Doug's father, Richard, emigrated from England to Canada in 1914, settling in Toronto. Six years later Doug arrived. The family moved a lot and he recalls attending five different elementary schools. His sister, Beatrice, took him to kindergarten class at Gledhill School. After graduation he moved on to Danforth Tech where he stayed for a couple of years.
Blessed with an excellent memory, Doug recounts some of his childhood experiences.
Growing up was an adventure for the young Weston boy. He travelled across the city on streetcars. When he was 10 he roller skated the breadth of the city along Bloor Street. In the same year he delivered 50 Toronto Star Weekend edition newspapers on his paper route. He figures now his route was a three-and-a-half mile walk. If he had extras, he'd stand in front of the Woolworth's store on the corner of Lee and Queen St. shouting, "Get your Star newspapers!"
In the summer the kids would sleep on the verandah or on the beach in the area we now know as the Beaches in the east end of Toronto.
In 1936 he started driving, and in the same year he bought his first car, a 1927 Plymouth Business Coupe for the princely sum of $35.
In those days Eglinton Ave. was a dirt road. The trip from Lawrence Ave. to Victoria Park down the Don River Valley involved crossing a one-lane wooden bridge signed "Use at own risk".
Life in the Depression left marks on all who lived through it. The family was given vouchers which his oldest sister would take on the 20-minute walk north to a store on Kingston Rd. to get 3-4 pecks of potatoes and a dozen loaves of bread. The food was stored in an ice box - the family had no fridge until 1935 and Doug was 15.
He chuckles as he remembers his uncle who lived on a 40-50 acre sheep farm north of Oshawa in Raglan. The uncle refused to have electricity installed - he claimed it was a passing fad. Lighting came from a hurricane lamp. Otherwise, it was pitch black at night on the farm. Electricity arrived after the war.
Doug left high school after a couple of years and became an apprentice plumber. In those pre-war years he was lucky to get 20-30 hours of work each week. That all changed with the war. Doug says there was plenty of work for everybody, much of it for the government.
He remembers that Ajax was "nothing" before it became a munitions manufacturing town. About 600 women were hired to work in the Ajax factories; others caught on in plants in Scarborough.
He was drafted at 21, and again his eyes twinkle. He says he was turned down because he only weighed 118 pounds. A year later he weighed a whole pound more and was accepted. He guesses they were getting desperate. He signed up in January, 1942, starting as a mess boy and earning $1.10 a day in military pay.
He travelled to Britain on the Duchess of York out of Halifax. The highlight of the trip was a $10 tip.
Doug and members of the #3 Troop pose for a
photo in East Horsley, England on September 1, 1942.
Doug is in front.
He soon became an engineer in the 4th Army Division, 9th Field Squadron.
He saw action in Normandy, joining the fray when 10 miles of beach had been captured. His squadron was part of the force that took Cannes before moving on to Calais. They moved up along the coast to Dunkirk, Holland and Bruges, finally ending up in Germany at the end of April in 1945.
Doug received news early in April that his mother was dying of cancer. He couldn't leave while they were advancing on Germany, but got leave in May after his group had pulled back to Holland. It was too late, his mother had died, and he told his commanding officer.
Doug was told to keep quiet. The fighting was over - go home.
Taking passage on the New Amsterdam, he arrived home in July, 1945 and was discharged six months later.
His life took its next turn at a Hallowe'en party held by IBM in 1946. Doug was working as a steamfitter, but his sisters, Dorothy and Velma worked for the big firm. It was at the IBM country club party that he met his future wife, Doris Margaret Atkinson. They were married within the year and raised three children - Allan, born in 1949, Peggy, born in 1953, and Lorna, born in 1956.
The kids get ready for Sunday School.
There was work after the war, but a shortage of building materials kept him from working full time fofr the first few years.
Doris with Allan and Peggy.
Doug was one of the many who worked in the production of the Avro Arrow. When it was cancelled he went to IBM in the maintenance department, then on to Sunnybrook Hospital and the Royal Ontario Museum.
He retired 27 years ago. He jokes that he took "early retirement". He couldn't get a job.
Doug, left, and a friend sailing on Lake Erie.
After ten years in Norwood, he moved in 1990 to Colborne where he has spent most of his time "fishing and gardening". Doug continues to fly fish, tying his pwn lures. The week before he gave the interview for this story he was strolling down Shelter Valley Creek in his waders. He gave up cross country skiing at Presqu'ile five years ago when he was 84. He claims it was too hard on his knees.
His latest possession is a laptop he received on Father's Day. He says he's learning how to use it - quite a feat for someone who grew up at the end of the horse-and-buggy era.
Doug claims the secret to longevity is keeping active. He played hockey, and baseball, and downhill skiied from the age of 16. Living in the Beaches area, he swam near the Balmy Beach Canoe Club. He danced every Saturday at the Palais Royale
It probably doesn't hurt to have strong genes either. His father lived to 92 and he has a 96-year-old cousin.
Doug Weston is a remarkable man. He has lived a long and eventful life and continues to look forward to new adventures.
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