Making It Home memoir reading

Rob MacLean and Melissa Mullen will give a reading from Making it Home, a memoir written by Rob’s father, former Island Premier and war hero, Hon. J. Angus MacLean. The event will take place at the historic Sir Andrew Macphail Homestead on November 12 at 2 pm. A cup of soup with a biscuit will be served prior to the event at 1:30 pm. In 1942, long before he was Premier or a Member of Parliament, Angus MacLean was the 28-year-old pilot of a Halifax heavy bomber. On the night of June 8, as he and his crew were attacking the Krupp armaments factory in Essen, Germany, they were hit by flak and a night fighter. Two engines were knocked out. The crippled plane turned for home but couldn’t maintain altitude. By the time they were over Holland and approaching the North Sea, they were down to 1200 feet and falling. Angus gave the order to bail out. His crew went first and he barely escaped, landing hard in the same field as his plane. After lying stunned and unable to move for a few minutes, he regained the feeling in his legs, and gathered up his parachute and hid it under a bridge. So began a 72-day ordeal to escape the Nazis which took him through Holland, Belgium, and France in the care of the heroic men and women of the Underground. Admission is by suggested donation. Reservations are not necessary. For more details, email macphailhomestead@gmail.com.