Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Veteran and former Premier of PEI J. Angus Maclean



     John Angus Maclean was born may 15th, 1914, in the town of Lewes, Prince Edward Island. He was raised in his family inherited farm home located in a Scottish Presbyterian community. At the time it was a 200-acre mixed farm, which was much bigger then average during his time.  He had eight siblings, four girls and four boys. All were born and raised on the farm home, being born one or two tears apart. Their names in order of birth were Margaret, Catherine, Duncan, Mary, Effie, Murdoch, Angus and Malcolm.  Malcolm died at the age of ten months due to a bad infection, and that being hard enough came Duncan who received a cold that turned in pneumonia. He passed on, but this was not a rare motion, since there was very little medical help that could have helped in his situation. The parents George and Sarah MacLean were descendants of the Scots from a small island of Raasay. The father inherited the dark hair with blue eyes, while the mother had fair hair and blue eyes. George's education did not succeed pass grade ten but was a very intelligent man who loved to read magazines, books, articles etc. He acquired some veterinarian skills from his father which helped out with sick or injured animals. Sarah loved music. She sang in the church choir and use to play her favorite melodies on the organ.
    The Family was very close as most families were then. Their farm was a major producer of fruits, vegetables, flour, meat, oatmeal and maple syrup. Their home was built from the forestry they owned, and blankets and clothes came from the wool and flax grown at home. Social life for the MacLean's meant spending time with the neighbours, small talk after church, attending a hose party, a political meeting during election time or the rare ice cream party. Newspaper was the main source of communication and that was how Angus Learned of politics and war.  He was nine when politics came to mind and 16 when he thought of war.
     Education for Angus began in elementary school in the one room schools in Lewes. He went to Charlottetown when the Depression came, to reside with his sister for his grade ten year.  Afterwards he left the island to attend Mount Allison Academy in Sackville for the 11th year. Throughout his high school career he went off to camps for young men that were planning on preparing for the military. These camps taught the boys how to properly use a rifle, speak morse code, and develop strong friendships.  He took the year off after grade 11 to work on the farm. Money was in a bad spot since the Depression and he needed the money to help him get into university. After his year off, he went to the new Summerside Intermediate High School for his graduating year, and finally had the qualifications to enter Mount Allison University.
    In 1935, he attended Mount Allison Academy with a plan of achieving a four year bachelor's degree in science, majoring in chemistry, and a career in industrial chemistry. He was on the debate team at Mount Allison and having this practice lead him to be able on giving great political speeches all over. During his first couple years at university he received a full-year scholarship at the university of British Columbia. Finding some help from nice folks, he met new acquaintances that helped him on his travels to BC and back home. After his year at BC he came back to finish his final year at Mount Allison and graduated in the year 1939, with his degree in science. During his experience at university, the years spent gave him the idea to take a more humanitarian approach to his life.
     September 1939, Angus flew his first aircraft. It all began when he saw an advertisement looking for two pilots to train in Europe for flying aircrafts since war was about to break.  He was instantly known as above average for his skill of flying. He was chosen as one of the two men to accept the job. His acceptance letter did not say much but to own a tuxedo. Angus was called up to the RCAF(Royal Canadian Air Force) when Britain declared war on Germany in 1939.  His enlistment was 10 years, six active, and four reserve with $4.75 a day. It was wartime mode so Angus was immediately sent off to Halifax for his 50-hour beginner training then to Ontario for his intermediate training and lastly at Trenton, Ontario for his advanced training. He flew Ansons, Oxfords, and Yale Aircraft.  For being known as a stronger and above average aircraft men, he was asked to be a flying instructor for men also preparing for war. A wide variety of the men were from Australia, and Angus taught all over the country. One place was Saskatoon, where his buddy invited him to go dancing, and not knowing, Angus met Gwen, his future wife.
       Angus began his first duty in the war on bombing operations. He did the usual camps all over, mostly in Britain and was highly rated at the A2 level. He was posted as pilot to the 405 Squadron, alongside 5 other men. One night, he and his crew were called in to do a bombing over German territory. They started off well having great weather and a clear sky, until the sky filled with bright blinding colors.
      June 8th, 1942, 405 Squadron had been shot down over German-occupied Holland. The men of the aircraft all jumped together while Angus was last to jump while trying to keep the plane in flight, which separated him from his crew. He jumped off the plane releasing his parachute with about 1000ft till ground. The power of the hit led him to believe he was paralyzed. He slowly started moving his muscles until he was on his feet in a cow pasture. He landed on ground in the early morning at about 3am and was not sure on which direction he should go. He noticed the language on street signs which helped him know he was in Holland. His travels began in a dew covered field which had an outline for every one of his human footsteps. He herded all the cows from field to field to follow behind him covering over his footsteps so the Gestapo(German officers) would not see them. He continued this for every single cow pasture and to keep him on his feet, he took milk from the utter of the cow and drank it. Eventually, he met folks that offered him food, burned all uniforms and parachutes and offered him shelter. He knew when to accept and deny offers given. Angus missed a few classes that taught him all the cautions for a situation like this, but for his journey it was based on his pure judgement and human instinct.
       He met countless people that all added to his escape of Nazi-occupied Europe. The first family he resided with were the Pagie's. He recovered for about three weeks when living with them and were just like family to him. Angus says them to be an extremely brave family who often took in soldiers trying to escape the country. If the Gestapo ever found a soldier living in anyone's household, the family would be killed instantly.
      Angus discovered on his journey that about 95% people you meet, will help you, while the other 5% can not be trusted at all. He learned this strategy when he felt uneasy telling a family where he was headed and the Gestapo immediately went to his location, looking for the missing aircraft member and Angus had to hide. The money award was the most important thing to some people.
     He continuously met new people and every single person helped him in some way. They all had a connection to somebody in the escape organization all over Europe. Everyone had a role, whether it be the lady and child that would pretend to be his wife and kid, that way the Gestapo never questioned married couples when crossing into countries. The man in the certain suit, would be his key on to the train ride, his lifetime friend Dedee, the girl who would take him over the mountains and into certain safe areas of the city, but with all the workers, the most important parts and choices were up to Angus. He had to be smart and have good instincts. One bad decision would destroy him. He would finally get to a safe area to send letters home to family to let them know he was alive. He was noted missing for 72 days, and is still known as an unbelievable miracle how he escaped and returned home to start his new life.
      Angus returned to Canada and did his political speeches all over. He would speak of his story, the possible problems to come, and issues people would have to caution for such as another war. He was then demobilized. He and Gwen were good friends but did not see each other very often. Angus returned to Lewis to do some house constructions, and protect the farm and his woodlands which was extremely important. Then politics popped up, as he was elected for parliament in 1949, but lost believing he might be following his fathers footsteps since he also never won an election. Luckily, Angus came back to win in 1951, and moved to Ottawa to pull forward his political debut.
      He received countless awards making him a very important name in political history. Being re-elected in 1957-58, 1962-63, 1965, 1968, 1972 and 1973. He won twelve elections since after his first one, and his wife Gwen was a huge support to that. Angus was appointed Deputy Opposition Whip, taken in as minister of fisheries, attaining a cabinet position with John Diefenbaker, a minister in attendance with the Queen during her royal visit, leader of the Progressive Conservative party, elected to Prince Edward Island Legislature, becoming the premier of Prince Edward Island, awarded order of St. John of Jerusalem, PEI Commissioner to Expo 86' and finally receiving Order of Canada.
     Angus Maclean died the year 2000. He is said by many to be the best role model for PEI. During his political life, he was rarely thought of as a politician, but as a gentlemen. Today, his family still owns the original homestead, and his wife Gwen, is still residing there currently. He is a decorated World War II veteran, politician, premier, and a true Canadian hero!  

Becky Clark


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