PublishedAllen & Unwin, June 2018 |
ISBN9781760296414 |
FormatSoftcover, 360 pages |
Dimensions23.4cm × 15.3cm |
'You were the master of the machine...you were an airman.' Flying Officer Bob CrawfordLen Waters was a Kamilaroi man. Born on an Aboriginal reserve, he left school at thirteen and by twenty was piloting a RAAF Kittyhawk fighter with 78 Squadron in the lethal skies over the Pacific in World War II.
It was serious and dangerous work and his achievement was extraordinary. These would be the best years of his life. Respected by his peers, he was living his dream. The war over, it should have been easy. He believed he could 'live on both sides of the fence' and be part of Australia's emerging commercial airline industry. He had, after all, broken through the 'black ceiling' once before. Above all, he just wanted to fly. Instead, he became a missing man in Australia's wartime flying history. Peter Rees rights that wrong in this powerful, compelling and at times tragic examination of Len Water's life. He also tells us something of ourselves that we need to hear.
Bill is one of the founders of Boffins and has been involved in selecting the books we stock since our beginning in 1989. His favourite reading is history, with psychology, current affairs, and business books coming close behind. His hobbies are reading, food, reading, drinking, reading, and sleeping.
Len Waters was our only aboriginal fighter pilot in World War – and one of an estimated 4,000 aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders who served in our armed forces in that war. Born on an aboriginal reserve, he left school at 14, but was smart, ambitious, and dedicated, and at age 20 was flying Kittyhawks in the Pacific campaign. But in Postwar Australia, he was denied the chance to be part of Australia’s emerging commercial airline industry – he wasn’t granted a civilian pilot’s licence despite applying five times. This is a fascinating account of life as a World War 2 pilot, where Len didn’t feel any racism, and post-war civilian life, where he was treated as a second class citizen. A great read by Peter Rees who has written some fabulous military histories over the years.
