Sapper Clarence Joseph Sharp was born in 1910 in Ecton, England. The son of Frank and Susannah Rainbow Sharp, he was married to Rowena Helen Sharp of Magnetawan, ON. Clarence enlisted on 20 February 1940 in Toronto and was assigned to 2^nd Field Company in Toronto.

Sapper Sharp was only in Toronto for a short while when he was dispatched overseas. He embarked for England at Halifax on 18 May 1941. In England, Clarence joined the main body of 2^nd Field Company that was employed on camp construction at Aldershot in south-west England. He continued his training and was qualified as a Fitter on 4 April 1941.

Sapper Sharp was transferred to the 7^th Field Company on 14 June 1941. Within six months the company moved to Battle, in the County of Sussex in November 1941 as part of operational defence plan for south-west England. In May 1942, when the 2^nd Canadian Division was placed in Corps Reserve, 7^th Field Company moved to Eastborne, Sussex and settled down to a period of more construction and routine training until more rigorous training began in preparation for the Dieppe Raid.
During the Dieppe Raid, Sapper Sharp was a member of the Millar Party of 55 All Ranks whose primary task was to demolish a number of cranes in the dock area in the town of Dieppe. The Millar Party was organized into four teams and Sharp was a member of Sergeant Murray’s ‘A’ Team.

The team took casualties on landing under heavy fire. The surviving team members assisted the advance up the beach and attempted to advance to their demolition targets in town. As with many of the landed troops, they were prevented from advancing from the beach because of the intense fire from the full range of German weapons. The team was hard-pressed to rally as a number had drowned in the surf labouring with their heavy loads, had been killed outright, or were suffering extreme wounds. Despite the best efforts to rally the team, they were unable to continue to advance towards their assigned demolition targets. Sapper Sharp was Killed in Action. He is buried in the Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery, Hautot-sur-Mer, France.

{…with research assistance by the Canadian Military Engineer Museum…}