Pat Hughes - with a little help from my friends

I love researching our Second World War aviation history but sometimes I come up against a barrier. I am so grateful to friends, old and new, who help me peek behind the barrier or knock it down completely. For instance, for some time I have been trying to contact the family of Kathleen (Kay) Brodrick, Pat Hughes's wife. Every avenue came up a dead end. And then, thanks to Andy Saunders and his friend Paul McMillan I was given a lead and I have now made contact.

Here is my favourite photo of Pat, taken in June 1940. Kay is holding the camera.

 

 

Biographical writing

My first two books—Clive Caldwell Air Ace and Jack Davenport Beaufighter Leader—were biography, Australian Eagles is a collection of biographical essays and my current work in progress, fondly known as The Opus (with a working title of Australia’s Few. An Intimate History of the Battle of Britain) has a strong biographical focus.

A few years ago, Allen & Unwin asked me to muse on my experiences of biography for their Writing Centre and I thought you might be interested in my thoughts...

Writing biography is a challenge. The intimacy is engrossing and the responsibility to accurately record a person’s life within the historical context is overwhelming. But it is so fulfilling. I have no background in historical writing and I fell into biography by accident but I learned much which might make biographical writing easier for other novices.

I recently read of an author who, before putting keystroke to sceen, was advised to read other biographies to see what worked and what didn’t. The author ignored that advice and it is obvious. My first suggestion, then, is read constantly: biography, memoir, history and literary fiction. Absorb and analyse. Deconstruct, criticise and appreciate. Develop an appreciation of structure and ‘flow’. Target your reading to the ‘life and times’ of your subject to gain a sense of the environment in which he or she lived as well as the social influences on his or her actions.

Personal primary source material—interviews, letters, diaries—will always be at the heart of a biography, as will the recollections and writings of contemporaries. When I first started work on Clive Caldwell Air Ace I took my primary sources at face value but before I made too many blunders I read something which has continued to influence my research.

Tom Harrisson was one of the co-founders of Mass-Observation which collected first-hand accounts of how Britons reacted to the Second World War. Thirty years after the Mass-Observation accounts were written Harrisson decided to compare the 1970’s recollection of life in the Blitz with the 1940’s first-hand account. In all cases, including one of his own treasured recollections, there were considerable differences. For the first time, I realised that memory was fallible so decided to treat it as a starting point, rather than an established fact.

This stood me in good stead as both Caldwell and Davenport, without any intention to deceive, had made memory slips and their accounts often did not stand up to the official record. Wherever possible, I checked each recollection against official and other recorded accounts. Occasionally, I could not sort out a discrepancy, so I just acknowledged it. That is what end notes are for! And this leads me another important point: biography is history and future readers will want to know your sources. So include end notes and a detailed bibliography.

My final suggestions relate to ‘readability’. I was always conscious that the technical aspects of military aviation should be accessible to the ‘ordinary’ reader so non-aviation friends read through my manuscripts and highlighted areas which went over their heads. An aviation expert also read them to correct my technical errors. For the Davenport manuscript I engaged a professional editor to work with me before I submitted it to Allen & Unwin: friends are usually too kind to point out literary and structural flaws. I cannot recommend these strategies enough because, believe me, if you have no background in your subject’s area of expertise, you will make mistakes and, we might as well admit it, we never see flaws in our own work!

 

http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=662

Australia's Few. An Intimate History of the Battle of Britain.

 

 

I  am very much looking forward to the publication of Australian Eagles in July.

 

Coincidenally, it will be my third book published in the middle of Australia's winter!

 

I have not put my pen down (so to speak as I use a keyboard) and continue to research and write. I am now well into a more detailed work on eight Australians in the Battle of Britain, working title Australia's Few. An Intimate History of the Battle of Britain aka The Opus.

 

In the last month of my particular Battle of Britain chronology, Stuart Walch and Dick Glyde became the first Australians to score in the Battle of Britain, Jack Kennedy has died, John Crossman and Ken Holland have gone to OTUs, Des Sheen has arrived back in England after taking the long way home from France, Bill Millington has discovered there is nothing chivalrous about air fighting and Pat Hughes has got married.

 

Today I turn to Stuart Walch as he builds on his initial success over the Channel. 

 

 

Stuart Walch, 1940. Doesn't he look like Ronald Coleman?  

Owen Zupp and Australian Eagles

Aviation fans will be well familiar with Owen Zupp, an experienced commercial airline pilot and author of ‘Down to Earth’ about Battle of Britain pilot Kenneth McGlashen. His writings have featured in magazines around the world and he is a dedicated bloggist. http://www.owenzupp.com/_blog/Owen_Zupp

A former paramedic, Owen offers a unique insight into his writings and presentations with a distinctly human element. His personal stories are something special and he has recently collected them in an ebook ‘Tales of Flight: From Biplanes to Boeings’.

http://www.amazon.com/50-Tales-Flight-Biplanes-ebook/dp/B00BKEDNMC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361696861&sr=1-1&keywords=50+tales+of+flight

Demonstrating that writing is in his blood (as well as avgas) Owen is currently penning the experiences of his father a WWII commando and pilot in the Korean War. (You will meet him in ‘50 Tales’ .)

Owen has taken a break from his hectic publicity schedule for ‘50 Tales’ and writing regime to write a review for ‘Australian Eagles’. It will appear in due course but here is an extract.


...in seeking out the personalities behind the service numbers, Kristen has also thoroughly researched the operational truths. From personnel files to squadron records and log books, the timeline of the battle is clearly established. This book is thoroughly researched on a number of levels and the role of each young man’s daily life is described to a backdrop of combat operations. There are dogfights and close calls, but there is also time for humour and reflection. These are young men caught in between their vitality and mortality. ‘Australian Eagles’ offers a wonderful blend of history and humanity.

Coming from someone with such a feel for the human element in writing, these words mean a lot to me. Thank you Owen.

 

James Coward

The obituary of James Coward that Mark Lax and I wrote last year has been reprinted in the 2013 edition of The Old Johnian, the magazine of St John's Leatherhead, his old school.

 

 

 

An expanded version of James's story will appear in Australian Eagles. (I know, he was born in the UK but he lived in Australia for over 40 years and so I count him as an adopted Australian.) Here is an extract, along with one of the photos from the book: 

 

James Coward’s love affair with flying lasted his entire life. He officially took off his wings in the 1960s but that did not ground him forever. In April 2006, the 90-year-old was invited to speak at the Northern Rivers Aero Club at Lismore. Afterwards, he told Bill Kiernan, the club’s chief flying instructor, about the last time he had flown. Bill asked James if he would like to fly again. Oh yes! There was no stopping James. Bill took him to the club’s two-seater aerobatic trainer and the two ‘hopped in’. Bill started up and James familiarised himself with the controls. Bill then said, ‘your aircraft, Air Commodore’ and James took off. He flew around, getting a feel of the aircraft and flying conditions. Then, when he had attained a comfortable height, he put the aircraft through its aerobatic paces, including a series of barrel rolls. Rather than land the aircraft himself, he handed the controls back to Bill. As they climbed out, Bill was not sure whose grin was the biggest, his or James’s.

 

Bill Kiernan and James Coward, April 2006.

 

Australian Eagles is at the printers.

Good news! I have just heard from Ian at Barrallier Books. He has checked the final print proof of Australian Eagles.

All changes are in and the whole file will go back to the printer today. And then the print button will be pressed and before we know it, 500 beautiful limited edition copies will be landing on the doorstep for me to sign.

Better start my wrist strengthening excercises. We are all set for a July release!

Update on Australian Eagles and Australia's Few

So, what’s been happening lately in Kristen Alexander ‘land’?

Lots!

The booksellers’ release sheet for Australian Eagles is finished and will be at the printer’s shortly. I have the printer’s proof of the book and have started reading through it in case any gremlins found their way onto the pages. The first review copies have gone out and pre-orders for the limited edition (July publication) are looking very good.  

 

If that wasn’t enough excitement, I have reached the half way point of Australia’s Few and have signed up with an agent. (I can’t tell you have satisfying it is to my ego to know that I am on an agent’s ‘list’.) She has put the hard word on me and I have until the end of the month to finish another chapter and she will then start ‘selling’ the manuscript to publishers. Fingers crossed. While all that is happening, I am committed to finishing the draft by September. More hard work!

 

I spoke to my website designer yesterday and development is going well. We are tentatively looking at April for a launch. It is looking wonderful, even if I say so myself.

 

Lots of other things are bubbling along: chats with the architect, another booklist for Alexander Fax Booksellers, Miss Millie’s latest antics and of course, the big plans for next week’s half century festivities. I thought of starting the pre-birthday diet this week but too many scones, not enough time.

 

Cataloguing all these exciting things is way exhausting first thing in the morning. I think it is time for a pot of Darjeeling (in fine Shelley china) and a nice lie down. Oh, hang on. Proof pages to read! Have a great day in your ‘land’.