Description
Object description
Australian officer served as pilot with 3 Sqdn, Royal Australian Air Force, No 239 Wing, Western Desert Air Force in North Africa and Sudan, 9/1941-1/1942; prisoner of war in Libya, Campo PG 66, Capua, Camp PG 35, Certosa di Padula, Padula, Campo PG 78, Sulmona and Campo PG 19, Bologna, Italy, 2/1942-9/1943; escaped from Italy to Switzerland, 1943-1944; officer served with Headquarters, Royal Australian Air Force in GB, 1944-1946
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Henley Beach, Adelaide and Perth, Australia, 1916-1939: family; effect of Depressions on father's business; father's military service with Australian Light Horse; degree of understanding of First World War; impressions of Anzac Day parades; loyalty to British Empire; awareness of rise of Nazi Germany; joining Royal Aeroclub of Western Australia, 1939; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Australian Air Force in Australia, 1939-1941: call-up for military service, 9/1939; aircraft types flown and pattern of training; move to RAAF Point Cook for continuation training; reaction to events in Europe.
REEL 2 Continues: expansion of Royal Australian Air Force; commissioning; period as flying instructor at Wagga Wagga; qualities need by trainee pilots; background to posting to 3 Sqdn, Royal Australian Air Force in Middle East, 8/1941; attitude towards overseas posting. Aspects of voyage from Australia to Egypt, 9/1941: pleasure at friend's posting to squadron; conditions on board ship; arrival in Egypt. Recollections of operations as pilot with 3 Sqdn, Royal Australian Air Force, No 239 Wing, Western Desert Air Force, 9/1941-1/1942: arrival at squadron; posting to No 71 Operational Training Unit, RAF at RAF Gordon's Tree, near Khartoum, Sudan; character of Hawker Hurricane and Curtiss Tomahawk.
REEL 3 Continues: reception on arrival with squadron, 9/1941; situation in North Africa on arrival, 9/1941; forced landing in Curtiss Mohawk Mk IV near Khartoum, Sudan; return to squadron flying Curtiss Kittyhawk II; reaction to going on first operational flight; nature of first aerial combat, including shooting down two German Air Force aircraft; reaction to squadron losses; reaction to Japan's entry into Second World War, 7/12/1941; his shooting down by German Air Force Messerschmitt Bf 109 over El Agheila, Libya, 11/1/1942; character of German Air Force Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft; attempt to walk along coastline to regain Allied lines. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Libya, 1/1942-2/19432 capture on walking into Italian Army camp between Mersa Brega and Agedabia, 12/1/1942
REEL 4 Continues: interrogation; treatment by Italian captors; attempt to escape from Italian Army vehicle, 12/1/1942; removal into prisoner of war cage at Misurata; removal to prison in Tripoli, Libya and meeting with Sergeant Allan Cameron, a squadron pilot shot down on same operation; reputation of Italian Army troops; use of hacksaw to cut through bars of cell, Tripoli, Libya, ; escape from prison cell in Tripoli, Libya, 17/1/1942; plan to escape to Allied lines; encounter with nomads; betrayal by Arabs and recapture by Italian forces, 22/1/1942; voyage from Tripoli, Libya to Naples, Italy, 1/1942-2/1942. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Campo PG 66, Capua, Campo PG 35, Certosa di Padula, Padula, Campo PG 78, Sulmona and Campo PG 19, Bologna, Italy, 2/1942-9/1943: arrival in Campo PG 34, Padula, 28/3/1942.
REEL 5 Continues: reaction to being made prisoner of war; conditions in Campo PG 35, Certosa di Padula, Padula; rations; removal to officers camp; dealing with boredom; contact with family; camp accommodation; personal morale; relations with Italian Army guards; decision of Italians to remove Australian officers from camp; removal to Campo PG 78, Sulmona; organisation of escapes; Italian captors discovery of prisoner of war escape tunnel; solitary confinement; degree of contact with family; transfer to Campo PG 19 Bologna, 6/1943; take over of camp by German forces, 9/1943.
REEL 6 Continues: orders for removal of prisoners of war to Germany. Recollections of escape from Italy to Switzerland, then to GB, 9/1943-12/1944: story of escape from train taking prisoners of war from Italy to Germany, 13/9/1943; meeting up with other escapees; aid given by Italian civilians; plan to escape to Switzerland; method of getting past guards on bridge; nature of trek to Switzerland; problems with cold; further aid and help received from Italian civilians; paying smugglers to cross border.
REEL 7 Continues: crossing border into Switzerland, 20/9/1943; encounter with Swiss border guards; reaction to arrival in Switzerland; arrangements made by British vice-consul; period in quarantine; allowance given and status as escaped prisoners of war; relations with civilians; establishing contact with family; attitude of Swiss people to Second World War; crossing into France; importance of getting back into service; contact with United States Army troops and flight to Rome, Italy; flight to GB.
REEL 8 Continues: reporting to Royal Australian Air Force in London, 12/1944. Aspects of period as officer with Royal Australian Air Force Overseas Headquarters in London, GB, 12/1944-2/1946: threat of German V weapons; sight of destruction in London; spirit of Londoners; leave in GB; duties with headquarters, including visits to Australian manned squadrons; flying as navigator in De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito; opinion of De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito; attitude to impending end or Second World War; VE Day celebrations in London, GB, 8/5/1945; arranging for return of Australian service personnel after end of Second World War in from Brighton; return to Australia, 3/1946.
