Arthur Thomas Orrell

Police Constable No. 354, Toronto Police Department | Lance Corporal, Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps

Arthur Thomas Orrell was born on the 7th of April 1916 at St Catherines, Ontario, the son of Edward and Annie Orrell. Growing up, he served part-time in the Canadian Militia, then became a welder by trade. Switching vocations in 1938, Orrell became a police officer in Toronto, where he lived at 123 Elmer Ave with his wife Eileen, whom with he later had a daughter. Orrell served as Police Constable No. 354 walking the beat out of No. 10 Police Station at Main Street and Gerrard Street East in East Toronto.

In June 1939, Orrell was praised in local newspapers for his courage in single-handedly facing down an angry mob in Toronto’s Chinatown about to lynch a shop-keeper whom they accused of being a traitor.

On September 1st, 1942, PC Orrell answered the call for skilled tradesmen to join the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps of the Canadian Army and was employed as a military welder. In December, while in Basic Training at St Jean, Quebec, he was appointed an Assistant Instructor, and made an Acting Lance Corporal. Impressed by his leadership skills, his superiors deemed him “officer material”, and in January 1943, Orrell requested a transfer to the 48th Highlanders of Canada, stating he was “keen to enter a combatant unit”.

Sadly, on March 3rd, 1943, while still in training at No. 48 Canadian Army (Basic) Training School in St Jean, Quebec, Orrell became ill and died of Heart Failure.

Police Constable Arthur Thomas Orrell is buried in the Veterans Plot at Victoria Lawn Cemetery in his hometown of St Catherines, Ontario.

Research Sources:

  • D. Draper – Annual Report of the Chief Constable of the City of Toronto for the Year 1943, Pages 17 and 28. Toronto: The Carswell Co Ltd City Printers, 1944.
  • Library and Archives Canada. Service File of No. B57260 Arthur Thomas Orrell.
  • Library and Archives Canada. War Graves Registers: Circumstances of Death for No. B57260 Arthur Thomas Orrell.
  • Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Casualty Details for No. B57260 Arthur Thomas Orrell.
  • The Globe and Mail (1939, June 29th), Page 4 . “Lone Constable Calm in Face of Angry Mob”.
  • The Toronto Daily Star (1939, June 29th), Second Edition Page 1 . “All China Will Refuse to Know Him, is Opinion”.
  • The Globe and Mail (1943, March 4th), Page 4 . “Sergeant Arthur Orrell”.
  • Author’s Collection – Toronto Police Recruit Class Graduation Photo, Winter 1938.