedem; their task on 3-4 March was to clear the Balberger Wald part of the Hochwald. They were fiercely attacked by tanks, hidden canons and snipers.

On 5 March, Lawrence O’Farrell and his comrades came under enemy fire in a field near the forest. The officer was killed, his comrades wounded, and Lawrence lost his life. He was twenty years old. At that moment he was carrying a wallet, a bible and some photos. He had served 406 days in the army, of which 230 in Europe.

In a letter to his mother on 15 February, Larry had written that the weather was bad – no snow but a lot of rain, and that he hoped to be home soon because the Russians were near Berlin. On the night he died, his mother in Canada was looking out of the window towards the south; she saw a round light coming up the road which stopped by the house. She felt that it was the soul of her son, coming home for the last time.

When the Pastor from St Andrews West arrived at the farm a day or so later, his sad news was no surprise to her. The official telegram arrived on 9 March, telling her of the death of her son. She wrote to Bob Montgomery, a friend of Larry, asking for more exact details, but he was unable to tell her much more.

Lawrence was buried on 7 March in the Military Cemetery, Bedburg Hau. Later he was reburied at the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, grave reference VII. F. 13.

Two nephews were named after Lawrence. Larry, born 29 May 1937, is the son of his sister Mary and her husband Ivan McDermid. The second Larry, born 30 May 1945, is the son of his brother Patrick, and his wife Evelyn.

Below is a letter from Bob Montgomery to Larry’s mother, written in Amersfoort, Holland, on 13 June 1945, after the war ended. He writes here about a comrade, Rifleman John (Jack) Klacza, who died on 26 February 1945 and is buried near Larry, grave VIII. H. 15.

Life story researched by: Tefke van Dijk, Research Team Faces To Graves.