SASKATOON -- During the Second World War, Arthur Densley didn't think twice about signing up to serve his country.
“My friends and I went from Estevan to Regina.” Densley says.
He and his buddies planned to join the South Saskatchewan Regiment, but Densley says a chance encounter changed his life and perhaps saved it.
“Most of my school chums … they all got killed with the South Saskatchewan Regiment."
While in Regina to enlist, a man approached him and a friend, asking if they wanted to join the 20th Field Company of the Royal Canadian Engineers.
Densley took him up on the offer. During his time in Europe during the war, he helped rebuild bridges after they were destroyed by retreating German forces.
He recalls a few close calls, like a time when he and a captain were scouting a site where a bridge was going to be built. They came across the wreckage of several vehicles and a tank transport.
“The driver of the truck, he was running down the road, his truck was smoking.”
Soun, a couple of shells flew overhead, landing just past where Densley was standing. The soldiers managed to jump into their jeep and speed away.
Before leaving for the war, Densley and two army buddies spotted three girls on a park bench in Winnipeg where they were stationed.
They got the courage up to walk up and invite them to a dance happening at the army base they were staying at.
That’s how Densley met Florence Williamson. The two exchanged letters during the war and grew close.
When Densley learned he was coming home, he shared the news with Williamson. She was there waiting the moment his boots touched Canadian soil.
Two years later they were married and stayed that way for 66 years until Florence died.
Upon reflecting on his time in the war, Densley has offers this advice:
“You have to make sure to eat three meals a day and you have to be happy that you’ve been able to live each day at a time.”
