Farr, Walter Ernest

Gnr. Walter Ernest Farr passed away in the Brantford General Hospital on November 12, 1945, following a long illness that had its origin in an accident in England in July, 1943. He had enlisted September 12, 1939, and by December of that same year was overseas with the 54th Battery, R.C.A. He was later scheduled to go with assault troops to Sicily, but just at the time of departure, a shell-filled truck in which he was riding, overturned and he was buried under a quantity of heavy artillery ammunition. Gnr. Farr suffered severe lacerations and was hospitalized. However, he recovered sufficiently to arrive in Sicily just in time for rear-rank duty. He moved rapidly forward and was in the thick of front line fighting in the Italian invasion. He was in Ortona two days before it was actually taken by the Allies. In this action as a forward observation operator in a Bren gun carrier, he endured five hours of heavy enemy mortar shell fire and had a narrow escape from death, shell fragments passing through his tunic. On March 12, 1944, he became ill in Italy and after treatment was moved to England, and was invalided home. He arrived here in May, and for a short time seemed well and was able to work at his old job as a refrigeration mechanic at the Universal Cooler Company of Canada, Limited. But his physical condition was not as strong as his courageous spirit and he spent many months in the Christie Street and Brantford Hospitals. He was buried with full military honors in the Soldiers' Plot in Mount Hope Cemetery. Born in Brantford in 1909, he lived here all his life. He is survived by his widow and a small son, Walter Herbert.

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