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In memory of those who have Crossed the Bar
Doug Harvey was born in Montreal on December 19, 1924, the second child of Alfred and Martha Harvey. Alfred was born in Hammersmith, United Kingdom in 1896 and had moved to Canada with his parents in 1905, while Martha was born in Pennsylvania to Welsh immigrants. The family lived in Notre-Dame-de-Grāce (NDG), an English-speaking working-class neighbourhood of Montreal, where Alfred worked in the warehouse of N.C. Polson. Harvey was the second child, following Alfred, Jr. (Alf) and preceding Howard and Mary.
As a child Harvey was physically active, playing in many sports. Outside of sports he delivered newspapers, with one of his customers being future Canadiens' teammate Bill Durnan. He first showed his athletic ability in Canadian football, and when he entered West Hill High School in 1939 he joined the team there, playing both on offence and defence. He also played for the West Hill hockey team, and it was there that he first began to demonstrate his skills as a hockey player. Harvey had played hockey from a young age, but only joined an organised league when he was 13, asked to join a team by Alf. Initially he played goaltender, owing to his small stature, but soon moved to centre. Only later would he switch to defence.
The Second World War was ongoing while Harvey was completing high school, and in 1942, one month before his 18th birthday, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy, following the advice of Alf, who had already done so. Recognized as a skilled hockey player, Harvey was initially assigned to the Navy's hockey team, which was used to boost public morale. However Harvey wanted to properly serve in the war, so requested a transfer to active service, though this was not addressed until 1944. In the spring of 1944 Harvey was assigned to a defensively equipped merchant ship; this was again a suggestion of Alf, as it meant a less rigorous lifestyle on board a naval vessel. Harvey would spend the next year regularly crossing the Atlantic while helping protect supplies being shipped to Europe and Africa. Throughout this time Harvey's ships were never fired upon, and he would later look back fondly on his service.
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