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‘I refuse to believe it,” Les Canivet says as he turns 93

April 23, 2014   ·   0 Comments

By Tabitha Wells – Just as nearly a century of time passing can leave an interesting and ever-changing story on the lands and towns that surround us, time also leaves a unique story from the people who have lived through it. For Les Canivet, a resident of the Lord Dufferin Centre who turned 93 this past weekend, his story is equally as interesting.

Of course, if you asked Les, as he prefers to be called, he would tell you his life wasn’t very exciting. Les is a sweet older man, with a friendly disposition and a cheerful attitude. When asked what it feels like to have reached such a milestone, he chuckled before responding.

“I don’t know, I refuse to believe it,” he said, still smiling. “It doesn’t feel any different. I’ve been pretty well protected. My wife spoiled me rotten, and my kids are all grown up and are successful.”

His room at the Lord Dufferin Centre is filled with pictures of his family – times from when his children were younger, to current photos of them grown up with their own children, and a quote about the importance of family stuck on his wall.

He was born and raised in a small community near Ottawa, and went into the army in 1941. After enlisting, he volunteered for a tour of duty in China that would end up being far worse than anything he could ever imagine.

“I swore after it was over that I would never volunteer for anything again,” Les said.

On their way to Hong Kong, they were warned that they might have to fight their way off the ships, as the Japanese had invaded the island. After a long and hard battle, they lost their ground and the troops were either captured or killed.

Many of the prisoners of war were shipped off to Japan, where they either starved to death or were killed. However, Les and several others were kept at a camp in Hong Kong, where they were forced to work on the Hong Kong airport from day til night, only receiving a handful of rice in the morning and evening for meals. They were not provided with any clothes, so they resorted to make-shift loincloths that they put together themselves using string and cotton.

“It certainly wasn’t a picnic, but once they dropped back from trying to be the tough guys, it wasn’t that bad,” Les said. “We did get beaten a lot, especially when we talked back.”

Les found that his mouth got him into trouble more than once. He recalls one day when one of the Japanese commanding officers barged into their tent and told them that they would all be forced to learn Japanese.

“Me being the smart-aleck, I demanded to know why, and the officer said ‘well, we think everyone should, and besides, when we take over North America, everyone will learn to speak Japanese’.” Les said. “I replied and said ‘You guys aren’t man enough to take over North America!’ and got quite a beating after that. So I thought after that I needed to learn to keep my mouth shut, but I never really learned.”

Les and his comrades remained in that camp for four years, working their lives away and wondering if they would ever be freed and see their homes again. When the day came that they finally received their freedom again, Les said it was very strange at first.

“When I got up in the morning, there wasn’t a Jap to be seen anywhere,” he said. “I went around hollering that something had happened because they were nowhere to be seen. Their quarters were just completely deserted, so we thought that someone had been approaching so they sent their troops out to the main line.”

By the time they got down to the main town, there wasn’t a Japanese soldier to be seen in the harbour. They did however see ships; ships that were clearly not Japanese. Next thing they saw were lines and lines of Japanese parading with men with guns walking behind them.

“They were Americans leading them around,” Les said. “I guess they decided to take back the islands the same way the Japanese took them.”

He paused and smiled before adding, “We were kind of pleased about that.”

He remembers a Canadian soldier who had been captured with them being executed by the U.N. after the war, likely for treason and crimes against humanity.

“He was a Canadian Japanese soldier who grew up in a community in B.C.; that was only Japanese heritage,” he said. “When we were taken, he told the Japanese soldiers that he had been beaten in Canada by the white Canadians, and that he had grown up being abused for his heritage.”

When the captives were freed, this man was arrested, and tried to buy his way back into Canada by offering secrets he had learned about the Japanese during his time with them. His plan failed, and he was hanged shortly after.

Les spoke of his time as a prisoner of war not with sorrow or anger, but with a quiet contemplation.

For him, it was a lifetime ago, though the memories still sit with him.

After the war, he went to University and ended up at a corporation in Toronto, managing their accounts for across the country. He retired early from the company, and he and his wife moved to Dufferin County, where he became the Town Clerk in Grand Valley for many years.

“My wife and I always wanted a house in the middle of a 100-acre field, and there was one available that we wanted,” said Les. “So we bought it up in East Garafraxa. I have never in my life met so many really nice, truthful, upstanding people as I did in Grand Valley and East Garafraxa. I really enjoyed that.”

He eventually retired, and since his wife died has been at the Lord Dufferin Centre. Last Saturday, members of his family and friends gathered at the retirement home to celebrate his 93rd birthday with him.

“The party itself wasn’t a surprise, but what was going on with it was,” Les said. “My daughter-in-law planned the whole thing and did a great job. It was a very wonderful party and I had a great time.”

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