Remembering World War II

Lloyd Douglas Farnell

Name: Lloyd Douglas Farnell Rank: Private 1st Class Service Number: 3920309 Service: 91st Quartermaster Company, 91st Infantry Division, US Army Date of Birth: May 31, 1922 Place of Birth: Middle Musquodoboit, NS Date of Enlistment: March 4, 1943 Place of Enlistment: Seattle, Washington Address at Enlistment: Pierce, Washington Age at Enlistment: 20 Height: 6 feet, 1 inch Complexion: Light Hair: Brown Eyes: Gray Trade: Checker Marital Status: Single Next of Kin: Norman Farnell (Father) Date of Death: June 3, 1945 Age: 23 Cemetery: Florence American Cemetery, Italy Grave Reference: Plot F, Row 9, Grave 10 Lloyd Douglas Farnell was the son of Norman Parker Farnell (1887-1970) and Janet Melinda (Densmore) Farnell (1898-1994). His father was born in Musquodoboit, NS; his mother – in Brookfield, Colchester Co., NS. Lloyd had one sister, Gladys May (Farnell) Sprouffske (1923–2018). Lloyd’s father Norman served Canada in the First World War with the 85th and 13th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Forces (Service No. 222664). He served in Canada, England and France. His uncles Ruffus William Farnell, and Allison Hood Farnell, also served in WWI. The family moved to the US in the 1920’s (December 9, 1922 on CP Railway #19 from Shubenacadie, NS to Detroit Michigan, and settled in Washington State. His sister Gladys was born a year later in 1923. Throughout the 1930’s and 1940’s, the family lived on McKenna Street, in Pierce, Washington. Lloyd completed his declaration of intention to become a US citizen September 25, 1941, in Tacoma, Washington. He registered for the US Draft on June 30, 1942, in Washington, was working for the Eatonville Lumber Co. at the time, and enlisted to serve in the US Army less than a year later in March of 1943. The 3rd Infantry Division departed for the European Continent on April 3, 1944 and served in Italy. PFC Farnell died June 3, 1945. His death was non-battle related, while serving in Italy. Private 1st Class Lloyd Douglas Farnell was interred at the Mirandola Cemetery, in Mirandola, Italy (Temporary cemetery 5252) in Plot J, Row 3, Grave 1185, and re-interred with grave consolidation at the Florence American Cemetery. The Florence American Cemetery is just outside of Florence, Italy, framed by the hills of Tuscany. Nearly 4400 are buried there. Most died in the hard fought campaigns against Nazi Germany in Northern Italy in the war’s final year. The statue of an American 91st Division soldier stands watch over his fallen comrades as the Tuscan sun rises and falls over the cemetery.

Sources: American Battle Monuments Commission – Lloyd Douglas Farnell American Battle Monuments Commission – Florence American Cemetery and Memorial