“What Historical Figure Would You Like to Meet and Why?”
Local resident Bill Duggan saw this question posed in a contest in the 2017 Canadian Farmers Almanac. Duggan knew exactly who he would want to meet - Sergeant Walter Buckwell.
Sgt. Buckwell was the pilot of a Canadian Halifax bomber shot down over Holland in 1943 during World War II. Sgt. Buckwell stayed at the controls to enable his crew to bail out of the bomber, and lost his own life in this heroic action. Bill Duggan’s father was one of those crewmembers who Sgt. Buckwell enabled to get out of the aircraft and survive the war. Bill’s father named his son William Buckwell Duggan after the man who saved his life.
Bill Duggan’s entry about Sgt. Buckwell won third prize in the Almanac contest. His essay is in the 2018 edition of the Canadian Farmer’s Almanac that is on sale now.