Labelle, George Adrien

Date of birth:: June 17th, 1921 (Montreal/Quebec, Canada)
Date of death:: January 19th, 1945 (Near Den Bosch/North Brabant, Netherlands)
Buried on:: Canadian War Cemetery Groesbeek
Plot: XVI. Row: H. Grave: 14.
Service number:: D/26301
Nationality:: Canadian

Biography

Corporal
Governor General's Foot Guards, R.C.A.C.
21st Armd. Regt.

On January 19, 1945 Labelle was killed by a very fatal accident. A good friend and teammate of George's was with him and some other soldiers in their quarters that day to get ready for a parade.
Guardsman Bell had already cleaned his pistol (a Smith & Wesson 38) the night before, but wanted to polish the outside with a cloth. Guardsman Bell was missing his index finger from the first joint and so it was sometimes difficult to hold things properly. The gun slipped from his right hand and he tried to grab it, but he hit the trigger with his middle finger and a bullet hit Corporal Labelle in the stomach area. He immediately doubled up in pain and called out for help. A medical officer arrived and administered first aid and gave him morphine. They took George to a 12th Field Ambulance and a moment later he was taken in shock by an ambulance to the 8th Canadian Hospital. The accident happened at 8.40 am, at 09.20 am George was in the ambulance and at 10.45 am he was in the hospital, where he was still receiving plasma, but unfortunately George died at 11 am. The cause of death was a Gun Shot Wound in his abdomen.

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