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History
Walter Dent was born in Parry Sound, Ontario on April 12th, 1917, to Walter Dent Senior, and Susan Bradley. His father died before he was born and he was raised by his mother, along with his 9 siblings. Dent attended school until grade 10, at which time he left to pursue work.
Dent participated in the “On-to-Ottawa trek” in 1935 and joined the Young Communist League in 1936. In February of 1937 at the age of 20, Dent arrived in Albacete, Spain to fight in the Spanish Civil War. The Canadian Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion had not yet been formed, and he served instead in the American Lincoln Battalion. Due to the urgent need for men, Dent and his cohort were rushed to the battlefront without training, but he found that he was a natural with a gun. A head injury sent him to a hospital in Murcia and then to the village of Benicassim to convalesce. He attributed the healing of his head wound to daily swims in the Mediterranean Sea. Once recovered, Dent had a month’s training before returning to the front and fighting in the Battle of Brunete (July 6-25th, 1937). In September of 1937, Dent travelled by ship to New York, before returning to Spain the following month.
In October of 1937, religious leader and politician Reverend A. E. Smith came to Spain looking for soldiers to join him on a tour of Canada; Dent and fellow soldier Jack Steele volunteered and returned to Canada. The trio spent two months touring the country raising awareness and money for the fight in Spain and for wounded homecoming soldiers. Once home in Toronto, Dent discovered that an abscess had formed on the back of his head – a result of the injury he had sustained in Spain – and had it removed by Dr. Willinsky at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Dent was awarded an International Brigades' medal in January of 1939 for his service in the Spanish Civil War. Dent then served in the Second World War with the British Army. Dent later joined the Mackenzie Papineau Veterans Association in Toronto.
He was married to his partner Nancy and as a civilian worked as a carpenter. He died on May 9th, 1993.