Who’s Who in England Team
Larry Marsh—Captain of York B.C., 1937, now team-mate of Jerry Strong at Hull, with whom he played in Canada. Reliable left-handed hitter.
Lawrence Edward ‘Larry’ Marsh DFC (1913–1987) sank the Tirpitz. But before we tell that story, we need to look at Marsh’s sports career in Canada and Great Britain. Marsh was one of the four players in the England team who played his baseball in Montreal (the others were Frank Cadorette, Jerry Strong, and Snooker Ruvinsky). Marsh played at centre field alongside Jerry Strong, pitching, and Snooker Ruvinsky, catching, in the Royal team that won the 1935 city Senior Amateur championship. The 1936 season saw him playing for the Shamrocks in the Intermediate League.[i]
Like many of the Canadian contingent in the Moores professional baseball leagues, it was ice hockey, not baseball, that brought Marsh to England. In Montreal, he had turned out for the Rangers in the junior league, and, in the autumn of 1936, he crossed the Atlantic to join the Wembley Lions ice hockey team (albeit as a reserve). While playing baseball in England, he would also cross over to the continent to coach the Budapest ice hockey team, and eventually join the Dunfermline Vikings ice hockey team.[ii]
The 1937 baseball season saw him captaining and catching for the York City Maroons in the Yorkshire League alongside fellow future England player, Ross Kendrick, on pitching duty. He and Kendrick also turned out for the ‘Canadians’ in a game against Yorkshire in May and then, the following month, were in the Yorkshire team in an inter-county match against Lancashire. Alas, the Maroons had a dismal season. They were also the bystanders for one of the strangest incidents of the season when future England player Danny Wright led a walk-off of his team, the Greenfield Giants, over a disputed decision by the umpire. The match eventually continued but as a friendly, not a league game.[iii]
In the face of falling attendances, the 1938 season saw the NBA’s North of England and Yorkshire professional leagues combined to form the semi-pro Yorkshire–Lancashire League. Ross Kendrick was one of the many pro players who jumped ship and joined the rival International Baseball League (IBL), only to find himself thrown overboard when the IBL sank without a trace within a month (he eventually found a berth back in the NBA league with the Oldham Greyhounds).[iv]
Marsh stuck with the NBA. He again started the season with York, taking on pitching duties from the departed Kendrick. However, early in the season, he moved to Hull, initially, as pitcher, and then as catcher, after future England player Jerry Strong signed for Hull after his own stint in the short-lived IBL. This proved to be a wise decision on Marsh’s part, as York were to have another dismal season, finishing bottom of the league with 3 wins and 13 losses. The club folded at the end of the season. Hull, meanwhile, had a mid-table finish with honours even.[v]
Marsh spent the last baseball season before the war catching for the all-conquering Halifax, as it completed the triple, winning the Yorkshire–Lancashire League, NBA Challenge Cup, and Yorkshire Cup titles. The team included two other 1938 England team players in its 1939 season: shortstop Sam Hanna and captain Chummie McNeil.[vi]
When war broke out, Marsh joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR), training as a pilot. He joined Bomber Command and rose to the rank of Flight Lieutenant. By November 1944, he was serving in 617 Squadron—the famous ‘Dambusters’. On 12 November 1944, in what was known as ‘Operation Catechism’, he joined the rest of the squadron in a joint attack with 9 Squadron on the German battleship Tirpitz anchored near Tromsø in Norway. Attacking with the Barnes-Wallis-designed Tallboy earthquake bombs, the RAF force successfully struck and capsized the German battleship, destroying it. For his part in this action, Marsh was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC).[vii]
After the war, Larry Marsh returned to Montreal. He died there on 20 November 1987 and was buried in the Champ d'honneur national in honour of his service to his country.[viii]
Larry Marsh was definitely one of the second-string players in the England team, chosen for his ability to take on a variety of roles as circumstances demanded, rather than his peerless skill in any one department. However, the presence of players like Marsh in the team gave England a depth of skills and experience that was the perfect foundation for victory. And he sank the Tirpitz.
[i] Biographical information on Marsh from public records drawn from the account of his DFC-winning participation in Operation Catechism, which mentions his middle initial and his ice hockey career: https://bombercommandmuseumarchives.ca/medalsawarded/medalaward_c.pdf and https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/284754056/lawrence-edward-marsh, accessed 2 August 2025. In the 1935 Royals team with Strong and Ruvinsky: ‘Royals Carry Win Streak to 5 Games’, Montreal Gazette, 4 July 1935. In 1936 Shamrocks team: ‘Y.M.H.A. Cubs’ Rally Fails; Shamrocks Win’, Montreal Gazette, 3 July 1936.
[ii] In Rangers junior league team: ‘Amateur Hockey’, Montreal Star, 19 February 1934. Reserve for Wembley Lions, coach for Budapest, signed to Vikings: ‘Vikings Sign Larry Marsh’, Dundee Courier, 12 August 1938.
[iii] Marsh captain and catcher for York with Kendrick as pitcher: ‘Baseball: York Maroons’ Visit’, Hull Daily Mail, 21 May 1937; for ‘Canadians’, Leeds Mercury, 7 May 1937; for Yorkshire: ‘Yorkshire Baseball Team for “Roses” Game’, Leeds Mercury, 27 July 1937. Danny Wright leading walkoff of Greenfield players in game against York: ‘A Baseball “Incident”’, Bradford Observer, 9 August 1937.
[iv] Josh Chetwynd ‘Ross Kendrick’, in ed. Joe Grey, ‘Nine Aces and a Joker’ (Ross-on-Wye: Fineleaf Books, 2012), 27–36.
[v] Pitching for York: ‘Hull’s Misfortune’, Hull Daily Mail, 16 May 1938. Move to Hull: T.T. Dickinson, ‘Shay Baseball Chat’, Halifax Evening Courier, 2 July 1938. York bottom of the table: ‘Baseball: Yorkshire Team to Meet Tourists’, Halifax Evening Courier, 12 August 1938.
[vi] Triple winning season: ‘Halifax Baseball Champions’, Bradford Observer, 8 August 1938. Marsh, McNeil, and Hanna in Halifax team: ‘Baseball: Halifax Team For Hull’, Halifax Evening Courier, 2 August 1939.
[vii] See Note i above, first reference.
[viii] Note i above, second reference.