Good news:

 

I have heard from the editor of Wings, the Journal of the RAAF Association and he will be publishing  All he wanted to do was Fly. John Dallas Crossman: Australian Battle of Britain Pilot. Part Two in the Winter edition.

 

Just to whet your reading appetite, here is how it begins:

 

At 9.05 a.m. on 30 September, 22-year-old John Crossman of 46 Squadron was patrolling the Hornchurch line, south of the Thames Estuary in Hurricane V6748. John was a diligent pilot. As soon as he could after landing, he pulled out his flying log and recorded the sortie while it was fresh in his mind: ‘A large formation [of] Me 109s passed us but we did not attack—were looking for bombers.’ He then put his log safely away. He did not take out his diary, however. He only wrote in that just before turning in at night. Entry completed and pen down on the 29th, he placed the ribbon marker neatly on the blank 30 September page so he could easily find it the next evening. But John did not fill in his diary again. And that morning patrol was the last entry in his flying log.

 

 

 

 

This is a model of Hurricane V6748 which John was flying on his 19th - and last - operational sortie. It was made by John's great nephew.