A Grave Too Far Away

A Grave Too Far Away
Author/editor: Dr Kathryn Spurling
Publisher: New Holland Publishers, Australia
Year published: 2012
School/Centre: School of History

Abstract

This is the story of the Australian men of Bomber Command who answered the call of their nation to defend the Mother Country in World War II. Many paid the ultimate sacrifice, and the devastating effect of their loss is recounted here by the family and friends who were left behind.

With cheerful otpimism and youthful ignorance, sons, borthers, husbands, fathers and friends, with an average age of just 22, signed up to go to war. For some, it was an oppportunity to leave home for the first time and to escape their humdrum lives, their imagination caputred by childhood stories of Biggles the heroic adventurer. For others, it was a strong sense of duty that motivated their decision to enlist.

Men from all backgrounds were thrown together and with intense training and relentless drills they learned their craft. Each was graded and trained according to abililty - pilot, navigator, wireless operator, observer, bomb aimer. Sent out on bombing raids, these men learned to live by their wits, relying on their crew to save their lives. They were forced to grow up by the brutality of war and the certain knowledge that each raid on which they flew could be their last.

In a Grave Too Far Away, the highs and lows of their training and military service are described in letter, interviews and remembered stories. Included, too, are personal storeis of love, friendship and camaraderie. The book captures the poignant sens of loss felt for those who were shot form the skies and buried a long way from home.

 

 

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