In 100 years Marjorie Beveridge has witnessed a lot of history and participated in it too.

As one of the oldest surviving World War II veterans in Canada, the Montreal resident still has many memories of life on the frontlines.

In 1942 she had the looks of a leading lady but in the darkest days of WWII she became a leading air woman with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

It was an unlikely job for a woman with nothing but a beauty school certificate.

"It was war. People were joining up," said Beveridge.

Women were a major part of the war effort at home but Beveridge wanted to go to the frontlines -- something she could not do at the time without written consent from her husband Howard, who was serving in France.

The pair were separated during the war but managed to meet while on temporary leave, once managing to attend the theatre in London in a "beautiful black and gold floor-length dress” that she brought with her to England.

Their daughter Joan has all the documents of that turbulent time, including letters from when her parents were separated for three years, and photographs of her mother in action.

"We really didn't talk about it oddly enough. It's on my mother's mind a lot," said Joan.

Just a few days shy of her 100th birthday words don't come easily to Beveridge anymore. Neither does getting around the Veterans' hospital she now calls home.

But her mind is sharp, as is her wit.

Just ask her what she learned about during the war.

"People. Men." And was that good or bad?

"Oh it was very nice," Beveridge said.

Her humour betrays her dangerous mission during war. As a driver Beveridge transported bombs to the Lancaster fighter planes taking off from England. Later she was a chaffeur for the air vice-marshal.

In London she had a close call when a bomb exploded next to the ambulance she was driving.

She knew many of the men who never came back.

"Those wonderful young men in their early 20s and gave up their lives for us. Lest we forget," Beveridge said.

Beveridge downplays her own courage and doesn't put too much meaning in the medals she earned, but she wears her poppy with pride and never forgets all the sacrifices and hardship she saw and experienced.

When asked if she still thinks of the events that changed the world, she said she does, "often. Always."

After the war Margaret and Howard went on to have a happy life and a family in Montreal. She would have many jobs, but none quite as turbulent as a leading airwoman and a firsthand witness of a dark chapter in history.