Canada's oldest Second World War veteran dies just shy of 110th birthday

The man believed to be Canada's oldest living Second World War veteran has died just shy of 110 years old.

Albert Middleton was born March 11, 1915, in London, England, and died at the Broadmead Care's Veterans Memorial Lodge in Saanich, on B.C.'s Vancouver Island on Feb. 12.

News of his death was shared over the weekend with the announcement of a celebration of life to be held at the lodge on what would have been Middleton's 110th birthday.

That's where he celebrated previous birthdays, including his 108th, where he told CBC News he could still "cut a rug."

Middleton was sent to Canada as a teenager by the U.K.'s National Children's Home and Orphanage, according to daughter Darlene Van Raay.

Home Children Canada, an organization to support British children sent to Canada, says he was their oldest surviving member.

Middleton worked at an apple orchard in Brantford, Ont., to pay for his passage west. He also spent a bitterly cold winter in Kapuskasing, Ont., where, according to Van Raay, he developed the "boarding house reach" — reaching past other diners to get food. 

"At first he was very polite with the meals that they served," Van Raay said in a 2023 interview with CBC News. "And then he found out that he wasn't going to get served ... so he started looking after himself more often." 

Middleton volunteered for the Royal Canadian Air Force. He served in Europe from 1943 to 1946, years spent "dodging all the bullets," he said. 

He bought a 26-hectare hobby farm after the war, tending to his land while also working full-time at factories in Ontario. He was married and widowed twice and had three children.

Son Wayne Middleton told CBC News he appreciated all of his father's hard work. 

"We've all lived a much better life than he did," Wayne said at the 108th birthday celebration. "Maybe at the time we thought we were hard done by, but it was nothing compared to what he's done."

Wayne described his dad as someone who knows a lot and lived a hard life.

"He didn't take no guff from anybody, I'll tell you that right now," he said. "He's the type of man that if you were ever in any type of trouble, you wanted him on your side."

The centenarian's advice on longevity reflected his strong will.

"People often asked what's his secret to his long life and I remember him always saying, 'Don't give in,'" Van Raay said.