B y 2001, I had given up all hope of identifying and locating the elusive "Dinty Moore". The Toronto Star article does not outline in detail how events came together such that I was able to locate Dinty. Those details are as follows:

A s the Star article notes, I had learned from my mother that "Dinty Moore" (whom she had never met) had won the Military Medal during WWII. My mother had learned that information from my father. When I was young, I heard my father mention "Dinty Moore" a number of times.

W hen I obtained a copy of the written history of the SDG Highlanders in the early 1990s, it provided a list of everyone in the Regiment. No first names or middle names of soldiers were listed. Last names and the first initials were provided in the list. My father's name was on the list, as well as his enlistment number. With respect to any Moores in the Regiment, there were approximately a dozen "Moores" on the list but, unfortunately, I had no clue what "Dinty's" first initials were.

T he written history, however, also had a list of winners of the Military Medal. When I reviewed that list (which only contains about 15 names), there was no "Moore" listed. As a result of that list, I concluded that maybe the elusive Dinty Moore had been with another regiment, or he had been a medic, etc.

S ubsequent inquiries with the SDG Highlanders regimental association and my own research at the National Archives proved unsuccessful in identifying and locating "Dinty Moore". By 2000, I had given up hope of ever finding Dinty Moore, let alone identifying his first name. I assumed at the time that Dinty, like many other veterans, was probably no longer alive.

U nbeknownst to me at the time, however, Dinty Moore had a neighbour who had told him that there was a revised written history of the SDG Highlanders that could be purchased from a store in Cornwall, Ontario, where the Regiment had always been based. Dinty subsequently obtained a copy of the written history. He had not had any contact with his Regiment since 1945.

W hen Dinty reviewed the written history, he noticed that, owing to an oversight, his name was missing from the list of Military Medal winners. Being a very modest person, however, Dinty only told his wife that his name was missing from the list. When his neighbour inquired about Dinty's review of the written history of the Regiment, she asked whether he enjoyed reading it. When Dinty replied yes and had nothing further to add, the neighbour sensed that something was amiss.

W hen the neighbour asked Dinty whether anything was wrong, he had little to say. Dinty's wife, however, insisted that he tell the neighbour what was wrong.

D inty then disclosed that he had received the Military Medal and yet his name was not on the list of Military Medal recipients in the Regimental history. It was his neighbour who insisted that Dinty do something about the oversight (to correct the historical record) and, with Dinty's reluctant permission, she wrote a letter to the Regimental Association to tell them that Dinty's name was not in the Military Medal list and that the oversight should be corrected in any future edition of the Regimental history. If Dinty's neighbour had not insisted on writing to the Regimental Association, I would have never located him.

I n early 2001, when I received a copy of the Regimental newsletter called "The Glengarrian", they had included a short article based on the letter which they had received from Dinty (and his neighbour). The article identified Dinty as "Harold David "Dinty" Moore and advised that he had won the Military Medal and that, for some unknown reason, his name had been omitted from the list of Military Medal recipients. When I read that article, I could not believe my eyes. I knew that Harold David Moore was the man I had been looking for since my father's death in 1982. I contacted that Regimental Association and, fortunately, they had Dinty's phone number and address.

I contacted by telephone shortly after being provided with his contact information.

A s it turns out, Dinty had been a corporal and my father had been one of the men in Dinty's section. A "section" is a group of approximately 8 to 10 men led by a corporal. Needless to say, my first meeting with Dinty was very emotional for me. When I showed Dinty some photos of my father (as he was during the War), his eyes welled up with tears and he told me, "that's how I remember your father". Dinty regreted not having kept in contact with my father after the War but he told me that when the War was over he just wanted to get on with his life. My father shared the same viewpoint. Apart from being a member of the Legion, my father had no further contact with his Regiment after he returned to Canada in July 1945.

I have since met Dinty's neighbour and have told her that if she had not insisted that Dinty advise the Regimental Association of the oversight in the written history, I would have never located him. We have both joked about how Dinty's modesty and stubborness not to make waves about the historical oversight almost prevented me from ever finding him.

I spent last weekend with Dinty at his summer trailer near Orangeville, Ontario. Dinty's wife passed away in December 2007.

I hope you enjoy the Toronto Star article. George Gamester, the author of the article, was very excited about writing the article and he has periodically kept in touch with me since 2003.

Click on the Canada Goose and follow it back to the Library

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Copyright (c) 1997-2012 - Pat Fowler