Remembering WWII Hero's Incredible Story After He Dies at Age 101
In his 1818 poem “Ozymandias,” Percy Bysshe Shelley wove an imaginary tale about a plaque to a once-feared king. It famously read, “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
The poem contains a major twist. The only works remaining to the titular king are the plaque itself, the stone legs of a ruined statue and the desert wastes surrounding them.
When we leave this life, our works will one day be forgotten. However, the example of one World War II veteran shows that true bravery will last much longer in peoples’ minds.
According to Global News, Honorary Col. David Lloyd Hart of the Canadian Army passed away on March 27. He had reached the age of 101, no mean feat in and of itself.
However, Hart had also achieved something that no one else had managed in the “True North, strong and free.” He had served for 81 years, longer than anyone else in the Canadian Armed Forces.
“When looking at the life of this Canadian military icon, we are truly thankful for his dedication, courage and contribution to the military and Canadians,” Lt. Gen. Jean-Marc Lanthier, commander of the Canadian Army, said.
“Not only was he decorated for saving lives during World War II but he spent his entire adult life serving Canada and inspiring fellow soldiers both on active duty and in honorary positions.”
Though Hart spent decade after decade supporting Canadian military personnel, his greatest achievement occurred on a single day. Originally a reservist, he got called into active duty when World War II broke out.
He ended up being a part of the Dieppe Raid, an assault on a German fort in Dieppe, France that became the most fatal clash for the Canadian military, according to the Waterloo Region Record.
The operation was originally supposed to be a covert affair. However, German forces soon sussed them out.
“The fire was terrible,” he recalled. “There was mortar fire and there were machine-gun nests in the cliffs which weren’t seen by our intelligence people because they had them covered, and they had heavy six-pounder or more cannons shooting at us.”
In another interview, he added, “People were being shot at. People were being killed all over.
“It was an absolute catastrophe, and I could see and hear the disaster taking place all around me. We were left immobilized near the beach, and I thought I was going to be taken prisoner.”
So Hart hatched a plan: As a communications operator, he would switch frequencies and tell the frontline forces to retreat, thereby saving lives.
However, there was just one problem. “I had to ask for permission to get off the air and was told ‘no’ because I was the only communications forward and back,” he said.
Hart requested a brief moment of radio silence, and in the space of 30 seconds, he issued an order that ended up saving over 100 lives.
The Canadian Armed Forces’ communications association wrote in Hart’s obituary that it was “a critical change to the timing of rescue craft facing relentless enemy bombardment.”
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