Wednesday 23 January 2013

Britain at War Magazine

Oh dear. I'm doing it again. Another little skite. I have just heard from the editor of Britain at War that he has accepted two articles.

The first, which will be printed in the near future, covers my efforts to have Australian Battle of Britain pilot Peter John Moore (who died on active service with 616 Squadron on 3 June 1942) included on the Australian War Memorial's Commemorative Roll, and m...y discovery that Battle of Britain Pilot William Storey Moore (who died on active service with 143 Squadron on 24 December 1943) was in fact Irish, not Australian. 

 


The second, which features Desmond Sheen, will appear later in the year, hopefully to correspond with the release of Australian Eagles.
 


Please don't knock me over when you slap me on the back! I promise. No more skiting for a while.

http://www.britainatwar.com/

Australian Knights of the Air and Their Little Touches of Chivalry

 
 
Skite alert...Or, to paraphrase the RAF and RAAF, a watch out for a great big line shoot...!

The December edition of Sabretache, the Journal of the Military Historical Society of Australia has just come out and it includes my article 'Australian Knights of the Air and Their Little Touches of Chivalry', which won the 2012 Sabretache Writers' Prize. I finished writing the article in May last year and it is great to finally see it in print.
 
The article ranges across Australian air force history, highlighting instances of chivalry and arguing that chivalry rightly occured outside the fighting arena. 
 
For Battle of Britain enthusiasts it includes reference to Dick Glyde, John Cock and Bill Millington. Clive Caldwell and Jack Davenport also put in an appearance, as do Frank McNamara, Harry Cobby, Rawdon Middleton, my dear friend Alan Righetti and  Angus Houston. 

 

Saturday 19 January 2013

Bill Millington fighting bushfires

I have been very remiss lately in not posting little tidbits re 'my' Battle of Britain boys. I have been chipped about this and thought I would make up for it by posting something not quite BoB but at least pertinent to the summer season...

In January 1939, when bushfires raged around Adelaide, Bill Millington braved record-breaking temperatures to fight the fires. They were among the worst in South Australia’s history, sweeping through hundreds of square miles of countryside, causing tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage. Within a week, the danger passed and the fundraising began. Bill attended a rover crew dance at the Goodwood Institute, where nine pounds were raised; went to a bushfire relief concert at Henley; and headed to a charity midget car meeting at Payneham Oval. Twelve months later he was freezing at 10 Flying Training School Tern Hill at Shropshire, and digging cars and Harvards out of the snow to keep warm.

Friday 18 January 2013

Pat and Kay Hughes



Can any one help me find out about Australian Battle of Britain pilot Pat Hughes's wife?

I am seeking information about Kathleen Agnes (Kay) Wray who was born Kathleen Agnes Brodrick in the September quarter of 1916 in the Sculcoates district. Her mother, a widow (maiden name was Nettleton) lived at James Reckitt Avenue, East Hull.

 
(Pat and his dog Flying Officer Butch and Kay Brodrick, inset)
 
Kay met Flight Lieutenant Paterson Clarence (Pat) Hughes, an Australian flight commander in 234 Squadron RAF, in February 1940. After a whirlwind romance, they married on 1 August 1940 at the Bodmin, Cornwall registry office. Pat, the highest scoring Australian fighter ace of the Battle of Britain, was killed in action on 7 September 1940.

After Pat’s death, Kay initially drove a converted ambulance and later joined the WAAF.

In the June Quarter 1946, Kay married Henry Moor, an ex-Army prisoner of war at Hull. They had two sons (and two grandchildren). That marriage ended in divorce, as did a subsequent marriage in the September Quarter of 1964 to Cecil Marchant, also at Hull.

After the failure of her third marriage, Kay worked at an old peoples’ home for 14 years, first and the deputy and then as the matron. After she retired, she met her fourth husband, Francis D’A. Wray. They married in the September quarter of 1978 and lived at Preston.

 
(Mrs Kay Wray, c.1983)

Kay died on 28 June 1983 and her ashes are buried with Pat in the Sutton-upon-Hull churchyard.



Other than that tiny bit of information, I have nothing about Kay. As she was important enough to Pat to fall in love with and marry, I would like to know as much about her as possible. I want information about her background and family history as well as broad details of her life after Pat's death and what she was like as a person. And, of course, a photo. I don't ask much!

I would welcome any contact with members of Kay's extended family who can help paint a picture of the woman who fell in love with an Australian who, apparently, reminded her a little of Errol Flynn.