By Cecilia Nasmith/Pete Fisher
They’re calling the celebration A Century of Knowledge and Love, as the community gathers on Feb. 24 to honour Don Smoke on his 100th birthday.
And in tribute to his service in World War II, a Canadian Armed Forces Flyover will take place during the afternoon – a fitting salute to the retired gunner who is the last remaining WWII veteran from Alderville.
Interviewed in his home within sight of the Alderville cenotaph, Smoke recalled growing up across from the Alderville Trading Post. The homestead where they lived has since been torn down.
He was still a boy when his family left the reserve in 1937 during the Depression. They settled elsewhere here and there in the county, going as far east as Brighton (where his father bought a small farm), also settling in Cobourg (where his mother bought a small house).
Smoke dropped out of school at the age of 16 and began working. There was a war on so, at 17, he decided to join the Royal Canadian Army, enlisting in the 15th Regiment in Petawawa.
“But then they didn’t send you over until you were 19,” he noted.
“My buddies all went overseas, and I got left home. After I became 19, they shipped me out over to England. I didn’t stay over there very long, maybe a month, then they shipped me across the river over to Belgium and Northern Holland.”
Smoke reached Europe in time to participate in the Liberation as the war wound down in that theatre of operations. He signed on for active duty in the Pacific, but then the Japanese surrender came before he set sail. The joke in the Smoke family is that the Japanese must have heard he was coming.
The young army gunner was know for his skills as a nine-mile sniper. But he still keenly remembers an incident that truly gave him pause.
It was in Europe just after the German surrender, when people still relied mainly on bicycles for transport. Smoke was pedalling one toward a village one day, when he saw a convoy maybe a mile in length transporting what he estimated as 500 German soldiers taken prisoner prisoner.
The lonely road and being so outnumbered stuck with him.
“It didn’t bother me at the time, but I think about it later on – I would have been mincemeat if they’d violated the rules and attacked me, because there was nobody else there,” he figures.
His daughter Marcia displays a photo of other Smoke members in uniform. At one point, she said, Smoke was serving in the war with his two brothers (Bill Stevenson and Reg Smoke) and his father (Earl Smoke).
Smoke relived his war service for public record at age 96, when he was contacted by producer Eric Brunt who wanted to speak with him for a documentary. As the Cobourg Legion had recently been demolished, plans were made to film at the Brighton Legion – where they were were quite excited to welcome a WWII veteran, as none were left in Brighton (according to their Sergeant-at-Arms).
Invited to stay on for their busy Saturday activities, he got a standing ovation when he entered the hall. Veterans from other conflicts (and even a retired Brigadier General) lined up to shake his hand. He was invited back for the next Remembrance Day ceremony for a place of honour.
At age 100, Smoke reflected on his feelings as a young man shipping out to war.
“There was no more ‘what might happen’ or ‘we’re going to shoot people.’ We were pretty well at ease.
I’m not a front-line soldier – maybe there would be a different feeling then,” he allowed.
“You are over there doing a job, and get the hell back home.”
Post-war, Smoke worked at the tannery in Cobourg. Then he went on to General Motors and worked for 30 years. He retired with a pension, which he has now collected for 45 years.
He lost his wife June in 1985, but the memories of his life are all around him in framed photos of dear ones and special events and cherished moments. He points out the shot of himself and his first car from 1937 – he still drives to this day.
And there’s a shot from the 1980s, when he was among the first group of Indigenous veterans invited to lay a wreath at the War Memorial in Ottawa.
Smoke has come full-circle back to Alderville – though it seems to have more people than it used to, more buildings on land that was once natural, more businesses carrying on brisk trade.
“I like the good old times, back in ’37,” he admits.
It dismays him to read and hear about the kind of violence that was never an issue when he was young.
“I wouldn’t walk the streets of Toronto at night,” he declared.
“I spent a little bit of time in Toronto looking for a job when I was just a young fellow – I wouldn’t walk the streets of Toronto. The violence – it’s not getting any better. It is getting worse. It is getting worse.
The values – it’s not there. The leaders and those who are supposed to be responsible for things, the respect – it’s not there any more.”
As for the threat of becoming the 51st state, Smoke declared, “I can’t see it.” But he did add, “There’s a possibility something might happen.
“You need both countries for different purposes. It’s all blowing up – they have warships here and there.”
He hopes peace can be negotiated, but cannot see headway being made.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen there.”
On a happier note, he is looking forward to his birthday celebration in a quiet way.
“I don’t get excited about things,” he said.
“I’m just going from doctor to hospital, from doctor to hospital. It tires you out.”
Asked for the secret of hitting the century mark, he named two things – principles and health.
A significant turning point in his life came in 1972, when he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (where he has achieved the distinction of attaining the Melchizedek Priesthood). It led him to give up caffeine (which he found a real challenge when working on the assembly line at GM) and adopt healthier habits such as avoiding fast food.
“I thank them for that. I think they played a role in that,” Smoke declared.
“Whatever I have been doing, I will keep doing it.
“I got a lot to be thankful for.”
Though Smoke does not have many regrets, he admits one of them is dropping out of school. Otherwise, he said, “if I had to live my life again, I would be happy doing the same.”
The celebration on Feb. 24 takes place from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Alderville Community Centre (8913 County Rd. 45) with a flyover expecting to take place between 3 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
