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Leonard J. Warner was born in 1915 in Timmins, Ontario, son of Allen and Mary Warner. At age 7 they moved to WIndsor. He married Rita Warner and had two daughters, Patricia and Diane.He worked for the Lancaster Transport Company before he joined the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada Regiment in November 1943. In July 1944 he was sent to Europe. At some point he became an engineer/sapper with the Royal Regiment of Canada. He saw combat with the Regiment in Belgium and The Netherlands and was killed in The Netherlands while clearing mines in the Cuijk/Mook area.

In April 1945 the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada found themselves involved in the liberation of The Netherlands, which they entered in early October of 1944. After fighting in Germany for a while, they were back on the frontline in the Netherlands. On 10 April they opened the attack on German forces near Deventer. The next day Rifleman Warner was told to go forward to contact and pass a message to the forward platoon. He was not seen again. It was later found out that the forward platoon had been surrounded by the enemy so it was presumed that he was taken prisoner.

In November 1945 his family received word he had been killed. His body was first recovered and buried in the town of Snippeling, now a part of Deventer. In 1947 his remains were moved to Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery.

Rifleman Warner Lafferty was 30. He is buried in Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, grave XI. D. 3.