Andy Wright of Aircrew Book Review http://aircrewbookreview.blogspot.com.au/ is passionate about Second World War aviation and I consider myself fortunate that he deemed my first four books worthy of review. He has little interest in non-military aviation and so I did not think for a second that he would bother to even read Taking Flight. Not only did he read it, but he has put together a glowing review which takes into account both the book but also Lores Bonney's unrecognised (for so long) place in aviation.

 

In reviewing Taking Flight, Andy has the unequalled record of having reviewed ALL of my books. I am honoured. Here is the link to the review http://aircrewbookreview.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/taking-flight-kristen-alexander.html 

Aviation today doesn’t often make the headlines unless it’s bad news. Aircraft cross six of the seven continents hourly and usually do so to reach another continent on the other side of a vast ocean. Long distance flying is accepted if you want to see the world yet pilots of all ages still accept the challenge to tackle a route solo. Some do it in modern aircraft, some do it in vintage aircraft with or without a support crew. These flights remain remarkable achievements. If anything, today’s political and security landscape makes long-distance solo flights harder to plan let alone fly. This is especially so when trying to follow the flight path of a pioneer. Destinations have to be carefully picked and diversions assessed for their suitability and safety. Really, not a lot has changed since the early days of aviation. It is still an amazing effort to fly solo around Australia or fly to England in a Tiger Moth but, because of the airliners passing thousands of feet overhead, the mainstream don’t get it. It’s all been done before.

That’s the key point. Being the first to do something can’t be taken away. With the birth of aviation, everything was a challenge. That said, it still took something incredible to be lauded as a pioneer. There are two types of pioneer aviator. Those in the first group remain household names to some extent: Amelia Earhart, Amy Johnson, Jean Batten, Charles Kingsford Smith, Bert Hinkler, Charles Lindbergh, Wiley Post, Alcock and Brown etc. They have been extensively memorialised, their aircraft, or replicas thereof, reside in museums or attend airshows, books are still written about them and their likeness appears on currency. Then there’s the second lot. The unknowns. Those who have achieved just as much, perhaps more, but have been almost lost to history. Were they the less attention seeking perhaps? They might be remembered on a plaque somewhere or have had a book published, or written about them, that remains long out of print. To me, someone who inhabits the world of historic aviation, but who regularly wears blinkers out of necessity, Lores Bonney is one of the forgotten.

Well, with a bit of luck, and a good book, perhaps this will no longer be the case. One of Australia’s leading aviation biographers, Kristen Alexander, was asked by the National Library of Australia to write Bonney’s story using the library’s Lores Bonney Collection as the core. This collection, among various personal items, includes Bonney’s letters and diaries. Why is she significant? In a time when female pilots were regarded as somewhat of a novelty, Lores was determined to fly and, once she had achieved some semblance of proficiency, immediately started planning long distance flights. She first set a record for the longest one-day flight in Australia (more than 1,500 kilometres) and her second was a mere solo jaunt around the country. She was the first woman to achieve this. Mother England beckoned, as was its wont, so Lores set out to become the first aviatrix to fly there from Australia. Her trusty DH.60 Moth ‘My Little Ship’ was her companion on these first adventures and Lores, being the confident and driven type she was, trained as a mechanic and fitter so she was capable of maintaining the aircraft and effecting repairs. Husband Harry backed her flying financially but was always reluctant to let her go (although he did propose an idea that became her longest flight).

While she is credited with that first flight to England, a prang while landing to avoid weather in Burma’s very southern regions, led to Lores disassembling the Moth on the beach and having it transported, by barge and ship, to Rangoon and Calcutta respectively. It was a journey of more than 1,800 kilometres. Her timetable flew out the window as did her ability to get through the rest of the flight ahead of the known worsening weather en route. In typical Lores fashion, however, despite moments of self-doubt and frustration, she battled through and made it. It was 1933 and something no other woman had done before.

Lores followed the England flight up by becoming the first person to fly to South Africa, her country of birth, from Australia. This time she did it in a Klemm and the relative comfort of an enclosed cockpit. The destination was an inspired choice as, even by 1937, there were few aviation firsts to be conquered. The Klemm was falling apart and once again the weather played a big part in delays. Add in a little dysentery in India (and other health issues on the way) and bureaucratic bungling, and she didn’t arrive in the Union until mid-August, having left in April. What would be her final major achievement had been completed before her fortieth birthday.

Her plans for further adventures were scotched by, first, the loss of the Klemm, now fully rebuilt, in a hangar fire and, second, the outbreak of the Second World War. She continued to fly, but eventually gave it up in her early fifties, and kept travelling overseas exploring the world before her death in 1994.

To be honest, it is quite likely I would not have read this book if it were not for the author’s name on the front. It is outside what I like to think I specialise in (those blinkers again). That makes me a bit of an idiot as Lores Bonney was an unstoppable, albeit shy to a fault when out of the public eye, force of nature, her diminutive size belying an incredible fortitude that even managed to overcome her crises of confidence. With the resources available, I cannot think of a better author to tackle a new book (there is another, much older biography) on this pioneering aviatrix. The Alexander factor, as I like to call it, of teasing out personal minutiae, of tying together an inordinate number of threads, to sculpt an almost tangible image of a flyer long gone, is in full song here. Indeed, given it is a return to the individual biography for this author, after several years working on a collection of personalities, the Bonney work has captured a biographer at the top of her game. Having stepped away from wartime aviation and embracing the finicky, almost artisan, world of pre-war civil aviation, Kristen has got inside Lores’ persona and produced an insightful and revealing book.

A large format softcover of more than 270 pages, the endpapers include a very useful map of Lores’ travels in the Moth and the Klemm. The photos, at least one per two page spread, are reproduced well with the left-hand page being dedicated to either a full page photo (usually of Lores) or a smaller image accompanied by a detailed caption. Many of the better photos of Lores are well-selected, and enlarged, and often speak volumes particularly those featuring the aviatrix elbow deep in an engine or at large in one of her many destinations. The narrative, therefore, is limited to the right-hand pages and effortlessly combines excerpts from letters and diaries with details of Lores’ preparations, innermost thoughts, flying, failures, successes and adventures. It is an incredibly easy read and those personal photos of Lores really make an impression.

Will Lores Bonney’s history-making life emerge from the wilderness and into the mainstream because of this book? Probably not. Aviation enthusiasts will appreciate it and her name and achievements will continue to pop up because they will always maintain their sense of awe. She flew in the time of Johnson, Batten and Earhart, to name the obvious ones, two of whom were published authors, and remains overshadowed by these contemporaries. If, somehow, Lores Bonney does enter the public interest, it will be because of Taking Flight and, who knows, perhaps this book will be the genesis for the release of Bonney’s two unpublished (due to rejection!) manuscripts. Now that would be good news.

Anzac Day 1944 in Stalag Luft III

Anzac Day 1944 in SLIII

At 2.30 am on 25 April 1944, Minnie Archer and her daughter, Mavis, walked from Sydney’s Brighton Le Sands to Rockdale, where they caught a special train to Martin Place. Mrs Archer thought that only 3 or 400 would make the effort to attend the Dawn Service but ‘I got a shock when I saw so many people there. … Martin Place was crowded. 20,000.’ As well as honouring the war dead, it is likely that Mrs Archer would have prayed for the safe-keeping of her son, George, who had been a prisoner of war since July 1942. Apart from a 6 month stint in Oflag XXIB, he had spent all of his captivity in Stalag Luft III’s East Compound. ‘The service was beautiful’, she wrote in an airgraph to George a few days later. (He didn’t receive it until September.) ‘I was glad I went’.

Later that morning, during the Solemn Requiem Mass held at St Mary’s Cathedral on 25 April 1944, Father O’ Brien told the congregation that ‘Today Australia is deep in thought as well as in sorrow for the 70,000 men dead, prisoners of war, missing and wounded.’ If some of those prisoners were also deep in thought, they weren’t letting on. They were making the most of the day.

In Stalag Luft III’s East Compound, a church service was held in the theatre by Padre Thompson, a British Methodist padre who had been captured in North Africa. Almost certainly, George Archer was present at this service as he was one of the Camp Church stewards. Afterwards, the Australians and New Zealanders staged a sporting carnival which included basketball, soccer and golf. The prisoners of war may have been denied many liberties during their incarceration but the Australian sports lovers were better off than their home front compatriots: in early April, Prime Minister Curtin had announced in early April that organised sports meetings were prohibited on Anzac Day. Gerald Carroll, an army orderly was proudly nationalist and noted when the Australians beat their New Zealand opponents.

 

The Australians in North Compound also mixed faith and sport. There, Padre Walton—‘a Church Army type from NZ’, as Harry ‘Gobi’ Train recalled him—conducted a service for the Australians and New Zealanders. After that, Hauptmann Hans Pieber took some group photos. As well as gathering for the North Compound photo, the Australians divided into state groups, including the West Australians and New South Welshmen. For one New South Welshman, the day meant more than sport, community and commemoration: this was also Ronald Bowen Anzac Pender’s 29th birthday (and his second in captivity). He had been born on the very first Anzac Day.

Copies of Pieber’s photos appear in a number of books and the collections of many of the North Compound Australians such as Laurie Simpson, Ken Carson, Ronald Baines, Len Netherway, and Torres Ferres.

 

The ranks of those gathering for the group portraits were depleted by the five Australians who had recently been killed in what would later be called the Great Escape: James Catanach, John Williams, Tom Leigh (whose Australian connection would not be recognised for many years afterwards), Reginald Kierath and Albert Hake.

Their deaths were felt by all their fellow prisoners of North Compound, but their Australian friends in East Compound too felt the shock of their loss. On 8 May, George Archer sat down to write his monthly letter to his mother Minnie, his father, and the ‘rest of [the] gang’. Tumbled in among a catalogue of letters and parcels received, instructions to the family to send more parcels to his English friends, details of the basketball games he enjoyed playing in order to keep fit, and greetings passed on to friends from another prisoner, was an oblique reference to the deaths of two of the Australian Great Escapers: ‘Bill Catanach and Allan Hake met with an accident and were buried last March’.

It is not likely that someone who had worn a black armband to commemorate the deaths of fellow Australians, with whom he had shared a compound (they had been in East Compound with George when they first arrived at Stalag Luft III) would forget their names. George’s letters home had been censored in the past and so it seems he deliberately obscured the names to ensure the news slipped past the censors.

It would be a few months before Minnie Archer received this sad news, well after the kin of the Escapers had been notified.

 

In due course, their names were added to Australian casualty lists and, on 17 May 1944, Albert Hake’s wife received the telegram advising that her husband had lost his life on 25 March 1944—one month before his former friends gathered to remember all war dead—‘while attempting to escape from confinement of a prisoner of war’.

 

Noela Hake spent a life time remembering her young husband and her extended family also remembered Albert. A proud moment was when his great nephew and great niece honoured him on Anzac Day 1997.  

 

Book Review: Australia's Few and the Battle of Britain

I have long said that Australia's Few and the Battle of Britain is my best book. I put heart and soul into it for - what was it? - six years. I had a lot of initial teething problems sorting out the structure and I almost threw in the towel at one point when I received some ill-advised (and as it turned out, totally off-beam) feedback on a couple of early chapters. But I had faith in it, as did David and my friends, and of course, the families of 'my' Australian Few.

 

I have been privileged to receive some wonderful comments about the book (and you can see them at http://www.kristenalexander.com.au/media#283) and have a scrapbook full of reviews that have left me speechless (no easy feat). I am so pleased that those reviewers 'got' the book and what I was trying to do.

 

The book was published in Australia in August 2014 and in Britain in April 2015 so I probably won't receive any more reviews for it. If this one does turn out to be my last, well, it is a mighty fine one to go out on. There are so many accolades in this review that it is difficult to pick out the best but I think I would have to say 'exacting academic rigour' appeals most. As many of you know, I am strictly an amateur history writer. I never quite finished my arts degree back in the early 80s so cannot call myself any sort of historian. (That will change once I complete my PhD.) For Andy Saunders, with so much Battle of Britain research and writing behind him to comment on my 'exacting academic rigour' - well, that just means so much to me. Thank you Andy Saunders, Britain at War Magazine.

Britain at War Magazine, April 2016

Of the many books covering the subject that were published across the 75th anniversary of the battle of Britain this is certainly one of the most readable and engaging titles of the genre and Kristen Alexander, the author, is to be highly commended on this valuable addition to the literature dealing with the history of 1940.

 

In this volume, the author has not only used exacting academic rigour to compile what is a fascinating and worthy account of those Australians who participated in the Battle of Britain but she has also produced what is a most readable and engaging book.

 

To the reviewer, immersed in the hostory of 1940, the names of all the men Kristen has covered were more than familiar - although not their individual stories. In this respect she had the reviewer's rapt attention from page one abd it is fair to say that this particular reviewer is sometimes hard to please when it comes to books on Battle of Britain related topics! Not so with 'Australia's Few' ... [which is]  pacey, well-written, superbly researched and historically accurate in detail.

 

In her assembly of the facts, Kristen has also produced a book which is full of genuine empathy for her subjects and she has managed to construct a piece of work that stands not only as testament to the Australian 'Few' but also as a most useful reference source. Additionally, and importantly, it is also a truly excellent read. It is certainly a masterful piece of work and is one which is sure to be well-thumbed on this reviewer's book shelf over the coming years.

 

Nicely produced, and with a selection of evocative accompanying photographs, this book stands head and shoulders above many published in the Battle of Britain 'genre' across recent months and stands very firmly as this reviewer's favourite. Britain at War Magazine has no hesitation in recommending most highly this lovely book. 

 

 

Missed a couple of lines in the scan, but you get the gist! A fine review.

Aviatrix Lores Bonney’s Feminine Practicality

Originally published on NLA Publishing's blog on 1 March 2016 (Note 23 November 2023: no longer on line:)

When you write someone's biography, you try to find some common bond with your subject. Aviatrix Lores Bonney and I are unalike in so many ways but there is one thing we have on common. We both wear pearls! I laughed out loud when I read how she came to like this simple, elegant jewel.

It came about before the Great War, while still a student in Germany. One day, the girls were told that the Kaiserin would visit. It was a ‘great day of excitement'. Lores was throbbing with anticipation—‘She's going to speak to me, she's going to speak to me'—but the Kaiserin ‘stopped beside the girl next to me. And I really could have scratched her eyes out'. When she saw the empress' magnificent necklace, pearls instantly became Lores' ‘pet jewel'. They ‘have been an extravagance of mine ever since'. The adult Lores was often photographed wearing a strand or two and, I must confess, I am rarely seen without my own.

Lores in her pearls (left) and with a lace trim collar (right).

Lores was considered a women of taste. She often appeared in the ‘Best Dressed' newspaper columns and her costumes were described in detail, including the handmade French frock of cream net and lace that she wore at her party in honour of Bert Hinkler, after he became the first person to fly solo from England to Australia. Six months later, Hinkler was back in Brisbane and taking Lores up for her first ‘taste of the air' on 7 September 1928. For this life-changing occasion, she teamed an aviator helmet and googles with an elegant ensemble featuring a subtle touch of lace trim on her collar.

Three years later, Lores was learning to fly. Discovering a passion for long-distance flying, she set an Australian record for a one-day flight in 1931 and she became the first woman to circumnavigate mainland Australia by air in 1932. In 1933, she set her sights on becoming the first woman to fly solo from Australia to England. But what to wear? Lores commissioned her husband, a leather goods manufacturer, to make her a leather coat and suede overalls.

Lores in her leather flying coat (left) and dressed for comfort and practicality (right).

Fashion was important to Lores and she made every effort when preparing for her epic transcontinental flight to blend comfort, practicality and style. Space for personal items in My Little Ship, her Gipsy Moth biplane, was limited, yet the aviatrix had to cater for climates of great extremes. Ultimately, she planned a simple, modish wardrobe that was easy to maintain and manage. For cold weather, she packed her overalls and coat. For the tropics and deserts, she wore blouses and shorts. On landing, she would don a simple wrap skirt. She also considered what to wear when she wasn't flying. She selected a light floral dress for afternoon wear, which could be topped with a coatee. At night, she would add a bright sash or fresh flowers: ‘Presto! An evening frock'. As for jewellery, Lores never wore it during long flights, as she worried that treasured pieces might be stolen. The only exception was a simple white-gold band. The pearls, of which she was so fond, were left behind.

Taking Flight. Lores Bonney's Extraordinary Flying Career highlights the achievements of a pioneering aviator but does not forget that Lores was as much concerned with her identity as a feminine woman as well as a record-breaking pilot trying to establish her place in a man's world. When it is launched on 8 March 2016—International Women's Day—I will wear my pearls in Lores' honour.

(This next bit wasn't in the NLA blog post)

And how did I come to love pearls so much? Well, it was through my mother. My Godmother gave her a strand of pearls, which she loved. And I coveted. Mum allowed me to wear them when I got married and, on my last birthday before she died - almost 20 years ago now - she gave them to me. I am now rarely seen without them. And so, when I wear them at the launch, it will be in Lores' honour, but it will also be in remembrance of my mother, and in thanks to my Godmother.

My Mother and Godmother both wearing pearls at my graduation. I am pearl-less. And, although I am not green-eyed with jealousy, I am green-eyed. The opus stud is at least mum's.

Proudly wearing pearls (and husband) at my wedding.

There are the pearls again, round about when my first book was published, 10 years after Mum's death.

Still wearing them!

NLA Images:

Lores Wearing Pearls, Papers of Maude (Lores) Bonney, c. 1920–c. 1990, nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms10127

Lores with Nance Hinkler, Papers of Maude (Lores) Bonney, c. 1920–c. 1990, nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms10127

Aviatrix Lores Bonney Boarding Her Gypsy Moth at Charleville, c. 1933, State Library of Queensland

Lores Standing in Front of My Little Ship, Papers of Maude (Lores) Bonney, c. 1920–c. 1990, nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms10127

Lores Bonney and International Women's Day 2016

International Women’s Day has been an annual event for over a century in some countries and many decades in Australia. The women of Brisbane—or at least some of them—were early supporters of it when, on 8 March 1924, the Women Workers’ Organisation held a dance and speech night. Details appeared in the popular ‘Tea-Time Talk’ column in Brisbane’s Daily Standard but, judging by Lores Bonney’s example, it seems as if media support for women’s endeavours did not extend much beyond the women’s pages.

The Daily Mail’s article of 12 August 1932, for example, was typical of the press treatment Lores received throughout her flying career. Despite acknowledging that she had made ‘two very creditable’ flights, it detracted from the accolade by attributing her ‘definite associations with aviation’ to her husband who, ‘though he himself does not fly, is a cousin of Hinkler’. The Mail continued to denigrate Lores’ achievements by waxing lyrical about her femininity: ‘Mrs Bonney proves that flying does not diminish womanly charm. She combines love of the air with a passion for her home, and is definitely a feminine type, dark [and] petite’. Descriptions of her non-flying wardrobe were intermingled with details of the prospective flight. The ‘vivacious brunette’, gushed the Mail, favoured ‘picturesque styles’ and outfits ‘chosen with true chic’.

Proving that little had changed in her press portrayal, the trend continued. In the lead-up to the Brisbane–Adelaide Centenary Air Race in 1936, scattered among articles proclaiming her aerial competency, were comments about her culinary prowess and instead of proudly showing off her flying leathers, she was photographed wearing a neat apron and reported as spending ‘some of her happiest hours in the kitchen’. The home-maker, not the record-maker, was the prevailing image. Is it any wonder that Lores was largely unsuccessful in her struggle to secure sponsorship for her transcontinental flights?

Lores Bonney’s femininity was as much a part of who she was as her accomplishments. It didn’t have to be denied but Lores should not have been defined by it, nor should her achievements be undermined because of it. Her femininity just needed to be placed in a proper context.

Certainly, I did not want to hide Lores the woman—nor did NLA Publishing. We wanted to reveal all aspects of a well-rounded personality, character and career. Stylish, house-proud Lores who deferred to her husband, was just as valid historically as Lores the record-breaking pilot. It says much about Lores and her success as an aviator that, despite the media’s dual depiction of her as a pretty little fashionista and competent pilot, the prevailing images now in the public domain—and Taking Flight, for that matter—are those of Lores the pilot, garbed in either suede flying kit or white overalls. Barely a pinny or picturesque frock in sight.

It was not easy to gain acceptance in the male-dominated aviation world of the 1930s. On the morning Lores embarked on her Australia–England flight, The Brisbane Courier’s journalist ‘wondered at and admired the courage of the frail little woman in what, to the lay mind, was a frail little machine’—and the next day shared those musings with the Courier’s readers. Happily, others recognised Lores the pilot rather than the fragile little petal. When she stopped off at Charleville, the proprietor of the hotel presented her with a bottle of whisky, the traditional gift to all pilots about to depart Australia. At Darwin’s Victoria Hotel, she was put up in the Aviator’s Room where all pilots were accommodated before hopping off from Darwin or arriving from foreign climes. She was accorded the same privilege as her male peers including Bert Hinkler and Charles Kingsford Smith.

Lores wanted to fly above all else, and she did indeed make it happen, using every means at her disposal. She relied on her husband’s good nature and finances, she drew on the experiences of other pilots, and she built on her own. She continually improved her flying skill and planned diligently. Things did go wrong—they always do—and you will read some horrifying accounts in Taking Flight—but even though Lores came close to death many times, she never gave up. Lores well proved that she was far from frail. Indeed, she had as much gumption as any man. Or any woman. As any pilot.

In 1990, aged 92, Lores recognised just how far women had come. Not just in aviation, but in all fields. ‘Isn’t it wonderful what women are doing these days?, she remarked. International Women’s Day lauds—and highlights—the achievements of all women, everywhere. I’m delighted that Taking Flight: Lores Bonney’s Extraordinary Flying Career, will be launched on this significant day. 

 

Taking Flight. Lores Bonney's Extraordinary Flying Career.

I am thrilled to announce that my fifth book will be released on 1 March 2016.

Taking Flight. Lores Bonney’s Extraordinary Flying Career celebrates the life and achievements of one of Australia’s foremost pioneering aviatrixes. Early 'buzz' is very favourable.

 http://www.kristenalexander.com.au/media#296

Taking Flight will be launched on 8 March, on International Women’s Day. https://register.eventarc.com/33002/book-launch-taking-flight

From her first taste of the air during a joy ride with Bert Hinkler, Lores Bonney was hooked.

With licence in hand and the full support of her husband, she took to the skies with relish and discovered a passion for long distance flying.

Her accomplishments were remarkable. In 1931, she set a new Australian record for a one-day flight by a woman and, in the following year, she was the first female to circumnavigate mainland Australia by air. In 1933, she was acknowledged as the first woman to fly from Australia to England and in 1937 she became the first person to fly solo from Australia to Cape Town, South Africa. She was regarded as perhaps Australia’s most competent aviatrix.

In 2011, Lores’ goddaughter donated to the National Library of Australia a number of artefacts and documents relating to the aviatrix’s flying career. The diaries Lores kept preceding and during her 1933 and 1937 flights are the cornerstone of this collection, and are at the heart of Taking Flight.

Important as those diaries are, I also draw on a broad range sources—many of which are in the National Library’s collection—including interviews, published recollections, contemporary newspaper accounts and official documents.

NLA Publishing have produced a magnificent book. It is full of illustrations from the National Library’s collection, some from my own albums, and from other aviation holdings. As well as the narrative, there are lots of detailed captions and text boxes, and extracts from Lores Bonney’s 1933 and 1937 diaries.

Taking Flight: Lores Bonney’s Extraordinary Flying Career enhances understanding of Australia’s era of pioneer aviation, and reinforces Lores Bonney’s reputation as a significant Australian airwoman. It includes details of Lores’ pre-flight life, her first flight and record-breaking flights, a close encounter with Charles Kingsford Smith, her role as one of Australia’s premier airwoman, participation in the Brisbane–Adelaide air race and the search for the missing Stinson. It includes brushes (and near misses) with famous Australian and international flying stars and details of her post-flying career.

Perhaps surprisingly, Lores diaries expose the woman behind the pilot who, like all of us, possessed strengths, weaknesses, virtues and vices. With the honesty associated with a private record, the aviatrix did not conceal her disappointments and fears, nor her psychological fragility towards the end of her African flight. All this is revealed in Taking Flight. Read it! And discover much about one of Australia's most significant female flyers.

RRP is $A39.99 but you can pre-order your signed copy for $A34.99 (plus p&p) via Alexander Fax Booksellers. (I will even inscribe it if you prefer!)

Just follow the links and we will let you know when stocks are available. http://www.kristenalexander.com.au/books/takingflight

If you can’t wait until the book is released, cast your eyes over the below edited extract from the Australia–England section:

A crowd of about 150, including close friends and Queensland aero club members, assembled at Archerfield aerodrome on 10 April. Lores’ face looked pale and drawn; she had had a sleepless night. Even so, she was ‘feeling all OK’. According to The Daily Mail, her husband gave her a ‘last word’. Snugly attired, with a scarf draped around her neck and a belted leather coat covering a blouse, she exchanged a few brief words with a well-wisher. Final farewells complete, the aviatrix climbed into My Little Ship, her Gypsy Moth aeroplane. According to The Brisbane Courier’s journalist, who ‘wondered at and admired the courage of the frail little woman in what, to the lay mind, was a frail little machine’, My Little Ship then coasted across the aerodrome as the aero club’s escort formed up behind. At 8.30 am, she ‘led the way into the upper air, and, after circling, was lost to view’, leaving behind her husband and friends, Brisbane, and Archerfield aerodrome which had witnessed the completion of her previous record-breaking flights. Five days later, she left Australia’s shores.

The first days of her epic journey were not without incident as she maintained a record-breaking pace. Her flying skills were sound and luck was on her side as she gamely battled through. Within days, however, good fortune abandoned her. After leaving Singapore on 20 April, Lores encountered ‘One storm after another & very rough going.’ Three hours out of Alor Star, she was ‘enveloped in it’. Buffeted by strong winds, Lores struggled to maintain control.

The sky darkened dramatically. Soon the gusts were so fierce ‘it became almost impossible to correct the bumps’. Lores was terrified that ‘my wings would be ripped off ’. The aviatrix’s Gipsy Moth biplane, My Little Ship, was ‘tossed about like a leaf in the gale’. One moment, it was ‘racing, nose down at breakneck speed’. The next, the airwoman was thrown onto the right side of the cockpit, then the left. Within a blink, ‘in a violent upward current’, the Moth was practically vertical, seemingly suspended from its upright nose; the machine was ‘hanging on her prop’. It was getting darker and darker as My Little Ship blundered through the monsoon. Clinging to the controls, Lores used all the strength of her petite frame and every skerrick of flying skill to maintain stability—and to stay airborne.

Lores battled for about 20 minutes then ‘lost all visibility’. She was ‘flying very low’ and ‘was afraid of barging into the many small islands’ that dotted the sea in the Mergui Archipelago. ‘I suddenly felt a vigorous jolt as though I had struck something. I found myself well over on my right wing, and it took me all my time to bring her back again.’ It may have been ‘just one of those violent currents’ but it made the airwoman feel ‘very uncomfortable’. Indeed, she was ‘decidedly terrified’. It was 5.30 pm, with heavy lightning ahead. She was only about 30 miles from Victoria Point but, with a sky ‘as black as ink’, she thought it best to land.

The aviatrix flew over a coastline. She ‘circled several times and decided the beach was best’ as there were ‘too many bushes on the land’. There were several buffalo about so she ‘side slipped down between the herds’. Lores was ‘just flattening out’ when she saw the ‘buffalo walking right into the path of the plane’. There wasn’t enough room to take off again to avoid them. As she landed, she: ‘tried to swing a little to the left, but unfortunately the beach sloped away … the wing caught the water & swung her round, the next thing I felt was the wheels dragging & big spray came up I felt a terrific bang on my forehead and my face was under water.’ My Little Ship had flipped over. Lores was trapped.

You’ll just have to read the book to find out what happens next!

 

2015 ACT Writing and Publishing Award

I am thrilled to announce that my fourth book, Australia's Few and the Battle of Britain won the nonfiction category of the ACT Writing and Publishing Award.

While I am fond of all of my books, I firmly believe that this is the best book I have written. It might even be the best I will ever write! It is testament to the men I wrote about, but also to their families who placed their faith and trust in me to tell their stories. 

I first conceived the idea of recounting the experiences of young Australians in the Battle of Britain in 2008. It was a hard researching and writing slog. Perhaps the hardest of my writing career. The first inkling I had that this book was something special was about this time in 2012 when my agent sent me an email headed 'Have reached end of ms...bereft'. As all good agents should, she then waxed lyrical about the manuscript's good points and I finally began to appreciate that Australia's Few was VERY special.  

It is always wonderful to receive praise for your writing. Apart from the boost to my ego, it also validates the stories of the young men who fought in the Battle of Britain. Their stories are important, they should be told, and the men should be remembered.

It was a truly proud moment as I stood listening to the judges comments. Not that I am biased or anything but I felt that they had the write tone and balance. The judges recognised not only what I had written and its importance, the intense research that had gone into it, and of course the personal connection to the story and my emotional involvement, but they acknowledged that it was a joint effort of writer and publishing house. The stories of 'my' eight young men would not have been launched if not for NewSouth who realised their significance. 

And here are the notes: 

This is a very well-researched, well-documented, well-structured and well-written book. It looks at the role of the ’30 or so’ Australians who took part in the Battle of Britain through the lens of the lives of eight young fighter pilots. Each man’s story is brought to life using letters, diary entries, official correspondence, public records and family reminiscence. The eight stories are interwoven and, taken together, give readers a detailed perspective of how this historical battle unfolded. The use of family photos reinforces the ‘everyman’ nature of the pilots and brings home the real cost of war at many levels: individual, family, community and national. It is a book that can be read both for its engaging and sympathetic portrayal of the individual men and for its consideration of a pivotal time in the history of World War II. The writing is always fluid and engages the reader intimately with emotion and pathos. The need to convey accurate information never hinders the flow of the narrative. The author has an exceptional ability to set specific material, such as quotations from original documents, into a broader familial, social and political context, and in this way inform the reader at several levels at once. In addition to the incomparable writing style, this book stood out because of its very high production value, with excellent use of subheadings, maps, photographs, notes, bibliography, contents pages, author’s notes and index.