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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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