FIDELITAS — Bunny McLarty dies at 89.
Born in Newcastle, England, McLarty moved to Buenos Aires as a boy. In response to Hitler's invasions, Don volunteered as an Argentine national for the Royal Canadian Air Force on November 28, 1940 in Ottawa. Bunny did his elementary flying training at St. Catharines, Ontario. Flight Lieutenant McLarty went on to fly Hurricanes with No. 33 Squadron in North Africa. He had completed 199 missions when he was shot down over El Daba Airport and captured. After a year in two different Italian POW camps, Don and his POW camp roommate, Ray Sherk, escaped and found their way home to the Allied lines, when the Italians capitulated.
McLarty and Sherk were active members of the Royal Canadian Air Force's Escaping Society, an organization dedicated to the recognition of the extreme efforts and risks taken by the European families who assisted airmen in their escape or evasion of capture by the Germans in the Second World War.
Don enjoyed a successful career in the Canadian Air Survey Industry, first as a pilot, followed by increasingly responsible roles in sales, marketing and managing Canadian air survey companies. As President of the Canadian Association of Aerial Surveyors, Don significantly enhanced the role of private industry, both domestically and internationally. Bunny died in 2011 shortly after we dedicated the aircraft in his honour.
