Bomber Boys
The extraordinary adventures of a group of airmen who escaped the Japanese and became the RAAF's celebrated 18th Squadron
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The unknown story of a unique RAAF squadron, its men and its mission to halt the Japanese advance in the Pacific
March 1942. Java is about to fall. An Australian military dispatch rider and a Dutch air force transport pilot embark on a frightening escape from the advancing Japanese that takes them from Bandung to a crash landing just north of Darwin. Both would later join a unique band of flyers determined to strike back at the enemy.
Bomber Boys is the extraordinary and little known story of more than 100 Dutch airmen, stranded in Australia with no country to return to, who were joined by a contingent of Australians to make up the RAAF's No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron. Formed in Canberra in April 1942, the squadron flew operational coastal patrols before eventually being relocated to the secret MacDonald Airfield, north of Pine Creek in the Northern Territory, and eventually Batchelor, near Darwin.
This is, however, more than a story about the 900 bombing raids, reconnaissance missions and attacks on Japanese shipping that the squadron flew in its three years of existence under Australian control. At its heart is a powerful and compelling story of a group of very different men, thrown together for a common purpose, and the strange and sometimes difficult friendships they formed.
Bomber Boys is the extraordinary and little known story of more than 100 Dutch airmen, stranded in Australia with no country to return to, who were joined by a contingent of Australians to make up the RAAF's No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron. Formed in Canberra in April 1942, the squadron flew operational coastal patrols before eventually being relocated to the secret MacDonald Airfield, north of Pine Creek in the Northern Territory, and eventually Batchelor, near Darwin.
This is, however, more than a story about the 900 bombing raids, reconnaissance missions and attacks on Japanese shipping that the squadron flew in its three years of existence under Australian control. At its heart is a powerful and compelling story of a group of very different men, thrown together for a common purpose, and the strange and sometimes difficult friendships they formed.
Author bio:
Marianne van Velzen is a Dutch journalist who lived in Australia for many years. She has a life-long interest in the country. She is the author of Call of the Outback, the story of Ernestine Hill, published in 2016, and Missing in Action, the story of Australia's World War I Grave Services, published in 2018.
Category:
Military
ISBN:
9781760528232
Table Of Contents:
Author's note Map of 18th and 120th Squadron: Bases and Flight Movements
1. Java, 1942
2. The dispatch rider
3. Attack on Broome
4. Escape to Australia
5. Stapleton Station, NT
6. The bombing of Darwin
7. Archerfield Air Base, Brisbane
8. Flying under the bridge
9. Fairbairn Airfield, Canberra
10. The making of three traitors
11. Nothing is fair in love and war
12. Picking up the pieces
13. The move north
14. MacDonald Airfield, NT
15. First operational order
16. Across the Timor Sea
17. Batchelor, NT
18. War and horseracing
19. New recruits
20. Death of a friend
21. Moving on
22. The hell of Merauke
23. Island hopping
24. Return to Java
25. Lost and found
26. Message from a Don R
Epilogue
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
1. Java, 1942
2. The dispatch rider
3. Attack on Broome
4. Escape to Australia
5. Stapleton Station, NT
6. The bombing of Darwin
7. Archerfield Air Base, Brisbane
8. Flying under the bridge
9. Fairbairn Airfield, Canberra
10. The making of three traitors
11. Nothing is fair in love and war
12. Picking up the pieces
13. The move north
14. MacDonald Airfield, NT
15. First operational order
16. Across the Timor Sea
17. Batchelor, NT
18. War and horseracing
19. New recruits
20. Death of a friend
21. Moving on
22. The hell of Merauke
23. Island hopping
24. Return to Java
25. Lost and found
26. Message from a Don R
Epilogue
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Publisher:
Allen & Unwin
Imprint:
Allen & Unwin
Pub Date:
July 2018
Page Extent:
320
Format:
Paperback - B format
Subject:
Second World War
Australian Military Histories
