Calgary’s oldest living WWII veteran lays wreath in Remembrance Day ceremony

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At 106 years old, Wilbert (Bill) Wright is Calgary’s oldest living WWII veteran.

Despite this, he instead focussed on others at a Remembrance Day service at his seniors home on Tuesday.

“You think about everyone that lost their lives over there, but mostly you think about friends of yours that lost their lives,” he said. “One guy that played hockey – I was the centre iceman and he was my right winger – he was an air-gunner and he came back dead on the first trip he ever went on. It always makes you wonder why, you know?”

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Wright also served with the Air Force, but his life turned out much differently.

He enlisted first with the army and then joined the Airforce in 1940, six months after Germany invaded Poland, and expected to be stationed overseas during the Second World War, but instead completed his entire service in Manitoba.

“l often tell people I don’t really think I’m a veteran,” he said.

Wright’s youngest daughter, Jo-Ann Green, explained her father was not allowed to fly because he was colour-blind.

“That disappointed him but he still made the choice to stay,” she said.

Wright was stationed at the #12 Service Flying Training School in Brandon, Man., for two years, then at the #10 SFTS in Dauphin, Man., for nearly three years, which is where hundreds of bomber pilots got their wings.

Wright worked mostly in procurement, and became a sergeant at the central warehouse, where he was responsible for buying food and other items for the canteens.

The farm boy from Aylsham, Sask., got two weeks off each spring and fall to help with seeding and harvest.

In 1942, Wright married his childhood sweetheart, Myrna, and they had seven children.

Two of his daughters attended a Remembrance Day service at Silvera Aspen Commons on Tuesday, where Wright laid a wreath.

Both say they’re very proud of their father.

“I’m proud that he’s still able to talk about it and remember and honour,” Green said.

Wright says current world events are often troubling.

When asked about the biggest change in the world in his time, he says it is the pace.

“Things are so fast now you know.”

Wright and his family hope his story can help others reflect on the past and consider the future.

“When a war is on it affects everyone for generations and we don’t want that to happen again.”

According to the Royal Canadian Legion National Headquarters, 110-year-old Burdett Sisler of Fort Erie, Ont., is the oldest living World War II veteran in Canada.