Before leaving for a recent vacation to England, I packed a copy of my award-winning book Crash Harrison: Tales of a Bomber Pilot Who Defied Death in my suitcase. The book tells the inspiring true story of Reginald "Crash" Harrison, a farm boy from Saskatchewan, Canada, who enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941 in search of adventure and a regular paycheque. I wanted to take a Crash Harrison book with me to the United Kingdom in case I saw any of the places where Reg had been during the Second World War. And I did.
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| Crash Harrison book with author Deana J Driver in York, UK, May 2026 |
In the book, written in Reg's voice, he explains how and why he enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force:
"I had just turned 18 when, in the fall of 1941, they opened what they called Pre-enlistment Schools across Canada. Anyone interested in joining the service had to go to an enlistment centre to sign up. This was perfect for me.
They had a recruiting centre in Regina ... I went to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) recruiting centre in the Trading Company Building in downtown Regina... I told them I wanted to join the air force and be a pilot. They said I didn’t have enough education, which I knew. They needed pilots though, and they said they’d give me a medical, and if I passed that, they’d give me an aptitude test. If I passed that, then they would send me to a Pre-enlistment School.
I was about five feet five inches tall, and I only weighed 118 pounds, so I wasn’t sure I’d make it. They said, “You’re kind of wiry (scrawny).” I passed the medical exam somehow, except for the part where I had to blow into a tube that had mercury in it and hold that mercury at the highest level I could for as long as I could, to show my lung capacity. The doctor said to me, “You didn’t quite make it, but you will with practice, so I’ll pass you.” He gave me an old tube with mercury in it so I could practice blowing into it at home and increase my lung capacity.
Then came the military’s standard aptitude test. Somehow, I passed that too.
I didn’t actually enlist then – that wouldn’t happen until I passed the Pre-enlistment School courses – but I was happy about getting that far. Being in the air force would get me away from the farm and give me more education and some new adventures. I would get a pay cheque too!
I was paid $39 a month when I was in training in Canada. I can’t remember how much I was paid after I got my Pilot Wings and became a commissioned officer, but it was quite a bit more. That was big money to this farm boy from Saskatchewan. I only earned about $10 every couple of months in the winter from my trapline, and I didn’t have any other jobs. My parents didn’t have any money to give us.
I hadn’t told my parents I was going to stop at the recruiting office when I was in Regina. When I got back to the farm late that afternoon, I told my mother that I had gone to the recruiting centre, and she said, “Oh, they won’t take you. You’re too skinny.”
I told her, “Well, they did take me. I passed my medical.” She never really commented on that. My dad wasn’t in the house when I got home, but I don’t remember him saying anything or having any reaction when I told him. My dad didn’t talk very much and, as I mentioned earlier, parents and their children in those days didn’t talk very much about their lives and decisions, like kids do with their parents now.
So that day, after the fair, I went to the recruitment centre, passed the medical and the aptitude test, came home, told my parents what I’d done, and carried on with the evening chores. I didn’t think much about it. The desire to fly and to serve my country took over. It was just the thing to do. I didn’t think about dying. It was the furthest thought from my mind. I just wanted to fly."
I hadn’t told my parents I was going to stop at the recruiting office when I was in Regina. When I got back to the farm late that afternoon, I told my mother that I had gone to the recruiting centre, and she said, “Oh, they won’t take you. You’re too skinny.”
I told her, “Well, they did take me. I passed my medical.” She never really commented on that. My dad wasn’t in the house when I got home, but I don’t remember him saying anything or having any reaction when I told him. My dad didn’t talk very much and, as I mentioned earlier, parents and their children in those days didn’t talk very much about their lives and decisions, like kids do with their parents now.
So that day, after the fair, I went to the recruitment centre, passed the medical and the aptitude test, came home, told my parents what I’d done, and carried on with the evening chores. I didn’t think much about it. The desire to fly and to serve my country took over. It was just the thing to do. I didn’t think about dying. It was the furthest thought from my mind. I just wanted to fly."
Reginald Harrison became a bomber pilot with 431 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force/Royal Air Force in Croft, England, in the region known as Yorkshire. He survived four bomber crashes - which earned him the nickname "Crash" - and numerous other close calls. He passed away in November 2025 at age 103. He became a member of the Guinea Pig Club, an Honorary Snowbird with the celebrated CF air demonstration team, and a hero to many. He always honoured those who did not return home from war. Those were the real heroes to Reg.
During his third wartime plane crash, in which he had to ditch a Halifax bomber in Yorkshire during a rainstorm, Reg and most of his crew eventually landed safely by parachute. It was a harrowing story of Reg barely escaping death when his parachute got caught inside the plane as he tried to jump. Reg's navigator, meanwhile, landed on a section of Hadrian’s wall near Carlisle, UK, and fractured some vertebrae in his back.
In May 2026, my partner Marlowe and I saw a portion of Hadrian's Wall at Heddon-on-the-Wall, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, about 70 miles west of Carlisle. I thought of Reg and his navigator and the thousands of airmen who were in this region during the Second World War.
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| A section of Hadrian's Wall at Heddon-on-the-Wall, UK |
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| Background about Hadrian's Wall |
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| A remaining piece of Hadrian's Wall, Newcastle upon Tyne |
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| This map shows Hadrian's Wall extending westward from Carlisle, UK, past Heddon-on-theWall |
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| Deana J Driver and Marlowe Smith at a section of Hadrian's Wall, UK, May 2026 |
Reg Harrison's father, William Harrison, was born in the village of Bishop Wilton, about 14 miles east of York in northern England. His mother, Nellie Harding, grew up in a village called Givendale just down the road. Both villages are in the county of Yorkshire.
I took photos of my Crash Harrison book at one of the four medieval gatehouses, known locally as "bars," into the city of York. I thought about the conflicts that occurred there and of Reg Harrison and of others who were in this spot before, during, and since the Second World War. It was a visit that I will never forget.
 Author Deana J Driver with a Crash Harrison book at Monk Bar, the largest gate into the city of York May 2026 |
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| On the 14th-century York City Wall at Monk Bar |
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| Inscription on the floor of York City Wall at Monk Bar |
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| Looking down into York from York City Wall |
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| The Crash Harrison book visits the Yorkshire county, UK |
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| The Crash Harrison book at York, UK May 2026 |
