Description
Percy "Dwight" Wilson was the second-to-last surviving Canadian veteran of the First World War.
Born in Vienna, Elgin County, Ontario, he signed up as a 15-year old boy in 1916. When asked about his actual age he told the recruiting officer 16, but faced with soaring casualty rates for each meager yard of territory won and lost, that was good enough for the Canadian Army. On the two week voyage crossing the North Atlantic to England, he entertained the other troops on the R.M.S. Grampian liner with his wonderful singing voice. On arrival, Wilson's youth was quickly discovered, and he never went near the battlefield, before being returned to Canada in 1917. Still determined he enlisted again, winding up once more at Camp Petawawa for military training. The war ended before he got another chance overseas.
He and Eleanor were married in 1927 and they stayed together until she died at the age of 94. They had two sons: Dean and Paul. Shortly after the Second World War began, he enlisted for a third time. Instead of being too young, he was now too old, and he spent the war as a captain in the Perth County Reserves.
Born
February 26th, 1901 in Canada / Died: May 9th, 2007 - at the age 106, natural causes
Last Changes
2007/05/10
The celebrity has been marked as passed away
2007/01/30
New Address: Available to members only
2006/10/07
Celebrity has been added to our listings