Harley McCurdy - WWII
Harley McCurdy - WWII
A short biography of World War Two veteran Harley McCurdy.
By Liz Dommasch, County Archivist
For the month of November, and in honour of upcoming Remembrance Day, we thought we would highlight some of Oxford’s Own. Today, we look back at Word War II and Veteran, Harley Daniel McCurdy.
Harley Daniel McCurdy was born on December 9th, 1921 to Joseph and Hannah (nee Pallister) McCurdy of R.R. #7, Woodstock, East Zorra Township. He attended Public School at S.S. No. 4 Tollgate Corners and Woodstock Collegiate Institute, before being employed as a plumber’s helper by the Woodstock plumbing and electrical business known as Harvey and Wilson.
On April 21st, 1942, Harley enlisted at the naval reserve in London, Ontario and was transferred to the H.M.C.S. Cornwallis in Halifax for basic training. He would later be assigned to the H.M.C.S. Mayflower where he took part in convoy duties on the North Atlantic and Great Britain coasts.
H.M.C.S. Mayflower was a Flower-class corvette that served mainly in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War, but began her service with Royal Navy. She saw action primarily in the North Atlantic and along the British coast escorting. In April 1944 she took part in Operation Neptune, the naval aspect of the invasion of Normandy and on May 31st, 1944 she set out to escort the blockships from Oban, which would become part of the beachhead after D-Day.
On D-Day, Harley was involved in towing and sinking available Merchant Marine ships along the coast of Normandy so that large American battle ships could moor to them in support of the June 6th, 1944 landings. On October 19th, 1945 he was discharged.
Following his military career, Harley pursued his plumbing trade at Bickerton’s Plumbing, where he received his Master Plumbers Certificate. He operated his own Plumbing and Heating business for a period of time, before being employed by the Woodstock Public Utilities Commission and then finally the Oxford Regional Centre.
Harley McCurdy passed away on February 27th, 2012.
The Archives is honoured to house a collection of records related to the life and military career of Mr. McCurdy. For those seeking more information, please contact Archives Staff.