Gordon “Gord” Albert Harley

Following in his father’s and his brother’s footsteps Gord was the fourth Veteran to come out of the home at 37 Mill St. (formerly John St.)

He was born on May 10, 1912 and was one of four sons (John Douglas, Ray (WW2) and Brock (WW2) born to Dean Stanley Harley (Veteran of the Spanish American War) and Mary Osmond. Tragically, Gord’s mother died in 1917, one day after giving birth to her fifth child, a son they named Ralph. As was common for a man left with four young children, Gord’s father remarried in 1919 to Bertha Follet and Gord later became big brother to Bruce, (WW2) Jean, Bessie and Terrence.

Gord enlisted early in the war…listed as “on active service” as of May 28, 1941 and he left for overseas November 5, 1942 with the 1st Contingent of Lorne Scots. Gord was a mechanic responsible for the care of 150 Harley-Davidson motorcycles in a depot in England.

Gord told his family that he “saw and heard plenty of bombs and one sight he never forgot was on D-Day, the wave after wave of Allied aircraft passing overhead on their way to France…hiding the sun, as if before a storm. Gord said he’d never believed there were so many planes in the world.”

Unfortunately, Gord sustained a broken leg in a motorcycle accident while stationed in England which resulted in being invalided home and convalescence at Chorley Park Military Hospital in Toronto. Gord returned to Canada at the end of the war via ship and a troop train which arrived at Union Station. Gord’s nephew tells how his mother and grandfather Dean Harley traveled to Union to excitedly greet Gord upon his arrival home. An article in the Georgetown Herald dated October 4, 1944 reported “his parents think that Gordon looks well and is very cheerful, after a fine passage. They were treated to the best of everything on the train, and after 3 ½ years in England, the food was really appreciated. He has a very high opinion of the English people and the way they often deprived themselves to make our boys comfortable and happy”. The 1945 Voters List identifies Gord as a soldier and places him back at 37 John St. (now Mill St), living with his father, stepmother and sister Jean.

Gord married Agnes Peggy Isley Hyde, (widow of Corporal Carl Alfred Hyde killed in action on March 13, 1945, commemorated on the Cenotaph at Remembrance Park, Georgetown) at the Baptist Manse in Georgetown on July 17, 1946. Peggy had two children (Ann and Rodney) from her marriage to Carl.

Shortly after his safe return from overseas, Gord built Harley’s Garage at 33 John St. Georgetown, now Kiyo’s Japanese Car Service (21 Mill St.) and the couple lived in the apartment upstairs. The business was sold in 1977.

Gord was a member of the Royal Canadian Legion, Georgetown Branch and at one time was President.

The Canadian Phone and Addresses Directory shows Gordon A. Harley living at 171 Main St. South, (Cote Terrace) Georgetown between the 1995 to 2000.

Gord died on March 31, 2000 and is buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Georgetown.

Truly a Canadian Hero. His story lives on. *Information provided by Mike Harley and taken from Ancestry.ca and Findagrave.com