Earlier this year, the southwest lost one of its last remaining veterans from World War as Gordon Hartley passed away.

Though he has passed on, Hartley did tell his kids a story back in 1999 that recounts his time in the war.

Hartley, alongside three of his friends, enlisted on July 9, 1942, in Regina and was enlisted on July 16, 1942.

After two weeks of training in Regina, they were posted in Prince Alberta for basic training. There he was in the 11th Platoon under Lieutenant Bannerman from Vanguard.

During his time in basic training, Hartley and his three friends were offered the opportunity to take officer training. Hartley refused and went to Kingston, Ontario, for signal training.

"Kingston had been the RCCS training centre for years before the war, so it was very 'military.' Our days consisted of code reading, sending practice and of course, parade square time. After a few months of this, I decided to apply for Harry (my brother in the Navy) to 'claim' me into the navy. This seemed like a dumb move as I can't even swim, but as it turned out, I was placed on a draft for England before my papers were finalized. During this whole time in service, I didn't once see Harry. My original idea was to become an Instrument Mechanic, another term of the maintenance man, but since I had prior training in operator work, that's where they put me."

After leaving Kingston, Hartley was shipped out on the Queen Elizabeth for England.

"The signals had a holding unit of their at Cove, so this is where we went until being posted to the different united. Just a bit of explanation, the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals is as such an entity in itself, and therefore, we were attached or taken on strength with other units and became their means of communication."

Hartley said that getting used to the country, people, and money was quite an experience. 

"The country was beautiful even though it had gone through so much bombing and the people were amazing. I fell in love with the whole thing. Having relatives over there whom I saw on leave, made it so much better. Don't get the idea that my thoughts of home and war had changed, to the contrary, but we were there, so let's make the best of it."

Hartley's first posting was to the 2nd Armoured Brigade, where he had the position of operation in the Colonel's tank. He recalled the only good thing was the tank training shoots at Pembroke, Wales. Quite an experience for someone who had only fired a 22 rifle.

Another posting for Hartley was to the Lines of Communication.

"This proved to be a very enjoyable posting," he said. "I was assigned to a van carrying a radio and all the essentials with a driver. On occasion, it was Joe Kinniburgh and a Navy wireless operator. Just this one unit started out at Worthing on the south coast of England and travelled all across the south coast to Lands End. It was a combined operation with the navy."

Hartley recalls a time where he was with the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade. We were stationed at Crookham Crossroads. There he ended up with blood poison in his right hand and ended up in the hospital, then back to the holding unit again.

The next posting was his final in England with the 4th Canadian Infantry Division.

"I don't recall just how long we were before we went to Europe, but we were stationed at Rutherfield Hall near Crowborough," he said. "This is where I met my three most trusted buddies, Bill Wallace from Mankota, Andy Miller from Edenwold, and was reacquainted with Joe Kinniburgh, from Purple Springs, Alberta. I was the youngest of the four, so they took care of me, and we had a great time together."

"Rutherfeild Hall seemed to be the staging area for us as it was here that we waterproofed our vehicles for the eventual landing in France," Hartley continued. "I was attached to the 4th Division for the rest of my tour of duty and eventually was in the 10th Brigade in the Command Vehicle. I believe my time with the unit in England was one of the most enjoyable times spent over there. I was with them for a long time compared to being attached to the other commands for only short periods. One got to know more of your mates and the bonding and fellowship that goes with it really counts."

Next for Hartley, they moved to the south coast for embarkation to Europe. They landed in France was what Hartley believes to be July 21, 1944, on Juno Beach close to the Village of Courcelles.

"The landing craft got close enough to shore so that the vehicles could be driven through the water thus the need for waterproofing," he said. "The rest of us went over the side of the boat by rope ladders or nets with a full pack. This looks quite simple when you see someone with experience do it but it takes it from me, it's not. Once ashore we rejoined our vehicles and on to the gathering area. Then began the procedures of setting up the antennae for wireless, digging slit trenches etc."

Hartley notes that there was an always a delay before the mess crew got set up to cook the meal. In the interim, the Salvation Army offered him and his fellow soldiers’ coffee, hot chocolate, cookies, even shoelaces and socks. To Hartley, it was always amazing the work that they did.

Later on, he was dispatched to the 10th Brigade Headquarters with the 4th Division. The headquarters was an Armoured Command Vehicle, something Hartley said was a tremendous monstrosity. 

During his time in the command unit, they were in contact with multiple units. At one-point, Hartley recalled being the recipients of there own bombs in the Falaise Gap.

"Through the miscalculations by the upper brass or by the smartness of the German Command, we were in the area where the German forces were supposed to be. We had dug our slit trenches about three inches deep when they came over."

Hartley faced another dangerous situation later on as they had got ahead of infantry units were about three to four ahead of where they should have been. They were sniped on there to meals, but no one was injured.

After working there way north, it was then Hartley remembered receiving some great news.

"It came as a great thrill that I happened to be on the set when the message for when the cease-fire was transmitted."

After his unit was disbanded, they were moved to Calais for disembarkation for England and home. It was there that Hartley was boarded on Mauritania and arrived in Halifax on New Year's Eve. He then boarded a special train and he was then greeted in Regina by his Mon and Dad.

After the leave Hartley returned to Regina for a medical exam where it was discovered he had Tuberculosis on his right lung, which had spread to the left side. He was admitted to the Military Hospital in Regina, then was moved to the Regina General Hospital, and then to Fort San. After receiving Pneumothorax (the pumping of air between the lung and chest wall to collapse the lung) for about a year, his lung collapsed as a result of too much air. Two years after being admitted to Fort San he was discharged from the hospital on March 17, 1948.

During his two years in the hospital Hartley recalls something that would change his life forever.

"A beautiful nurse came out from the Moose Jaw general hospital for TB training. It happened that she was the roommate of a school chum of mine who told her to look me up. She did just that and it was love at first sight."

Despite the happy ending Hartley in his story, said his opinion on the war remained unchanged.

"The waste of human lives, animals, miles of dead horses, destruction of homes, ancient, beautiful buildings, vehicles of all descripts, boggles the mind and for what."

Swift Current Online used the story of Hartley, by permission of his kids, and his family.