MACRAE, DOUGALD ‘DOUGIE’
Dougie MacRae was the son of Dougald and Ena MacRae who in 1921 opened Linger Long Lodge.
Posted to Flying School in Windsor, Dougie found himself in his element looping and rolling flimsy Tiger Moth biplanes. Failing other parts of the course the instructor reprieved him with the note that he was destined to become the worst or the best in the RCAF.
In March of 1943, Dougald MacRae flew a Harvard trainer aircraft from Camp Borden to Wahwashkesh Lake and dropped the message at right onto the grounds of Linger Long Lodge, advising his parents of his upcoming graduation as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
It is interesting to note that because of a previous back injury, Dougie had not been accepted when he first attempted to enlist in Toronto. He therefore went to North Bay and was accepted. …His smart appearance and bearing earned him a place in a precision drill squad of aircraft trainees chosen to appear in a Warner Brothers film starring James Cagney, called Captains of the Clouds. It was launched at New York’s Strand Theatre in early 1942.
The ad for the movie that Dougald had a bit part in with his plane back in the 1940's
Dougie MacRae
Dougald’s initial posting was to Britain. From Britain Dougie went to Palestine for operational training then joined 178 squadron of the RAF, flying four engine Liberator bombers. In mid-1944, 178 Squadron was dispatched to Italy.
On August 14, 1944, still wearing a cast from having been struck down on the street in Cairo by a truck, he volunteered to fly a perilous 1700-mile round trip to Warsaw. The Squadron’s task was to fly over the city at roof-top level dropping guns and food to freedom fighters of the Warsaw uprising.
The mission had begun on the evening of August 13, 1944. As John Macfie wrote: “In that last flight, Dougie flew a ‘Liberator’ aircraft to provide supplies to war-torn Warsaw. The aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft guns, but according to eye-witness accounts, Dougie pressed on and dropped his load of parachute-equipped canisters. Immediately after that the bomber exploded and crashed into a forested city park, dooming all the crew except the bomb-aimer, Lloyd Lyne to fiery deaths. Lynes life was spared by being blown out of the low-flying aircraft to land, without a parachute, on a small muddy island in the park. “
George 'Dougald' MacRae R141198
George 'Dougald' MacRae R141198
According to this record, Dougald was married
Again, note the reference to a wife
