101-year-old bomber pilot shares wartime adventure stories with Canadian Aviation Historical Society

At age 19, Reginald Harrison enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was looking for adventure away from the Saskatchewan farm where he grew up and he wanted to serve his country in the Second World War, just like most of the young men around him. By age 21, Reg was flying a Halifax aircraft out of the Croft air base in England, dropping bombs on the enemy forces in Germany and France. 

Weighing only 118 pounds, Reg chose to sit on top of his parachute pack inside the aircraft to give himself a better view out the windows of the huge Halifax bomber. During one of his flights, the parachute nearly killed him - during the third of what would eventually become four crashes Reg survived during the war. Reg served our country and the Allied Forces well and, upon returning to Canada from the war, met his future wife through a fellow bomber pilot. 

At almost 102 years old, Reg "Crash" Harrison recently shared some of the stories of his wartime experiences with members of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society at their national convention held at the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Almost 102-year-old Reginald "Crash" Harrison and author Deana J. Driver at the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum for the national convention of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society, June 22, 2024

As the author of the new book about Reg's life (Crash Harrison: Tales of a Bomber Pilot Who Defied Death), I was pleased to have been invited to speak to the group alongside Reg and to again listen to him tell some of his incredible wartime stories.

It was an honour to address this group, which is the oldest and largest organization in the world dedicated to the celebration and documentation of Canada's flying heritage. And it is always a huge honour to sit beside Reg Harrison as he tells stories about his time in the RCAF.

It is always heartwarming to watch the reverence that people rightly have for this man who served in the war and survived four crashes and significant traumatic events. They, like me, have come to appreciate his remarkably clear memory of those events and how he can - at almost 102 years old - still share them with avid listeners.

I watch with gratitude as people line up to shake Reg's hand and have him autograph their copy of the Crash Harrison book. (I get to sign the books too, which is always nice. And Reg usually says something nice about me to whoever asks about how the book came to be. He and I mutually admire each other.)

101-year-old Reg "Crash" Harrison and author Deana J Driver signing Crash Harrison books at the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum, June 22, 2024  
 - photo by John Chalmers, CAHS member

CAHS delegate has Reg Harrison autograph the book, June 22, 2024

Another CAHS delegate chats with Reg "Crash" Harrison, June 22, 2024

This delegate to the CAHS convention and I were pleased to realize that she and I sing in the same community choir in Regina!

During our presentation at the CAHS convention in the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum in June, I recorded these videos of Reg telling his stories:

WW2 bomber pilot tells how his parachute got caught as he bailed out in 1944

101-year-old WW2 bomber pilot had dangerous flights & landings in a Lancaster in 1944

101-year-old WW2 bomber pilot talks about his aircraft bailout in 1944 & being ever-grateful

After the presentation, an elderly man came up to our table and introduced himself. Dr. Robert Galway had a special story he wanted to tell me and Reg about how he also knew the doctor who performed the reconstructive surgery on Reg's arm during the war. What a wonderful serendipity!

Dr. Robert Galway meets Reg "Crash" Harrison in Saskatoon, June 22, 2024

I asked Dr. Galway if he would tell me the whole story so I could record it and share it. He was pleased to do that. Enjoy this remarkable interview...

A 101-year-old WW2 bomber pilot & a Canadian doctor share connections to the Guinea Pig Club

Reg and I say thank you to the Canadian Aviation Historical Society for the invitation to speak to the convention delegates. Thank you to the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum for hosting the event. Thank you to all those who attended, enjoyed the presentations, and purchased books.

As Reg says every time he talks about his stories, we must remember those who served and especially those who did not make it home from the war.

We must not forget.

Third Flight book shares more Canadian aviation adventures

William Cameron entered Grade 9 at Scott Collegiate in Regina in 1942 and soon became a member of the Air Cadets squadron as required by the school curriculum. Bill’s stories for the third volume of the Flight: Stories of Canadian Aviation book series include his reminisces of patrolling several city blocks with the Regina District Civil Defence Corps, as a teenager, in case air raid sirens were activated and they needed to warn residents to turn off their lights.

Bill Cameron and friends with Lancaster bomber, Regina airport, 1945
Photo courtesy of William Cameron

Bill’s stories are three of the 33 stories in this third volume of the series, written by 15 Canadian writers including me. I wrote six stories about: Moose Jaw-based Laura Lawrence, the only commercially operating female aerial application pilot in Canada in 2017; Barb Stefanyshyn-Cote, who hadn’t flown over much water before she flew her aircraft from their farm in Leask down to Mexico and then Chile; Lisa McGivery, who had some annoying passenger experiences in her work as a flight attendant and now works as an aircraft maintenance engineer in Ontario; and Gerd Wengler, who transports rehabilitated owls and other creatures to safety and new homes in Manitoba and Ontario.

Flight: Stories of Canadian Aviation, Vol. 3 by Deana J. Driver and Contributors

Ken Wilson wrote about touring the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa with his father Ron just prior to the museum’s opening. Ron, a long-time pilot in northern Saskatchewan, noticed that the Beaver aircraft on display did not have a specific piece of equipment that would have been standard gear when transporting supplies for anyone staying in the bush. Ken made that suggestion to the museum curator, resulting in a change to the national museum’s Beaver display.

Retired journalist Will Chabun contributed three stories to this third volume of Flight, including details of annual vacations that Regina resident Jean Thomas took to France for 20 years as a member of the Royal Air Force Escaping Society. Co-founded by her late husband Hugh, the Society maintains contact and offers aid to those who rescued and sheltered RAF pilots like Hugh, whose plane was shot down during the war. The fiddle playing of Regina Symphony Orchestra’s Howard Leyton-Brown is also chronicled by Will Chabun.

Hugh and Jean Thomas, 1945
Story by Will Chabun, photo courtesy of Jean Thomas

The stories in the Flight series are not about the aircraft or flight terminology as much as they are about the people who had these adventures and incidents. My interest in these stories is in why they did what they did and what we can learn from those activities and experiences. I’ve already received submissions for Volume 4 of the series. Stay tuned.

Volumes 1, 2, and 3 of Flight: Stories of Canadian Aviation by Deana J. Driver and Contributors are available from www.driverworks.ca, Saskatchewan Aviation Museum gift shop, McNally Robinson Booksellers, Chapters, Indigo, Coles, Handmade Saskatchewan gift shops, SaskBooks, Amazon, and other select stores.

The Good F-words

From my latest e-newsletter:

You know, there are some days – any day during a global pandemic, for example – when you just feel like muttering an “F-word” or two. Believe me, I’ve done it. And will likely do so again. And again.

But just for a change of pace, let me direct your attention to some “good F-words” –
Fun
Farm
Flight
Firefighting

Yes, these are the topics of new books I plan to publish in 2021. Okay, so the Fun and Farm words go together for one book and, yes, Flower, Feather, Fruit, Frosting, and French Fries are also good F-words, but you get my point.

Now let’s get back to today’s topic, shall we?

As mentioned in a previous e-newsletter, I wondered if any of you might have some interesting stories to share for successive volumes in the Fun On The Farm humour series and the Flight: Stories of Canadian Aviation series of books previously published by my company, DriverWorks Ink. And I also inquired whether there is interest in a new book about the adventures of Volunteer Firefighters in Canada.

I’ve received enough positive feedback – and thank you to those who responded – to forge ahead and ask for submissions to these anthologies. Yep, I'm thinking positively and ignoring the huge constraints this global pandemic has placed on the business of creating and selling books. So please send me your short stories of Fun on the Farm, Flight, and Volunteer Firefighting as per the following guidelines.

Please write your story or invite someone you know to share their story/stories.

Fun On The Farm, Vol. 3: DriverWorks Ink is pleased to invite you to share more of your true short stories (or poems) about funny things that have happened on Prairie farms for Volume 3 of the Fun On the Farm series. Tell us about events, interactions, people, or pranks that have happened to you or someone you know related to life on a Prairie farm. We want to make readers giggle, shake their heads in wonder, or downright belly-laugh when reading this book, just as they did with Volumes 1 and 2. Note that I've said "Prairie" farms since most of the stories in the first two volumes happened on the Prairies, but I will entertain stories that occurred on other farms in other Canadian provinces and territories.

Flight: Stories of Canadian Aviation, Vol. 3: If you or someone you know has a great story of Canadian aviation to contribute to the next volume of Flight, please send your submission by email or mail. Submissions must be true short stories (no poems please) about events that occurred to Canadian pilots or other aviation personnel. We want true stories of danger, heroism, helping, joy, adventure, silliness, misfortune, achievement, etc.

Fighting Fires Volunteer-style: Many smaller communities across Canada have a group of volunteers who are called on to help their community when a fire breaks out. Share your true stories of adventure, assistance, humour, struggle, success, and more. Confidentiality may be a concern in sharing these stories, but I will work with you - if your story is chosen for publication - to find a way to tell the story without divulging those identifying details.

Submission guidelines for all three books:

• They must be true stories.
• Stories should be 750 to 2,500 words.
• Please provide details including your name, address, phone number, and email address, as well as the names, dates, location, and other details of the people and places in your story. Be sure to get permission to share the stories of others.
• All submissions will be accepted, but not all will be published.
• Photos may be submitted upon acceptance of your story.
• Those whose stories are published will receive two complimentary copies for each story published in that volume of the book and can purchase more copies at a 40% discount to sell at venues not already supplied by DriverWorks Ink.

Please send your submission ideas before Dec. 31, 2020 to me at DriverWorks Ink. You don’t have to have your entire story or stories written, but I do need to know what will be coming in so I can plan for the new year.

Please contact me if you have a story to share but you do not wish to write it yourself. I will be happy to consider writing the story to share it in that way.

Thank you in advance. Happy "F-ing" writing!