REMEMBRANCE DAY- One on one with Caledonia’s last remaining  living World War II veteran

CALEDONIA— At 99 years old, you can forgive Bob Hoover if his memory is a little hazy when it comes to the details of his time spent as a mechanic serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II.

Sitting at the dining room table of his apartment in Caledonia, Hoover struggled to remember what life was like in those days, but as the conversation wore on, more and more details came to the surface, as he recalled not only his time overseas, but the life he led after coming home.

With six months to go until his 100th birthday, Hoover reminisced on his pre-war life in the 1930s: “I come from a family of 12. I was number nine.” 

Former RCAF Mechanic Bob Hoover sits at the dining room table of his apartment in Caledonia. With six months to go until his 100th birthday, Bob is the last remaining World War II veteran living in Caledonia. —Haldimand Press photo by Mike Renzella.

The Hoovers lived a quiet life together on their family farm west of Dunnville. 

He explained, “We had eight or 10 cows; it was just a general farmer’s farm. There was nothing special – that’s just what we did.”

When asked how he spent his time in those days, Hoover recalled, “I didn’t do anything; I went to school.” 

Hoover reflected on the news of the spreading war in Europe reaching Haldimand, “I don’t remember what I thought about the war, I just went to school and worked on the farm when I was home.”

He continued, “When it came time for me to be in the service, I was 18. I said to my parents that I didn’t want to go in the army – I wanted to go in the air force. So, I went and volunteered and they put me in the air force.” 

From there, Hoover was enrolled in mechanic school through the Royal Canadian Air Force. 

With a longtime love of all things mechanical, Hoover is pictured sitting inside the cockpit of an aircraft he helped build as a younger man: “I didn’t fly much, but I flew it to the end of the Bruce peninsula.” —Photo courtesy of Bob Hoover.

“I got my instructions on being an engine mechanic, aero engine.”

He would spend some time stationed in Canada before being sent overseas. 

This is when his memory on where exactly he was stationed gets a little fuzzy. 

However, he does recall working on engines for both aircrafts and vehicles that were involved in direct combat against German forces.

“I served on Lancasters, Mitchells, oh hell, it didn’t make any difference what kind they were. It’s an engine,” said Hoover. “I like mechanical work.”

He continued, “I didn’t get involved directly in the war. I serviced aircraft; bombers and fighters going to the war, but me actually getting involved in it? I don’t feel as though I actually did anything.”

We asked Hoover if he remembers what it was like being there. 

He responded, “We enjoyed what we were doing. After hours, they supplied stuff for us…. I just feel as though I was doing something someplace else. It was a job, that’s all.”

On coming back home, he added, “I was back in ‘46…. After I finished the service, I went back to the farm and worked for dad. I forget what the hell I did, honestly, I do … something mechanical I believe.”

After a couple uneventful post-war years, things picked up for Hoover in 1948. That was the year a young lady named Charlotte Park walked into his life.

“My brother and I went to this dance. I had danced with my wife a couple of times before and I got along with her. I said to my older cousin, ‘let’s take a couple girls home tonight’. He said ‘sounds like a good idea’. I didn’t know who I would ask, so I asked my wife, of course she wasn’t my wife at that time,” said Hoover. 

A newspaper clipping from 1945 shows a young Bob Hoover, left, at the end of World War II. Hoover was in the paper for purchasing a bond that put the RCAF’s Personnel Reception Centre’s advance sales at the $200,000 mark. —Clipping courtesy of Bob Hoover.

“That’s the only girl I ever went with after I came out of the service. I haven’t seen anybody since. She passed away about eight years ago.”

After a wedding a couple years after they met, Bob and Charlotte would enjoy a long and happy life together, travelling and eventually raising four children: “We had two, and then we had the twins.”

We asked what some of their favourite things to do together as a couple over the years were, and Hoover joked, “You don’t want to know.”

He added, more sincerely, “She was the only gal that I ever really was interested in. My soulmate. And she was the same way, only in reverse of course.” 

While Hoover may jokingly sum up his time in service with an, “I didn’t do anything,” or an “I was just there,” the fact is that, although he may not have seen first-hand the horrors that the Allied Forces faced on the many battlefields of World War II, Hoover did indeed go far from home to play a direct role in supporting those efforts. 

Like most Canadians who have responded to the call of duty over the years, Hoover took on the risk, put his money where his mouth was, and got the job done.

That, whether Bob wants to believe it or not, is very worthy of a hearty and heartfelt salute.

“It was a different time,” he concluded. “What were we talking about?”