Small, Larry

Larry Small was born in Toronto in 1920.  He grew up in the neighbourhoods of the city’s downtown core, against the backdrop of the Great Depression.  The son of Jewish immigrants, Larry had to leave school when he was 14, when he went to work to help support his family.  He worked as a newsboy, a delivery boy, and eventually secured a job at Tip Top tailors.  He also joined the militia in his teens, and he would join his unit for military training throughout the 1930s.  When the war came, Larry joined the Governor-General’s Horse Guard, which by this time had become a motorized regiment.  After initial training he went overseas to England, where he worked in the second echelon, organizing mail delivery and doing other administrative duties.  When shipped to Italy with the regiment, Larry continued in those duties; he also served as a truck driver, delivering ammunition, gasoline, and water to the front line troops.  With the war’s end, Larry found himself back in England, where he met his future wife.  She accompanied him back to Canada, and the two of them began their live together in postwar Toronto.