An unsung Arnprior war hero is at last getting his due.
Mayor Walter Stack says the matter only came to light within the last year, when a friend of a friend of a friend brought the story of Russell Bannock to light.
In effect, Russ Bannock was the World War Two equivalent of Carleton Place pilot Roy Brown, who shot down the infamous Red Baron in 1918.
Stack says his own father had worked at Civil Defence College at the Arnprior Airport in the immediate post-war era, and had never mentioned Bannock.
Bannock passed away in January of 2020 at age 100.
Although he was Chair of the Board of the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame from 1988 to 1995, he never once touted his own horn- but recently, efforts to commemorate his legacy achieved fruition with the installation of a plaque in the office of the Arnprior Airport.
Bannock had the second highest kill total among Canada’s pilots in the European theatre.
