Welcome to Australia's Few. My blog about the Australians in the Battle of Britain.
I have been researching the
Australian pilots of the Battle of Britain since 2008. The idea first came to
me in a busy Crows Nest cafe. I had recently handed in the manuscript for Jack Davenport Beaufighter Leader to my
publisher and had been indulging in a little break, a chance to catch up with
friends and reading. I had recently finished H.E. Bates’ lyrical and moving
account of the Battle of Britain, A
Moment in Time, and was full of the romance, tragedy and heroism of sixteen
brief weeks in British history. I wondered if there had been any Australians in
that long ago conflict and how they’d fared. I discovered there had been and
their stories too were full of romance, tragedy and heroism. As the August sun
shone on my back, with the glorious blue of a Sydney spring morning above, I
decided I would like to tell their story.
Almost four years later, I have narrowed
my focus and, instead of telling the story of the ’30 or so’ pilots, I am concentrating
on eight Australians who fought: Pat Hughes, Des Sheen, Stuart Walch, Jack Kennedy,
Bill Millington, John Crossman, Ken Holland, and Dick Glyde. Peter and
Des were the only ones to survive the Battle. Peter died in battle in 1942. Des
was the only one to survive the war.
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