Harry Gower was born in Toronto in 1922.  He grew up in the city’s west end, where he attended Western Tech.  With the death of his father and the coming of the Great Depression, Harry had to leave high school after one year, and he took a job at Eaton’s, where he operated the elevator and later worked in the men’s department.  Harry was conscripted into the Canadian Army at the midpoint of the war and sent for training and dispatched overseas.  Harry was not sent into an infantry unit, but rather he was chosen for a non-combatant role.  He served in the Postal Corps, making sure that mail was delivered to the men at the front, and playing a valuable role in maintaining the soldiers’ morale.  Harry otherwise kept busy in wartime England, celebrating VE Day and doing some sightseeing.  He came home and went to work for External Affairs after finishing an interior design degree at Ryerson.  Harry then outfitted Canada’s embassies in Africa and travelled the world.

Harry was interviewed at the Sunnybrook Veterans’ Wing, by Arielle Meyer, Matthew Laslop, and Kian Torabi, in June 2019.