Able Seaman Lawrence James Jodoin was born in Edmonton, Alberta, on September 16, 1925, to parents Arthur and Mary Jodoin. He had two younger siblings, Robert and Marion.
Jodoin enlisted with the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve at H.M.C.S. Nonsuch in Edmonton on March 22, 1943. He was posted the following June to H.M.C.S. Naden in Esquimalt, British Columbia. He served a month aboard H.M.C.S. Stadacona prior to his arrival in Great Britain in November of 1943, where he spent the winter in Scottland at H.M.C.S. Niobe and H.M.S. St. Christopher. Assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat duty the following spring, Jodoin joined the crew of MTB-461 on May 6, 1944.
Killed in action on July 9, 1944, off Cap D’Antifer, France, during the Normandy Landings operations, Jodoin was buried at sea that same day. He was posthumously Mentioned in Dispatches for “gallantry, skill, determination and undaunted devotion to duty during the landing of Allied Forces on the coast of Normandy.” He is commemorated on the Halifax Memorial, Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1950 the Peace River tributary Jodoin Creek was named in his honour.
Content notes:
Most letters in the collection were written by Jodoin to Patricia Tupman of Victoria, B.C., between August of 1943 and July of 1944; they first met during Jodoin’s time at H.M.C.S. Naden in Esquimalt. Also included are three letters sent by Tupman that were returned to her as undeliverable following Jodoin’s death.
External links:
AS Lawrence Jodoin’s service record (Serv/Reg# V57427) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Jodoin can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Mentioned in Despatches (posthumous), December 29, 1944, in the London Gazette (#36858, p. 5916).
Geographic information on Jodoin Creek in the Canadian Geographical Names Database, Government of Canada.
A photograph of the crew of MTB-461, taken on May 1944, can be viewed online at The Naval Museum of Manitoba. Jodoin is in the back row, sixth from left.
