Bannock Bay was dedicated by the Canada Lands Company on May 22, 2012, as part of their redevelopment of Edmonton’s former Canadian Forces Base (Griesbach Barracks).
Russell Bannock was born in Edmonton, Alberta, on November 1, 1919. His interest in aviation began at an early age and he began flight training in 1937 at the Edmonton Flying Club, obtaining his private pilot's license in 1938 and his commercial license the following year.
He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force when the Second World War broke out, and was posted in 1940 as a flying instructor to the Central Flying School in Trenton, Ontario. By September 1942, Bannock was chief instructor at No. 3 Flying School in Arnprior, Ontario. In total, he delivered more than 2,000 hours of instruction to student pilots enrolled in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
In 1944, he was sent overseas and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force’s No. 418 Squadron in June of that year, flying de Havilland Mosquitos on intruder missions over Europe. His success prompted his appointment as a flight commander and he was soon promoted to the rank of wing commander and given command of 418 Squadron in October 1944. Shortly thereafter, he was posted to 406 Squadron as commanding officer and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for outstanding leadership in that command.
During this period, Bannock teamed up with navigator Flying Officer Robert Bruce. Together, Bannock and Bruce waged war on Germany’s V-1 jet-powered “flying bombs” or “buzz bombs,” at one point destroying four in just one hour. By April 1945, he had accounted for the destruction of 11 enemy aircraft and 19 V-1 ‘flying bombs,’ had earned himself the title ‘The Saviour of London,’ and the distinction of becoming the Royal Canadian Air Forces’s leading night fighter of the Second World War. He was also Canada’s second-highest-scoring flying ace.
Bannock became director of operations at the Royal Canadian Air Force’s London headquarters in May 1945, remaining in that post until September, when he attended Royal Air Force Staff College. Upon his retirement from the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1946, Bannock began the next stage of his phenomenal flying career. He returned home and joined de Havilland Aircraft Company of Canada Ltd. in Downsview, Ontario, as chief test pilot and operations manager.