Warren Ernest Townsend was born in Ogdensburg, Quebec, the son of Samuel and Sylvia Townsend. He only completed Grade V in school before going to work on a farm and later in a sawmill at La Chute, Quebec.
Warren enlisted as a gunner in Camp Petawawa on 28 July 1942 and was assigned to the 6th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery. He married his wife, Clara, in Pembroke, Ontario on 28 November. He was promoted Lance-Bombardier on 15 April 1943 and shortly afterwards, deployed to the United Kingdom arriving on 1 September 1943. At his own request, he reverted to the rank of Gunner and in January 1944, started training at the Army Service Corps Reinforcement Unit trained as a cook.
After qualifying as a Cook Group ‘C’ in April, he returned to the 4th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment and disembarked in France on 10 June 1944. He was qualified as Cook ‘B’ in July and taken on strength of 16th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers on 24 September, as they were re-locating from the Channel ports to the area of Bruges in Belgium just before the Battle of the Scheldt.
Early on the morning of 6 October 1944, the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade assaulted the Leopold Canal with two battalions forward. The 16th Field Company provided direct support to the crossings with bridges, rafts and heavy equipment. Many worksites were under direct fire and observed artillery fire. Sapper Warren Ernest Townsend was wounded by shellfire and died later that day. He is buried in the Adegem Canadian War Cemetery, along with over 800 other Canadians killed during the clearance of the Breskens Pocket on the south bank of the Scheldt.
Return to Part 5: Tributes to the Fallen Sappers of the Scheldt
