Percy Smith was born May 10, 1923 in Ceylon.  His father worked in the British civil service there, and that is where Percy spent his early years.  The family returned to England in the late 1930s, as the clouds of war were closing in on Europe, and the world.  Percy was 16 at the start of the war, and within that first year he made the decision to enlist, choosing to enter the merchant marine.  It would prove to be a critical lifeline for England, keeping the island nation supplied all throughout the war.  In the merchant marine Percy braved U-boats, storms, and hard work and crowded conditions.  He participated in convoys in the Atlantic, Indian and Arctic Oceans, including the dreaded and frigid run to Murmansk, Russia.  Percy saw his share of tragedy during those years, and he recalls that when he came home from war the transition was difficult.  He didn’t know it then but later he realized that he was suffering from PTSD during those years; readjusting to family was difficult, and there was no work to be found in Britain.  Percy tested the waters in Ceylon, where his mother still lived, and when that didn’t work out, he decided on a complete change, and he came to Canada, first to Montreal and later to Vancouver.  Percy attended college, earning his CGA, and most importantly he married and raised a family.  Together they fell into the rhythms of postwar Canadian life.  Percy “put the war away” for many years, but he later became involved in an array of veterans’ causes, especially through the Merchant Navy Veterans’ Association.  And that is how we learned of him, and Percy Smith was first interviewed via zoom in October 2020, during the pandemic.  In May 2025 he visited Crestwood for a Veterans’ Affairs Canada event, when he shared his memories with us on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands and the end of the war.