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Explore books by local authors through the lens of history. Once registered you will receive the book of the month and other resources from the Local History collection to add to your experience.
Crash Harrison: Tales of a Bomber Pilot Who Defied Death
Deana Driver
Reginald Harrison grew up on a Saskatchewan farm during the Dirty Thirties. His interest in flying was sparked even before he watched fighter plane pilots do loops in the sky above his family’s farm as they trained for the Second World War. Seeking adventure, Reg enlisted and became a bomber pilot in England. He survived four crashes—none of which were his fault—and several close calls. He is one of the few Canadians in the famed “Guinea Pig Club” after receiving reconstructive skin graft surgery during the war. A fellow airman nicknamed him “Crash” one day, and the name stuck. After the war, Reg moved to Saskatoon and helped war veterans obtain farms and other assistance through federal programs from the Veterans’ Land Administration. He met his future wife right after the war in a moment that can only be described as “a scene from a movie.” Reg Harrison was named an “Honorary Snowbird” by the renowned Canadian Forces aerobatics display team and is a celebrated war veteran whose stories will captivate and educate readers from teens to seniors. This book, written in Reg’s voice, shares his experiences of growing up on the dusty Prairies during the Great Depression, then going off to war and surviving crashes and intense combat. This book contains page after page of details about Canada’s involvement in the Second World War and Reg Harrison’s experiences, as well as fun facts about Reg “Crash” Harrison, a timeline of events, and other helpful resources.
The Alice Turner Library replaced the smaller Sutherland Branch in December 1998. It was named after Alice Turner McFarland who was a library employee for 37 years and Saskatoon Public Library's chief librarian from 1981 to 1989. The first library in Canada to be built to the standards of C-2000 construction, Canada's environmental building code, the Alice Turner Library was expanded to double its original size in 2013.
