by Peter Rees
The recollections of Tom Dally and George Jarratt are sourced from the Field archive at the AWM, MSS1489.
Rollo Kingsford-Smith’s recollections are sourced from his memoir, I Wouldn’t Have Missed it for Quids.
Ted Pickerd’s views were expressed in an interview with the author.
Alick Roberts’s and Noel Eliot’s postwar careers and experiences are recounted in their private memoirs.
The Gordon Stooke saga is sourced from the Laurie Field archive, AWM, MSS1489.
Background material on Julius Epstein was provided by his family.
Details of the results of the Anglo-American bombing campaign against Germany, including the Albert Speer comments, are sourced from, among others, the Peter Scully paper for the AWM, op. cit., and Peter Isaacson’s As I Remember Them, Red Dog Books, Clifton Hill, Melbourne, 2012, pp. 146, 161.
45 RETURN TO THE SUGARLOAF
Paddy Foran’s comments are sourced from Foran family records and Overseas War Brides, pp. 92–96.
Tom Hopkinson’s and Blue Connelly’s comments on fear were made in a personal interview with the author.
Austin Dowling’s and Ray Chopping’s views were sourced from responses they sent to Laurie Field which are in the Laurie Field archive at the Australian War Memorial.
Eric Silbert’s account of the Peter Fontaine story are sourced from his Dinkum Mispochah, p. 198.
The letter to Jim Rowland from Albert Holz and the letter from the anonymous Luftwaffe officer are contained in archives held by the Rowland family.
Background material related to Jack Mitchell was sourced from The Memorial Cross, Apsley.
POSTSCRIPT
The announcement by the UK government of the decision to award a Bomber Command clasp came shortly before going to press. The announcement can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/recognition-for-veterans-of-arctic-convoys-and-bomber-command
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
Alexander, Kristen, Jack Davenport: Beaufighter Leader, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2009.
Australian War Memorial, RAAF SAGA, 1944.
Belford, A.C., Born to Fly, Leeuwin Media Pty Ltd, Perth, 1997.
Bennett, Air Vice-Marshal D.C.T., Pathfinder, Goodall Publications, London, 1988.
Bishop, Patrick, Bomber Boys, Harper Press, London, 2007.
Blundell, H.M. ‘Nobby’, They Flew From Waddington!, 463–467 Squadrons Association NSW, Sydney, 1975.
Bothwell Historical Society, The Memorial Cross, Apsley, Tasmania, 1995.
Brickhill, Paul, The Dam Busters, Pan, London, 1954.
Burgess, Colin, Australia’s Dambusters: the Men & Missions of 617 Squadron, Australian Military History Publications, Loftus, New South Wales, 2002.
Charlwood, Don, No Moon Tonight, Penguin, Ringwood, Victoria, 1987.
Charman, Terry, The German Home Front 1939–45, the Philosophical Library, New York, 1989.
Chorley, W.R., Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, vol. 1 1939–40, vol. 6 1945, Midland Counties Publication, Leicester.
Clark, Bryan, 619: The History of a Forgotten Squadron, Woodfield, Bognor Regis, England, 2005.
Conway, Dan, Trenches in the Sky, Hesperian Press, Perth, 1995.
Evans, Richard J., David Irving, Hitler and Holocaust Denial: Electronic Edition, Emery University, Atlanta, Georgia, 2003.
Fallon, Brian, Press on Regardless, Privately published.
Firkin, Peter, Strike and Return, Westward Ho, 1985.
Garbett, M. & Goulding, B., Lancaster, PRC, Leicester, UK, 1992.
Grayling, A.C., Among The Dead Cities, Bloomsbury, London, 2006.
Gibson, Guy, Enemy Coast Ahead, Isis, Oxford, 2002.
Harris, Arthur, Bomber Offensive, Greenhill Books, London, 1990.
Harrison, Gordon A., Cross Channel Attack, William S. Konecky Associates, 2003.
Hastings, Max, Bomber Command, Michael Joseph, London, 1987.
Hawker, Douglas, With Luck to Spare, Compaid Graphics, Preston, UK, 2004.
Irving, David, The Destruction of Dresden, Macmillan, London, 1985.
Isaacson, Peter, As I Remember Them, Red Dog Books, Clifton Hill, Melbourne, 2012.
Kingsford-Smith, Rollo, I Wouldn’t Have Missed it for Quids, privately published, Exeter, New South Wales, 1999.
Lawrence, W.J., No. 5 Bomber Group, Faber & Faber Ltd, London, 1951.
Longmate, Norman, The Bombers, Hutchinson London, 1983.
Love, Keith, Inferno: The Fiery Destruction of Hamburg, 1943; Scribner, New York, 2007.
Lukies, Jack, memoir held by the Foran family.
McCarthy, John, A Last Call of Empire, The Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1988.
McKiinstry, Leo, Lancaster, Hachette, London, 2010.
Middlebrook, Martin, The Battle of Hamburg, Cassell, 2002.
Middlebrook, Martin, and Everitt, Chris, The Bomber Command War Diaries, Midland Publishing, Surrey, 2011.
Mordike, John, The RAAF in Europe and North Africa 1939–1945, the Proceedings of the 1994 RAAF History Conference, RAAF Air Power Studies Centre, 1994.
Nelson, Hank, Chased by the Sun, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2006.
Overseas War Brides Club Committee, Overseas War Brides, Simon & Schuster, Sydney 2001.
Overy, Richard, Bomber Command 1939–45, HarperCollins Publishers, London, 1997.
Overy, Richard, The Air War 1939–1945, Penguin, London, 2010.
Pearson, Ross, Australians at War in the Air, Kangaroo Press Pty Ltd, New South Wales, 1995.
Peck, Dick, memoir, held by his daughter, Cynthia Tomalin, and quoted with her permission. It can be read at: http://www.467463raafsquadrons.com/TrueTales/LM338POU.htm Saward, Dudley, ‘Bomber’ Harris, Sphere Books, London, 1985.
Schmidt, Michael, The Destruction of Dresden in the Night of 13–14 February 1945, Sonnenblumen-Verlag Dresden, 2010.
Silbert, Eric, Dinkum Mispochah, Artlook Books, Perth, 1981.
Storr, Alan, Missing With No Known Grave, Kwik Kopy Canberra, 2009.
Taylor, Frederick, Dresden: Tuesday 13 February 1945, Bloomsbury, London, 2005.
Taylor, Geoff, Piece of Cake, Peter Davies, London, 1956.
Terraine, John, The Right of the Line, Sceptre, Sevenoaks, UK, 1988.
Vonnegut, Kurt, Slaughterhouse–Five, Dell, New York, 1991.
Warner, Denis, Pathfinder, Information Australia, Melbourne, 2000.
Williams, Geoffrey, Flying Backwards: Memoirs of a Rear Gunner 1943–1944, Publishing Services, Loftus, New South Wales, 2001.
Wilson, Kevin, Men of Air, Phoenix, London, 2008.
Woods, Laurie, Halfway to Hell, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 2011.
MEMOIRS AND MANUSCRIPTS
Eliot, Noel, memoirs, From The Land to Safe Landing, and An Account of an Unscheduled Sojourn in France, privately held.
Roberts, Alick, manuscript, A Roberts Family History, privately held.
Rowland, Sir James, memoirs, privately held.
Woodward, Keith, AWM MSS 1495.
NEWSPAPERS, JOURNALS AND ARTICLES
The Age, Melbourne, Bombed to Blazes, 11 February 1989.
AJR, Vol XVIII No. 8, (Association of Jewish Refugees in Great Britain), ‘Some Righteous Gentiles’, August 1963.
BBC, Up to 25,000 died in Dresden’s WWII bombing, 18 March 2010: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8574157.stm
Dresden Commission of Historians: http://www.dresden.de/media/pdf/presseamt/Erklaerung_Historikerkommission.pdf
Mosman Cricket Club, Sydney, Annual Report, 1945–46.
The Argus, Melbourne, GRP-CAPT BALMER MISSING, 30 June 1944.
The Herald-Sun, ‘Hitting Hitler’s Hideout’, by Neil Wilson, 23 April 2005.
Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Sink The Tirpitz!’ by Mark Baker, (the John Troeger story), 9 October 2004.
The Times, Air Marshal Sir Harold Martin: Low flying expert behind the Dambuster raid, Obituary, 4 November 1988.
Wartime, issue 25: Dr
Dan Oakman, ‘The Battle of Berlin’, http://www.awm.gov.au/wartime/25/article.asp.
The West Australian, ‘Perth Pilot was Dambuster Hero’, by Torrance Mendez, 4 February 2010.
DIARIES, PRIVATE RECORDS, INTERVIEWS AND LETTERS
Aitken, Alison, personal interviews.
Alt, Colin, personal interview.
Browning, Don, personal interview.
Burcher, Tony, interview, AWM S01656.
Cameron, Angus, personal interviews.
Campbell, Keith, personal interview.
Connelly, Langton ‘Blue’, personal interview.
Colquhoun D.W., Air Commodore, DFC, AFC, RAAF Command; AWM PR83/124.
Dale, Peter, papers, AWM PR01130.
Ellis, Flight Lieutenant Charlie, AWM PR 84/361.
Eliot, Enid, personal interviews.
Epstein, Stephen and Richard, personal interviews.
Field, Laurie, collection of papers regarding research into 460 Squadron, including interview transcripts, notes, correspondence, and replies to questionnaires, AWM MSS1489.
Flockhart, Colin, letter, AWM PR84/091.
Friend, Ron, see: http://www.friendfamily.com/rff/ronmemos.htm.
Grayston, Ray, quote regarding Les Knight was sourced from the Dambusters Weblog: http://dambustersblog.com/2010/04/22/sgt-ray-grayston-rip/.
Hawker, Douglas, personal interview.
Heap, Bert, AWM PR01654.
Holden, John, interview, AWM S00511.
Hopkinson, Tom, personal interviews.
Huxtable, Don, personal interviews.
Isaacson, Peter, personal interviews.
Kingsford-Smith, Rollo and Grace, personal interviews. Also, AWM S01678.
Kynoch, Bill, personal interview.
Lynch, Tom, interview, AWM S01299.
McGowen, Bill, recollections sourced from: http://www.467463raafsquadrons.com/TrueTales/WarToNight.htm.
McPherson, Gerald, personal interview. McPherson family records are privately held.
Maxton, Eric, personal interview.
Michael, Air Commodore Geoff, personal interview.
Murrow, Edward R, A Kind of Orchestrated Hell, CBS, 1944: http://www.otr.com/ra/news/murrow_43_12_3.mp3.
Pearson, Ross, personal interview.
Pickerd, personal interviews. Also, AWM S01269.
Pipes, Jason, background to the British Freikorps, British Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht in WWII:, http://www.feldgrau.com/gb.html
Purdy, Bill, personal interviews.
Read, Alf, Australians at War film archive: http://www.australiansatwarfilmarchive.gov.au/aawfa/transcripts/893.aspx.
Rodda, Audrey, personal interview. Perc Rodda speeches, 460 Squadron Association, 1987, and reunion in 1988, courtesy of Audrey Rodda.
Rose, Jack, personal interview.
Rosenfeld, Peter, personal interview.
Sellwood, Allan, personal interview.
Stutter, Allan, personal interview.
Ward, Eddie, personal interview.
Wartime Memories Project for No. 467 Squadron: http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/allied/royalairforce/467sqd-raf.html Walsh, Dee, letters, see: http://people.aapt.net.au/~cassynancarrow/letters/19430212.html
Wesley, Chris, personal interview.
Wrigley, Air Vice-Marshal Henry, copy of diary held by Air Vice-Marshal Peter Scully. Other observations were sourced from AWM S00416.
OFFICIAL HISTORIES AND RECORDS
Air Ministry, UK. Dresden, extracts from an Air Ministry report on Dresden Railway Marshalling Yard as a possible target, 27 February 1942, UK National Archives, catalogue ref: AIR 40/1680.
Air Ministry, UK. Extracts from an Air Ministry Directorate of Intelligence report on the effects of air attacks on German morale, 2 April 1944, UK National Archives, catalogue ref: AIR 40/1494.
Australians in Bomber Command, numbers of, AWM 54 Item No 81/4/59.
Brown, Donald, Flight Sergeant, AWM Roll of Honour: http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/roll_of_honour/person.asp?p=553582.
Crittenden, Phil, material is sourced from the Australian National Archives, Series A705, Control symbol 163/98/338, Barcode 1056260.
Curtin, John. Letters regarding ground staff return and other matters, see National Archives of Australia: Representations by RAAF personnel to Prime Minister during his visit to the UK (May 1944), 1944–45, Series A816, Control symbol 58/301/126 for representations by RAAF personnel to Prime Minister during his visit to the UK, May 1944. Further background came from Herrington, op. cit., 1944–45, p. 291.
Flockhart, Colin, National Archives of Australia, Series number: A 705; Control symbol 166/13/381.
Foskett, Bruce, National Archives of Australia, Series number A705, barcode 1068461.
Gillison, Douglas, Series 3, Volume 1, Royal Australian Air Force, 1939–1942, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1962.
Herrington, John, Series 3, Volume 3, Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939–1943.
Langlois, Eric le Page, National Archives of Australia, Series number: A9300, Item barcode: 5257999.
Maloney, John, Pilot Officer; re his death and deaths of his three crew, see AWM 64 1/243.
RAAF personnel, numbers of, see AWM 54 Item No 81/4/59.
RAF history, Bomber Command: http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/bombercommandsaumurtunnel9thjune1944.cfm.
Rowland, Sir James, National Archives of Australia, Series number: A 705, Barcode: 1075944. The file also contains the letter from his CO to the Rowland family.
Tiger Force, background to, see Cabinet papers 1945. Control symbol: 22/94/org, Barcode: 3035953; Control symbol 22/96/org Barcode 3036037, Control symbol: 22/97/org, Barcode: 3035947.
USAF Historical Division, Research Studies Institute, Air University. See: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=304620#304620.
Front cover: They were fine young men from Australia flying with Bomber Command in the most dangerous job in the Allied forces in World War II. To relax and share a moment with a mate was a treasured thing. Here, two aircraft captains from 467 Squadron RAAF, the second Lancaster squadron to be formed in Britain, take time out to share that moment. On the left is twenty-four-year-old Flying Officer John McDowell Sullivan, of Coolangatta, Queensland. On the right is Flight Sergeant Basil Frederick Wilmot, twenty-nine, of Launceston, Tasmania. Basil Wilmot died when shot down over Düsseldorf, Germany, on 11 June 1943. Two months later, on 15 August 1943, John Sullivan died when shot down over Milan, Italy. (AWM UK0177)
