Lest we forget

Yet another chapter in Canada's proud military history.

Harold Garland: One of Canada's Great Escapees dies at 91

Harold Garland was the last living Canadian who was part of the Great Escape planning in the POW camp, during WWII. Garland died last week at the age of 91.

OTTAWA — Harold Garland's life proves those stereotype-busting TV commercials that depict chartered accountants as men and women of action are no exaggeration.

A pioneer in the accounting field, he rose to become Canada's assistant deputy minister of revenue and president of the Certified General Accountants' Ontario Association.

Last year, he was named one of Canada's 100 top certified general accountants of the past 100 years.

He was skilled with a hammer or wrench, and built his family's first home, a solid brick house in Thornhill, Ont., with his own hands.

But the most fascinating entry on his resume was his involvement as a Second World War prisoner of war in the mass breakout later immortalized by the Hollywood film The Great Escape.

Though Garland, who died last week of cancer at age 91, wasn't among the escapees, he helped to make it happen.

"As a kid, I used to tell my friends my dad was Steve McQueen in the movie," says his daughter, Ann. "My dad was my hero. He was Steve McQueen, and still is."

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