Page 51 - Australian Defence Magazine April 2020

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BOOKS OF INTEREST 51
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THE DIGGERS OF COLDITZ
THE CLASSIC AUSTRALIAN POW STORY ABOUT ESCAPE FROM THE INESCAPABLE
By Jack Champ and Colin Burgess Published by Simon & Schuster RRP $35.00 in paperback
ISBN 9781760852146
First published in 1985, this updated edition contains added detail, including short biographies of a number of
the men involved. There were men from many nationalities imprisoned at the infamous Colditz Castle but the authors have concentrated their efforts
CHECKPOINT CHARLIE
THE COLD WAR, THE BERLIN WALL AND THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE ON EARTH
By Ian MacGregor
Published by Constable; Dist. by Hachette Aust.
RRP $32.99 in paperback
ISBN 9781472130594
This book was published
to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I am, in fact, old enough to have been through Checkpoint Charlie. My wife and I ventured through the famous
on telling the story of the 20 Australians who spent time at Oflag IVC, as it was designated. Co-author Jack Champ, a lieutenant in the 2/6 Battalion, was captured in 1941 while trying to reach Crete after the failed Greek campaign. With the help of Colin Burgess, he has recounted his story which included internment in several camps and involvement in various failed escape attempts until his final imprisonment
at Colditz. Not all escape attempts were unsuccessful: the ‘Warburg Wire Job’ saw
28 men escape from Oflag
VIB, resulting in three men reaching England via the famous Comet escape line. Further attempts were made at Oflag VIIB at Eichstatt with one of these resulting in more than
60 men escaping via a tunnel painstakingly constructed over a period of months. A classic POW story.
border control into East Berlin
in 1975, among the day tourists on foot curious to see the other side. We were regarded with great suspicion by East Germans. It is staggering to remember
how quickly the wall went up
and to remember the mistrust, oppression, paranoia, and fear that gripped the city throughout this period. And how helpless
the West German citizens felt in the face of the shoot to kill policy of the East German leadership. There is much we know about this story, but much we don’t.
For instance, West Germany could ‘buy’ the freedom of East Germans imprisoned by the authorities as ‘unreliable’. West Germany bought the freedom
of more than 30,000 such prisoners, bolstering the East German economy. This is a vivid and poignant account of the history surrounding the Berlin Wall, interwoven with the first- person experiences of those who were involved.
ANZAC & AVIATOR
THE REMARKABLE STORY OF
SIR ROSS SMITH AND THE 1919 ENGLAND TO AUSTRALIA AIR RACE By Michael Molkentin
Published by Allen & Unwin
RRP $32.99 in paperback
ISBN 9781742379197
We are more familiar now
with the exploits of the
likes of Kingsford Smith,
Ulm, Hinkler and Earhart
but it is Ross Smith’s early achievements that tell another equally extraordinary story of pioneering aviation in Australia. He was born in 1892 and raised
ANSWERING THE CALL
LIFE OF A HELICOPTER PILOT IN VIETNAM AND BEYOND
By Bob Grandin
Published by Big Sky Publishing RRP $20.99 in paperback
ISBN 9781922265401
The dedication at the beginning of this book is telling. “I dedicate this book to all the veterans who ‘Answered the Call’ of duty and then struggle as they attempt to settle back into civilian life.” In 1966,
Bob Grandin was an RAAF helicopter pilot stationed in Vietnam. He has written this
on a remote sheep station. There was nothing in his upbringing to suggest a future as one of the world’s great pioneering aviators. In 1914, he served with the light horse at Gallipoli and in the Sinai. It was here he volunteered for the fledgling Australian Flying Corps. In a new dimension
of warfare, he survived two gruelling years of aerial combat over Palestine to emerge as one of the most highly decorated Australian pilots of the war.
But it was the challenge of the government’s £10,000 prize in 1919 to be the first to fly from England to Australia within 30 days that fired his imagination. With his brother Keith, he entered the race having secured the backing of British firm Vickers. He made aviation history when he landed at Darwin on 10 December 1919. This is a compelling story of a man who was one of Australia’s great pioneering aviators.
book from the logbook he kept while working in Nui Dat. On 18 August he was co-pilot on
a 9 Squadron Iroquois ‘Huey’ helicopter that flew over the enemy to resupply soldiers engaged in battle at the Long Tan rubber plantation. Enduring extremely poor weather conditions and enemy fire,
the critical role played by 9 Squadron in the Battle of Long Tan contributed to the success of this battle. But this is more than the story of his Vietnam experience. It is the story of his life, post-Vietnam. It is a story of disintegrating mental health and his subsequent struggles with PTSD. While this book offers a unique perspective of the role of
a wartime helicopter pilot,
it is his acknowledgement and understanding of his subsequent mental health battles that offer the reader real insight into the daily struggles of a PTSD sufferer.