At 19 he left St. Stephen to fight the Nazis. At 101, he still remembers it all

It's been 80 years since Charlie Reid, 101, served overseas as a tank driver in the Second World War.

But when you pick up his old black woolen soldier's beret, it still smells of diesel. 

When Reid was drafted on Dec. 29, 1942, he was a 19-year-old farm boy from Old Ridge, north of St. Stephen.

By the time he was discharged in 1946 at 23, he had fought with the First Hussars in bitter battles, including the closing of Falaise Gap, the Battle of Le Mesnil-Patry, and the clearing of the cross-channel guns at Calais. Reid was also among the Allied forces to land at Juno Beach in Normandy in June 1944. 

"At night, I go to bed, and I go over some of that stuff," said Reid, who still lives independently, drives, and plays violin. 

"It comes to the fore, I would say, because you hear so much this time of the year for Remembrance Day.

"But if you thought about it all the time, it would drive you crazy."

Reid had a "great life" growing up with his brother and sister on the family farm.

In those days, much of St. Stephen still ran on coal, which arrived on three-masted sailing ships and was delivered by a  horse and wagon. The unpaved streets were sprayed with water to keep the dust down. 

Reid always loved anything with a motor. At 13, he was driving his father's old Durant car — "and I was out on the highway driving from then on. No traffic. But a lot of dust." 

He had a job he loved as mechanic at Imperial Esso in St. Stephen. But by 1942, "we all knew we were going to get drafted," he said. 

"You didn't really didn't want to leave the farm, but you kind of set your mind that you were going to do it anyway."

Reid joined up in the winter of 1942.

After basic training, he set sail on the SS Nieuw Amsterdam from Halifax for Greenock, Scotland, with almost 9,000 other troops, and a kit bag in his hand.