Major Longhurst enlisted as a private soldier the day after Canada declared war on Germany in September 1939. He served as a Recruitment Clerk, a Battalion Orderly Room Sergeant and was called in his eulogy "the most efficient the Unit ever had." Longhurst requested to be transferred to a rifle company in order to play a more active role in combat and spent three months as a platoon sergeant, then was commissioned as a Lieut. in 1942. Then he was appointed an Intelligence Officer and landed in Sicily in July 1943 where he was given command of C. Coy during the Moro River Battles.
Longhurst's company made history during the Battle for Ortona. According to his eulogy:
"The Battle for Ortona had been raging for six days and was apparently deadlocked, tough German paratroopers holding fanatically to buildings which impeded the advance of the unit. Major Longhurst, devising a technique of mouseholing through the upper stories of houses, completely surprised the Germans and forced them to withdraw from the town. There were many who considered his brains, resourcefulness and courage, deserved much more recognition than they received, but Major Longhurst was quite content with the fact that the battle was won."
Source: Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Canada; Service Files of the Second World War - War Dead, 1939-1947; Series: RG 24; Volume: 36189
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