One of the oldest WWII veterans in Canada has passed away.

Private Ardwell “Art” Eyres, passed away on February 16. He would have been 98 in April.

Eyres loved Alderwood and lived most of his adult life there, where he raised his family. He lived independently in his home until a few months ago.

During the Second World War, Eyres served on a troopship that was responsible for bringing thousands of soldiers across the Atlantic to fight in Europe on D-Day.

Born in Cameron, Ontario, Eyres enlisted for the army on April 29, 1943—the same day he turned 19. When asked why he decided to join, his answer is simple. “That’s what you did.”

He was stationed in Halifax to serve on the troopship Ile de France as part of the Embarkation Transit Unit. “Troops would exit one train, do a roll call before loading onto the ship. Then another train would pull up and load more soldiers. This process continued until the boat was full.”

Eyres made 17 round trips across the Atlantic to transport thousands of troops, and at one point they were joined by performer Bing Crosby. Every trip was made without a convoy escort.

“We could go fast enough to outrun German subs,” Eyres recalled. “We had to change course every three minutes or so to help confuse the enemy.”

He was dubbed “Laddie” by his Regimental Sergeant Major while serving on a hospital ship called The Lady Nelson.

Eyres served for a year after the war ended. The Ile de France was responsible for bringing back 10,000 troops, which included wounded.

“People think that when the war was over, we just all left and went back to our previous lives, but there was a lot more to do,” he says.

On discharge from the army, Eyres settled in Alderwood, married and started a family.

He went to night school and eventually became an accountant. Eyres joined the Upper Canada Railway Society and would serve as club president.

He became interested in recording his family history and worked on his family tree, recording more than 1,000 names and going as far back as 1770.

Eyres returned to Halifax June to mark the 75th anniversary of D Day and the Battle of Normandy. “Canadians need to remember how important that day was” he said then. “For all the servicemen who landed on the beaches and flew over them. We had to honour the job they did.”

For his service, Eyres received the 1939 1945 Star, the Atlantic Star, the Victory Medal, and the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Bar.