High Flight

A.D. (Don) Haylett

Recently, I wrote about a man named Don Haylett who worked on my grandfather’s farm; as my father recalls, he studied aviation in the evenings by the light of an oil lamp and went on to be an officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force during WWII. To be precise, he was known as Wing Commander A.D. (Arthur Donald) Haylett and was the Chief Instructor at the No. 2 Service Flying Training School at RCAF Station Uplands in Ottawa, Ontario. 

As a teenager, I would often listen to his wartime stories. One of my favourites was about a poem entitled High Flight.  According to Don, the author of this poem, John Gillespie Magee spent time at Uplands. At the time when I was hearing this story, it did not mean a great deal to me as I had never heard of the poem. Being a typical teenager, I half-listened to his tale and never took the time to write down the details.  

However, as I recall, Don told us that the poem was found scribbled on the back of a letter or envelope; that it was discovered in his personal effects after Magee was killed in the war; and that one of Don’s jobs was to deliver the deceased’s personal belongings to their family members. It was fitting that many years later when Don died, this poem was a part of his funeral service.   

In retrospect, I wished I’d listened more carefully because according to the official version, Magee wrote the poem and sent the letter to his parents. Given the short three month window between the time when Magee wrote the poem and when he died, it’s possible the letter was never mailed. It’s also possible that he sent the letter, but kept a copy for himself which was later found in his personal effects.  

Either way, it shows how we can have a personal connection with history. High Flight has been recited by many people over the years; one of the most famous was President Ronald Reagan who, on January 28, 1986, spoke to his fellow Americans about the Challenger disaster. At the end of his speech, he paid homage to Magee's poem by saying that the Challenger Crew, “Slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.” 

There is another line in the poem which reads, “Sunward, I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds…and done a hundred things you have not dreamed of.”  

Now picture my father and his brother Don growing up on a farm in rural Ontario during the 1930’s. In the midst of this relative isolation, appeared a young British man who worked on their family farm, but who studied aviation at night by the glow of an oil lamp. He must have seemed an exotic creature to them and made them dream of what was possible beyond the limited confines of their rural world.

Uncle Don

It is probably no coincidence that my uncle worked for over sixty years in the aviation industry as a pilot and airline mechanic; that he eventually started a business pertaining to the inspection of jet engines; in turn, his son Don became an airline mechanic and now runs this family-owned business.

I can remember how Uncle Don landed his airplane in the field of our farm back in the 1960’s; to a child growing up in rural Ontario, this seemed terribly exciting. Family folklore says I flopped myself on the couch saying, "I think I'm going to faint!"  In my own defence, I would like to point out that planes didn't land in our fields every day. I’m sure it also fuelled my desire to explore places beyond our small corner of the world.

The Story of Uncle Don Maddock's Career



In addition, my Dad’s cousin Marion, who lived in Michigan, spent her summer holidays on my grandparents’ farm and went on to get her pilot’s licence while still a teenager; this would have been an unusual accomplishment for a young woman in that era. Many years later, as a grandmother in her 60's, Marion bought herself a motorcycle and travelled solo around the world with it.


Dad & His Plane

In his 40’s, my Dad studied for his pilot’s license and with two local men, purchased an airplane that was kept on our farm. As a teenager, one of my jobs was to mow the grass on the plane’s runway. Given this background, it shouldn't be surprising that at the age of seventeen, I boarded my first jet airplane and flew around the world to be a Rotary Exchange Student in Australia.  

At the time, we were told that one of the theories behind the idea of the Rotary Youth Exchange was that of the “ripple effect.”  It was believed that sending young people to live in other countries for a year would lead to a wider "ripple effect" of goodwill and better understanding amongst people of different cultures. Looking back, that has been true in my own family. We forged ties with people in Australia (and also in Brazil because we hosted a girl on Exchange from there) that have lasted for many decades. 




Dad Fuels Uncle Don's Plane

I would argue that “the ripple effect” was also at work in the case of Don Haylett. One young British man had a burning dream to fly; my uncle Don, my Dad and their cousin Marion witnessed this and were inspired to take flight themselves; a generation later, my cousin Don Jr. joined his Dad in the aviation field. Although I have never had the yen to pilot my own plane, I have had one foot planted firmly on the soil of our family farm; the other in airports.  

So I guess we should never underestimate our own individual power and influence. Surely when we dream, we put out our hands and touch the face of God; we also serve as an inspiration for others.  

 

This Remembrance Day, when I stop and observe the official two minutes of silence, it will be for all the men and women who served for our country and fought for our freedom; it will also be for one particular man who, simply by daring to have a dream, changed the course of one family’s life. This one’s for you, Don!