Art Mowles says that he has lived a good life. Despite seeing devastation during World War II, Art has lived 91 years and has enjoyed his life as a husband, father, and farmer.
"I've had a long life, I was in the army and I come home and I went farming and I've done telephone work," Art explained.
For 49 years Art farmed, while during this time he dedicated 28 years to fixing telephone lines as well. Having spent two and a half years in the army before being discharged, Mowles also spent 30 years as the sergeant at arms for the Legion.
Art grew up on a farm near Stoughton with his two brothers. They raised cattle, horses, pigs, and chickens. While the boys all went to school in Heward, which was just a mile and a half away from the homestead.
At 17-years-old Art would join the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Saskatchewan Regiment (S.S.R.) and head to Winnipeg for training. Although there was still a little fun to be had there, it wasn't all about training.
"We used to go down town in Winnipeg and go to dances, and there was no end to girls there to dance with," Art laughed.
Art would later be sent overseas to fight on the front lines. Stationed at a few different barracks, he remembers one was close to London, England. In fact he and both brothers saw action in the war.
"I had two brothers, all three of us were in the war," Art recalled. "My one brother was with the Ordinance Corps and he would take ammunition to the front line. My other brother was in the Engineers, he got wounded, got out and came back home."
Good memories and bad come with being in war and Art laughed as he remembered a couple of the better ones, while becoming slightly emotional, having to clear his throat, when coming to the bad ones.
"When I was in the army the boys would play poker eh, and I wouldn't play," Art recalled. "I saved my money and then they'd be broke and I'd lend them money with interest, they gave me five percent interest."
Art also remembers being given two weeks of dish washing and potato peeling duty after complaining about the food they were being given.
"We used to, where we were, you were given mutton and horse meat," Art explained. "One day the big shot come around the meal when you were eating to see how you liked it and I said, 'Meal's alright but then I'm high as a horse, I'm eating choice now.' He said you'll do dishes for two weeks and that's what I did, I did dishes and peeled potatoes for two weeks. It was best not to say anything, there were a lot of guys who dumped it in the barrel, they didn't eat anything then they'd go downtown and they bought their meals."
Other memories came to mind as Art spoke of his time in the S.S.R. With tears beginning to brim in his eyes he remembered the death of his best friend in the war.
"Dieppe, have you heard of Dieppe, I lost my best buddy there Cecil I lost him, he died, he got killed right at the edge of the water," Art said. "You're trained to help people eh, to carry people, but I couldn't get a hold of him because I had to keep going otherwise I would have been dead too. When they trained you they trained you how to pick a person up and carry him."
"You never knew if you'd be dead, when you left your bed in the morning, you never knew if you'd see it again or not, but you took that chance or they made you go. You couldn't stay in the barracks, they made you go."
Art left the war with his life and upon returning took up farming and was married to Myrtle Graham, a girl who had lived just northeast of his homestead growing up. Together they farmed for 49 years and Myrtle went with Art on numerous calls to fix telephone lines.
"One more year it would have been 50, but it got too hard on the wife doing the grain on the harvest side," Art explained. "I'd combine and she'd haul the grain, eh it was too hard on her, so we moved to Weyburn for six years."
While working for the phone service, Art covered Forget, Stoughton, Heward, Creelman, Filmore, and Osage.
Together the couple had one girl, Darlene, and a son that they took in at a year and a half old, Jerry Smallwood, who had lost his mother.
Overall Art says that he's had a good life, adding: "I don't know how long I'll live, but I'll live 'til I die."
