Page 32 - November 2017

Trouble is Their Business Rescues “On the Jump”

October, 1947, Aircraft and Airport
Located on the rim of the North, Hargreaves and
Dick, original RCAF “crash and carry” boys, cater to
the flying trade going down North…their doctor
partner jumps to rescue too

Unique not only in Canada, but throughout the world,
is the enterprise of Hargreaves and Dick located at
Edmonton Airport – for trouble is their business.

These two RCAF veterans, Owen S. Hargreaves, BEM,
and Jack Dick, offer to the aviation industry the
original “crash and carry” service.
Associated with them in the business is Dr. Colin Ross,
house surgeon at the Royal Alexander Hospital not far
from the Edmonton Airport. A veteran of the
paratroops, he jumps with the rescue crew in the
event of death.

Both Hargreaves and Dick were members of the

original Crash and Carry squad of the RCAF, and they
have carried their service trade into civilian life. Their
para-rescue service is available not only in Canada, but
they are ready to go anywhere in the world where
there is a legitimate call and a chance to save a life.

The story of their business goes back to the service
where they met. Owen S. Hargreaves, now 37, came
to Canada in 1929 and settled in the west. He worked
in the mines and followed his fortune throughout the
Yukon, MacKenzie and the Arctic, flying with veteran
bush pilot “Wop” May in the early thirties.

He had returned to New Zealand for a visit when war
broke out. Upon his return to Canada in 1940, he went
to No. 2 AOS as an aircraft engineer. There he met
Jack Dick, 25, who was also an air engineer and later
became a para-rescue instructor.

While at AOS they became familiar with search and
rescue work, and Owen Hargreaves with Scotty
Thompson went to the Forestry School at Montana for
a special course in bush jumping. Upon their return
they served as instructors of air force personnel in a