Here’s an action-hero movie script:

A one-eyed soldier single-handedly captures about 100 German soldiers, but refuses a bravery medal because he doesn’t like the general handing it out.

When he’s hurt in an explosion, he hides out with a family to heal rather than get sent back home.

Then, he singlehandedly liberates an entire city in the Netherlands with a combination of trickery, explosions, and quick talking.

It sounds a bit much, even by Hollywood standards. The one man was real, though, and the fact he’s a Canadian may explain why his story hasn’t been turned into a blockbuster movie.

Raised in a tough Montreal neighbourhood during the Depression, Leo Major was 19 when he joined the Canadian Army. He lost partial sight in one eye during D-Day battles. He refused to go back to England, insisting he could still shoot, and marched on with Le Regiment de la Chaudier into Europe.

During the Battle of the Scheldt in Holland in 1944, he shot several German soldiers, captured their commander and eventually marched 93 prisoners back to camp.

Major was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) but refused to accept it from Gen. Bernard Montgomery — a controversial and much criticized British commander — because he considered him “incompetent.”

He did accept his first of two DCMs for single-handedly liberating the city of Zwolle. On April 13, 1945, Major snuck his way into the city, convinced a German officer having a drink in a bar that thousands of Canadians surrounded the city, then spent the night setting off grenades, firing his gun, destroying headquarters and capturing several small groups of German soldiers. By night’s end, the remaining German force had fled the city.

Major had a brief rest as a civilian after the war, then volunteered with Canadian forces in the Korean War, where he won his second DCM by leading a band of fellow snipers in a three-day battle against a far larger force.

He died in Montreal Oct. 12, 2008 at 87, leaving behind his wife of 57 years, four children and five grandchildren.

TIMELINE:

1921: Born in tough Montreal neighbourhood

1940: Joins Le Regiment de la Chaudiere

1944: Loses sight in one eye in D-Day battles

Fall 1944: Battle of the Scheldt, single-handedly captures 93 German soldiers

April 13, 1945: Single-handedly liberates city of Zwolle

Nov. 1951: Korean War. Leads squad in three-day defence of hill against larger Chinese force.

Oct. 12, 2008: Dies at 87 in Montreal

Hero of Zwolle

Leo Major returned the Dutch city he liberated, and saved from a brutal shelling, several times. In 2005, he was made an honourary citizen. He also has a street named after him there. In 2007, he was the subject of a History Channel episode of The Canadian Liberator.

In his own words:

“I fought the war with only one eye, and I did pretty good.”

Remembered:

“We considered him a hero in Holland, in Zwolle particularly, not so much here (in Canada). Every year they have a remembrance for him, April 14. We were liberated by Leo April 14th.”

- Nicholas Veenof, 87, author of an unpublished book on Major, who was a teenage boy in Zwolle when Major liberated the city in 1944.

“I think the real contrast is how celebrated he is in the Netherlands (compared to Canada) ... the fact people still remember him and talk about him fondly — all these years, halfway around the world — is something that we can definitely aspire to here in Canada.”

-Filmmaker Jeremy Pollock, who’s working on a documentary on Major.