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Doctrine | Air Power | APDC Papers and Working Papers | Conference Proceedings | Fellowship Papers | Pathfinder | Heritage Award | Historical TitlesPublic order form | Defence order form RAAF Heritage Award for Literature Winners
When A.J. (“Jack”) Brown enlisted in the RAAF at Adelaide on June 1942 he wanted to become aircrew and to help win World War II by flying aircraft. While he was still in initial training at Victor Harbour, it was found that he had natural ability as a wireless operator—a discovery that dramatically shaped his subsequentservice. Instead of a flying career, Jack found himself in top secret RAAF wireless units. There he worked to intercept radio transmissions sent in the Japanese katakana code, which were then analysed to produce the highly reliable intelligence that helped General MacArthur in devising his strategy for the allied campaign in the South-West Pacific. Beginning with No 1 Wireless Unit at Townsville, Jack went to New Guinea in 1943, serving at Port Moresby and subsequently Nadzab, Biak and then Hollandia. In October 1944 he joined the nucleus of a new unit, No 6 WU, which headed for the Philippines to take part in MacArthur's momentous invasion at Leyte Gulf. Here is a frank account of a remarkable facet of Australia's contribution to the war effort in the Pacific, drawn from a personal knowledge and perspective of events and activities that were not widely known or recorded at the time—a situation which was to cause Jack Brown considerable personal hardship after the war.
Like many other young Australian men of his generation, Roy Shallcross was rescued from a dreary civilian occupation by the coming of the Second World War. Having left school on completing Year 10 to become a junior office clerk, he had attended night classes in accountancy and, by the time the war began, was an accountant for an engineering company. Roy enlisted in the RAAF in January 1942, volunteering for training as an Air Observer. He graduated at Nhill, with further training in Canada, Northern Ireland and Scotland, and was finally transferred to Ferry Command as navigator of a three-man crew delivering new Wellington bombers to Rabat in French Morocco. After six of these delivery flights over a period of five months, he was posted to No 512 Squadron, Transport Command. The duty of his squadron was to provide close air support to the army. So Roy took part in the evacuation of casualties from the Normandy bridgehead, later towed a glider to Arnhem and parachuted ammunition to the troops. In 1945, the squadron led the great armada of about 1400 tugs and gliders at the airborne crossing of the River Rhine. Discharged from the RAAF in August 1945, Roy returned to
his pre-war occupation as an accountant. He quickly found this unrewarding,
after the excitement of flying, and made his future in manufacturing and
marketing of plumbers' brassware.
During World War II thousands of Australians, most of them barely out of their teens, joined the Royal Australian Air Force in various capacities to defend the nation. Arthur Gately was one such young man who was thrown into the battles that raged over the South-West Pacific Islands. Arthur Gately joined the RAAF on 2 November 1942 at the age of 18 and served as a technician until his discharge on 9 April 1946. During this time he served with 79 Spitfire Squadron on Milne Bay, Goodenough Island, Kiriwina Island, Manus Island and Los Negros Island. In this book, developed from a diary that he maintained and adding his memoirs the author traces his training as an armourer and the trials and tribulations of four years of wartime service, at times under very inhospitable conditions. It poignatly highlights the comradeship and courage experienced by the many young men and includeds personal observations, especially at times of great sorrow. For readers ignorant of the lifestyle of the servicemen
who went out to defend the freedom of the nation to far-off islands and
other places this is a simple and direct description of how tough life
was for these young men. The book is a tribute to the determination and
steadfastness of the men who served with the RAAF though some of the toughest
periods in its history.
Squadron Leader Frank Korbl (Retd) was born in Vienna, Austria. His colourful career included wartime service with the German Air Force and post-war employment with the British NAAFI in Germany and Austria. He migrated to Australia in 1956 and joined the RAAF in 1956, being commissioned into the Equipment Branch. He served at a number of RAAF units including No.9 (Helicopter) Squadron in Vietnam. He was awarded the MBE in 1977 for his services as Senior Barracks Officer at RAAF Richmond NSW. In his book 'Ex-Luftwaffe MBE', the author traces his training as aircrew wireless operator and rear gunner, the trials and tribulations of four years war service, the defeat of Germany in 1945 and his short spell as a Prisoner-of-War. The story of his service with the RAAF contrasts with that of his involvement in World War II, providing an interesting insight into the different cultures of two military organisations, by giving examples of training, procedures and life in general. It is not only a remarkable story from a military point
of view but also an inspiring account of the migrant experience in the
Australian environment.
During the six years of World War II, thousands of Australian airmen - most of them barely on the threshold of adulthood - went dicing with death as almost a daily duty. Arthur Sandell was one of this distinguished company. A convinced pacifist until the enormity of Hiltler's threat to civilised values bought a change in his thinking, he gives an account in this book of his enlistment, training and subsequent flying in the Royal Australian Air Force from the beginning of 1941 to early 1946. Now in his eighties, the author has recreated for us some of his day-to-day experiences as a navigator in a squadron of remarkable versatile Catalina flying boats. The airmen of two squadrons of Catalina, despite the slow speed and minimal armament of their aircraft, played a crucial part in reporting the advance of Japanese forces towards Australia in the critical days of 1942, and slowed the enemy's progress by bombing most of the bases they established between northern New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The author tells of operations, often 16 to 22 hours duration, of the techniques of precision navigation, frequently in appalling tropical weather, and of the excitement and fear when heavily defended enemy ships or installations were reached. After 12 months of oeprations in 20 Squadron, the author was assigned to instructional duties, followed by a commission to investigate in America the use of a new ground facility for teaching astronomical navigation. He then returned to operational flying in 43 Squadron. By this time the role of the 'Black Cats' had become the laying of mines in the waterways used by the Japanese as far west as Sumatra and the China coast. The book ends with a brief account of what became of one
ordinary Australian after his flying days were over.
This account of the higher command of the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War has been written by a military professional primarily for his fellow professionals so that they might see some of the mistakes that were made by their predecessors from times past. Such mistakes have been revealed here, not to lay blame, but rather so that those who may be responsible for the control of Australia's Defence Forces now and in the future may learn from the mistakes of the past. Political figures with an interest in Defence might also care to take note of how their predecessors handled, and mishandled, the higher direction of one of Australia's fighting Services during the challenging times of the Second World War. This account is based, in the main, on documents from the period held in various government archives. As these documents are not readily available to most readers, they have been reproduced, in full, in Volume Two. Volume One contains the narrative, which can be read, if so desired, without reference to Volume Two. However, if the reader should wish to go to the source documents he or she can do so with relative ease. Also, a reading of the source documents may give the dedicated reader a better feel for the various issues and for the times. For anyone interested in the Royal Australian Air Force
and its history, this account of the higher command of the Service during
its period of greatest trial should fill a gap in the recorded history
to this time. And, while the story itself may reflect rather poorl on
many of those intimately involved in it, its telling is necessary so that
others may learn how not to run an air force!
From a multitude of wartime stories and exploits, the image of a RAAF pilot emerges as a flamboyant adventurer sporting a bristling moustache, a silk scarf knotted casually at his throat and a map tucked carelessly into his flying boot. If this portrayal were the slightest bit representative of wartime aircrew, the image changed significantly in post-war years when the RAAF gradually re-established as a peacetime force, equipping with jet aircraft, training for possible involvement in the Cold War, and developing a sense of professionalism within its ranks. This story tells of the experiences of a pilot who joined the RAAF in 1950 to learn to fly on Tiger Moths, retiring 31 years later as an Air Commodore. Like most aircrew making a career in the Australian Defence Forces, he experienced a frequency and variety of postings to numerous squadrons, as well as the obligatory administrative and staff appointments expected of senior ranks. In these memoirs John Jacobs tells of his adventures and thrilling episodes flying in jet aircraft, his experiences living in three foreign countries for seven years, and his occasionally frustrating 'desk jobs'. As well as being a career officer involved in all facets of a peacetime Air Force, he was also the bread-winnner and father of a large family, all of whom were subjected to frequent postings and domestic upheavals which fortunately provided a broader education to offset the stresses of packing up and moving away. For a reader ignorant of the lifestyle of servicemen in
the Armed Forces, this is a surprising revelation of the sort of exciting
and challenging career open to RAAF aircrew in the few decades immediately
post-war.
Skylarks reveals for the first time how many of the RAAF
coped with that four fifths or more of their time between enlistment and
discharge when they weren't busy fighting. You may be amazed at some of
the unofficial things they did which were never reported. Revealed at
last - the lighter and very unofficial side of life in the RAAF. Nearly
one hundred stories from all around the world, mostly humorous, told by
the perpetrators. All are true, with just for fun, a chapter on 'Line
Shoots'. Read how a Japanese garrison unofficially surrendered to 'Ned
Kelly'. Enjoy the largest unofficial RAAF party ever when 4000 troops
jumped ship from the Aquitania at Cape Town. Imagine an inpromptu parachute
auction in teeming Djakarta. Try swapping a wimpy for a Matilda. Build
sailboats between ops at Algiers; why it was different in Russia. Envy
the 'Tough War in Nassau', with the Duke of Windor (but someone had to
do it!).
In March 1917 aircraft of No.1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, carried out a bombing mission against a Turkish railway in Palestine. During the attack 23-year-old Lieutenant Frank McNamara, although himself badly wounded, landed to pick up a fellow pilot who had been downed near a force of enemy cavalry. It was this exploit, described by the official war history as 'a brilliant escape in the very nick of time and under hot fire', which won McNamara - a country town schoolteacher in civilian life - the first and only Victorian Cross awarded to an Australian airman during the First World War. To colleagues in his unit, though, he was 'the last Officer for whom that high honour would have been predicted'. Joining the post-war Royal Australian Air Force, McNamara went on to attain the rank of Air Vice-Marshal and serve in senior commands with both the RAAF and the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. But his career was a classic illustration of the dilemma of a basically ordinary man plucked from obscurity and accorded the status of national hero. Here is recounted the difficulties of living with the expectations placed on someone in his unenviable position, being both constantly lauded by admirers or belittled by jealous detractors. Ungratiously retired in 1946, the only non-posthumous VC winner ever to serve in the RAAF lived out the rest of his years as an angry exile in England. |
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Katakana
Man - $18.50. Jack Brown, winner of the
2005 Award. 
A
Navigator's Tale - $13.50. Roy Shallcross,
winner of the 2003 Award.
A
Call To Arms: War Service with the RAAF 1942-1946 - $13.50. Arthur
Gately, winner of the 2003 Award.
Ex-Luftwaffe
MBE - $18.00. Frank Korbl, winner of the 2001 Award.
Dicing
with Death: An Airman's account of his training and operations against
Japan - $18.00. Arthur Sandell, winner of the 2000 Award.
How
Not to Run an Airforce Volumes 1 & 2: The Higher Command of the Royal
Australian Air Force during the Second World War - $40.00. Norman
Ashworth, winner of the 1999 Award.
Up
and Away: Memoirs of a Pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force 1950-1981
- $22.00. John Jacobs, winner of the 1998 Award.
Skylarks:
The Lighter side of life in the RAAF in World War II - $16.20. Eric
Brown, winner of the 1997 Award.
McNamara
VC - A Hero's Dilemma - $16.20. Chris Coulthard-Clark, winner of the
1996 Award.