All this got me thinking about Darwin again when we returned home that Sunday, and then in 1995, with the 50th Anniversary of the war ending, we decided to go back to Darwin yet again, being still in touch with people there, for the VJ Day anniversary.

Sadly, I was the only person from No.1 Fighter Wing to attend, no Australian veterans turned up at all, so I was the sole representative. Nevertheless Kaethe and I had a good time, attending a number of special events, some more liquid than others.

At this time it was discovered that there was no memorial to No. 1 Wing in Darwin, so it was decided to petition the government to rectify this omission and in the end they agreed. In 1996 this little memorial was to be put up, so we went back to Darwin again for the ceremony. There is a war memorial on the esplanade and our plaque was placed next to a number of other small regimental tablets, each commemorating the various army units stationed in and around Darwin during the war.

This time a couple of chaps came up from Sydney to represent, with me, the wing. One was Roy Boles, the other Bewick Hack. Hack had been in 54 Squadron too, but after I had left it. So that has been my last visit to Darwin with all its memories.

We went back to Sydney a couple of years ago, courtesy of the British government scheme whereby they paid for veterans who wished to revisit places special to them and where they had served during the war. So Kaethe and I took advantage of this generous offer and I arranged for it to coincide with the AGM of the Australian branch of the Spitfire Association that October.

By now virtually all my old mates and associates had gone, just a few of the old Australian ground crew blokes were still around. Most of the association members were really little more than people interested in the aircraft itself, and its role in the war. In other words they support it.

There were quite a number of people at this AGM and towards the end of it I decided a few words might be nice, so stood up and commented that it was wonderful to be back in Sydney again and was pleased that the association was flourishing, then talked about Darwin for a few moments, then about 54 Squadron’s time there fighting the Japanese, and how the squadron was still in existence and flying Jaguars, although they were about to lose them, etc, etc.

At the end I sat down and a little later I heard some chap sitting in front of me ask his companion: ‘What was that bloke talking about? Who was he?’ The other chap shrugged his shoulders and replied: ‘Oh, I don’t know, something about some RAF squadron up at Darwin some time or other.’

I thought that just about sums it up! C’est la Guerre. They just hadn’t a clue what I’d been talking about, what we had done, and obviously to some people we just didn’t exist. Sad, but that’s the way it goes.

Fortunately the men of the RAF are not totally forgotten, especially by the generations who followed us. Most of what we did is remembered and most of the few of us who are left are encouraged by the enthusiasm of these people, many being amateur historians. I, and others, meet them at air shows, reunions, book and print-signing days. Letters drop regularly through my mail-box from these youngsters, asking often very good questions about what we did and how we did it. I never tire of it and feel it incumbent upon me on behalf of those no longer with us to help keep the memories of those days alive.

Many of my good friends and comrades gave their lives in the struggle for victory and peace and must not be forgotten. It is no glib expression, and it is perfectly true, that for our tomorrows, they gave their todays.