Snelgrove, Captain Laurence Edwin Earl

Service highlights

  • Canadian Army officer, rank Captain
  • Born 1 March 1913 in Windsor
  • Connected to St. Marys through family and commemoration
  • Served overseas in Northwest Europe with The Lincoln and Welland Regiment
  • Wounded 27 August 1944,
  • Died 28 August 1944
  • Buried at Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery
  • Mentioned in Despatches (MID)
  • Remembered on the World War II plaque at St. Marys Town Hall

A Life and Service Remembered

Laurence Edwin Earl Snelgrove was born in Windsor on 1 March 1913, the son of the Reverend Canon William and Olive Snelgrove. His family’s life was shaped by faith, service, and the steady work of community. In 1937, when Canon Snelgrove was appointed rector of St. James Anglican Church, the family came to St. Marys and put down roots here.

By the time the war began, Laurence was building his own life in Galt. He is remembered as someone who mixed responsibility with energy. He was a salesman, kept busy with clubs, and he made time for sport, including rugby when he was younger and later softball in local leagues. Those are small details, but they make him feel less like a name on a plaque and more like the person he was to friends, coworkers, and family.

When he enlisted in June 1941, he stepped into a long training path that prepared officers for the realities overseas. He trained at officers’ centres in Brockville and then at Camp Borden, graduating in June 1942. He later served at the Canadian Machine Gun Training Centre in Trois-Rivières. That stretch of training and instruction matters because it shows how thoroughly his life became focused on preparing to lead, and how much time passed before he ever saw the front.

He sailed overseas in late August 1943 and was posted in England as a reinforcement. In January 1944 he was sent to the Lincoln and Welland Regiment with the 4th Canadian Armoured Division. The sources note that he was first placed as second-in-command of a rifle company of about 120 soldiers, and then quickly given command of C Company. That is not a ceremonial responsibility. It meant knowing the men, making decisions under pressure, and carrying the weight of bringing people through.

The regiment landed in France in July 1944 and fought through the hard weeks that followed as the war moved across Normandy and into the push toward Belgium and the Netherlands. Late in August, as the Division reached and crossed the Seine and the fighting pressed forward, his battalion was ordered to take the village of Igouville and the commanding ground nearby. On 27 August 1944, his company captured Hill 88, and during that action Captain Snelgrove was wounded in the head by small arms fire. He was evacuated to 15 Field Ambulance, where he died the next day, 28 August 1944.

In September 1944 a newspaper clipping capture the quiet heartbreak of how news reached home. First the official message that he was wounded, then the confirmation that he had died the same day as his wounds were received. He left behind his wife Brownie and their young son John, along with parents and brothers who were also serving and supporting the war effort in different ways. He was buried in Normandy, far from home, among other Canadians who did not return. In St. Marys, his name remains with us on the Town Hall plaque, a reminder that this town’s wartime story includes families, workplaces, churches, and a young child who grew up without his father.

Major battles and operations

  • Enlisted for overseas service, 26 June 1941
  • Officers and infantry training in Brockville and Camp Borden, graduated 18 June 1942
  • Canadian Machine Gun Training Centre, Trois-Rivières, 13 November 1942 to 22 June 1943
  • Overseas to England, 26 August 1943
  • Posted to The Lincoln and Welland Regiment, 22 January 1944, 4th Canadian Armoured Division
  • Landed in France, 20 July 1944
  • Operations in France through August 1944, including the Seine crossing period
  • Action at Igouville, Hill 95 and Hill 88, 27 August 1944
  • Wounded 27 August 1944, died 28 August 1944

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