My grateful thanks are due to John Coleman for his most timely contribution. In 2003, three days after I had commenced work, still with some misgivings, on this project, I received a phone call from someone in Queensland I did not know. John Coleman was going through the family papers of his late wife Judith, daughter of Drew and Thel Fisher. Having heard Drew speak so often of David, his old skipper, whom he had held in such regard, John was offering to make a copy of his late father-in-law’s logbook and the personal diary Drew had made at David’s suggestion. Coming so unexpectedly, it seemed to me a confirmation that I was indeed meant to write this story. John Coleman’s care in copying and sharing the voluminous material is deeply appreciated. Drew’s accounts, supplemented with photos of his targets and newspaper accounts of the raids, have been invaluable, his forthright breezy style complementing David’s carefully worded records. His heartfelt letters to David were also very revealing. Between them, John Coleman and Drew Fisher have added an important dimension to the story.
I thank Cyril Bailey for his memories and help in verifying certain details, and for copies of several documents in his possession.
I am grateful that before I had envisaged this account, Mark Beresford sent David a copy of Reg Watson’s official logbook entries for the sorties they flew together. Reg’s frequently reiterated comment, ‘Poor bloody civilians’, was important. We thank Noel Ferguson’s widow Ann for sharing her memories with us and lending us her photos, including the precious tattered one of Noel which she pinned up over her bunk in the various huts where she was stationed on anti-aircraft duty. We also appreciate Pat McKenzie and Jo Goulder responding to our letter in the Newcastle Herald, with memories of their childhood playmate and friend Allan Avery, and Allan’s sisters, Pat Inglis who lent photos and a copy of Allan’s logbook, and Elizabeth Babington who also lent photos. Des Hadden’s long friendship, memories and the loan of his copy of Tasmanians at War are much appreciated. Eric Thale’s gift in 1990 of one of only three copies of No. 625 Squadron Diary, which he researched and produced, has proved a most useful source of dates and information about operations and names of personnel. We thank the McGoldrick family of Toowoomba, who provided the contact which ended our long search for Reg Murr’s widow and children.
We thank Major-General Steve Gower AO, Director of the Australian War Memorial, for inviting us to the official opening of the Lancaster G for George in December 2003 and to the commemorative ceremony for 460 Squadron. I am particularly grateful he gave his permission for me to view the interior of the aircraft. We also thank him and John White, Senior Curator of Aircraft, for reading the manuscript, and John for the notes and information he supplied.
I thank Max Fatchen who also read the manuscript and offered a most useful suggestion. He has been stalwart in his encouragement and support. Mike Garbett, world authority on the Lancaster and its crews, wrote to David for the first time after we had commenced this project. This unexpected contact from Britain was another confirmation of the importance of telling this story, and we thank him for his interest and comments.
We thank the Isle of Thanet Gazette and the East Lothian Courier for their help, by publishing David’s letters seeking information about the Bailey and McNeill families, which led to the renewal of contact after so many years; and also the Newcastle Herald for publishing David’s letter seeking information about Allan Avery, which brought several welcome responses. Ted Field, Senior Librarian at the Devonport Library, was most helpful in finding details of Peter Lord’s family, enabling us to make contact with Peter’s sisters, Katharine Robertson and Valerie Lloyd-Green. Katharine kindly lent us photos.
We thank members of the Association of the Friends of Lincoln Cathedral for their interest: Len Curtis for his boyhood memories of a Lancaster crash near his home; Keith Jones for placing David’s name on the prayer list in the Airmen’s Chapel; Jean Pritchard for her letters and for suggesting to her sister Marion and husband Joe Benson that they should look us up on their trip to Australia, and the Bensons for their visit and gift of a print of Lincoln Cathedral and some ancient handmade nails retrieved during restoration. We were grateful that they made a pilgrimage on our behalf to Scopwick Church cemetery to place on John Magee’s grave the red poppy we had sent. David Cordingley’s visit was also an unexpected pleasure, as was the recent visit of Katherine and Brian Maddison.
Barbara Ives of the University of South Australia helped with information about the works of John Pudney, as did my former literary agent Michael Horniman. Rainer Scharenberg advised on a German phrase.Our son Stephen and our daughter Rosemary searched for information on various obscure details and read the manuscript, as did our son Christopher. Margaret Smith listened to my reading of the manuscript with acute attention and perspicacity. Jan Wetherall’s cheerful help with the vagaries of my computer and her skill in locating lost chapters was timely, and Monte Goulding’s computer advice has also been helpful. Robert Andrew, a former student of David, has prepared perceptive teacher notes. I thank Fiona Inglis, my agent, for understanding how much this book means to me.
I thank publisher Erica Wagner for her long time faith in me and her belief in this story; and Susannah Chambers for her thoughtful editing.
Finally I thank my husband David, without whom I could not have written this book. I am grateful for his unfailing patience and support as I grappled with the complexities and difficulties of the story, for answering endless questions day and night, explaining technicalities and procedures, recounting anecdotes, directing me to references and research sources. Most of all I have been moved by his willingness to recall painful memories as together we have relived that wartime experience, so that others may know something of the ongoing cost of war. I regret I never had the privilege of meeting any of his crew, except Cyril, but now Drew, Murga, Pop, Boz and Birdy have become very real to me and I am deeply grateful to them all for their loyalty and devotion to their Skip.