Page 29 - May 2019

Historical
September 1943. with the job, keeping apart from the
By early 1944, he was flying reckless, carousing behaviour of their
Alan Brown (AWM: 2017.520.1.3922/ Australian THE BEAUFIGHTER TEAM
familiarisation sorties in the Royal Air peers and survived.
Institute of Professional Photography)
Force’s (RAF) 46 Squadron, based Always looking forward to contact
in North Africa. The ‘Colonials’ had with home, they keenly awaited mail.
arrived! Once, 110 days lapsed between
Alan and “Poss” were the only deliveries. The drought was broken
Australians embedded into the unit. The when a sackful of 130 letters arrived
two like-minded airmen were soberly between them!
intent on getting on with the task at hand On each mission, no personal
and each had a deep appreciation of the identification was allowed, while silk
other’s particular skills. maps were issued should they land
Poss was married with one child and behind enemy lines and tiny compass
Alan was engaged to Edna. An engine buttons fastened on flight jackets. Both
failed on their second flight together, sat on a parachute and inflatable life
leading to a “safe” crash landing. Poss raft and wore a life jacket under their
was impressed with Alan’s calm hand flight jacket.
at the controls. Flights took up to five hours, with no
Many times, on night patrols, Poss’s toilet facilities; a plastic water bottle and
innate knowledge of astral navigation a sandwich was their only sustenance.
directed them safely to one of several Rapid preparedness for action was
alternative Allied airfields dotted across paramount. Their record “scramble”
North Africa. He’d been a boy scout, time was two-and-a-half minutes and
with a grounding in compass usage their average was four minutes.
and star recognition, greatly assisting All missions were single aircraft
navigation when nocturnal landmarks operations; most with specific tasks,
were invisible. Poss’s nickname derived but with practical latitude to pursue and
from his habit of curling into a ball, destroy Axis bombers, night fighters
possum-like, while sleeping. or ground targets of opportunity. Each
A total of 100 operations together
welded them into a formidable team. “TOLERATING THE
The only incidences of skylarking were INVASIVE ANNOYANCE
a low-level flight between the pyramids OF FREQUENT
and a couple of jaunts past Gallipoli,
where Pop Brown served for several SANDSTORMS, POOR
months after going ashore on the DIET AND MAKESHIFT
second day.
Convoy patrols, strafing trains, ACCOMMODATION
staff cars, lorries and Axis troops WAS MERELY PART
camped in Athens stadium were all in a OF BEING IN A RAF
night’s work. So, too, were clandestine
Just missing the Liberty ship from insertions of agents behind enemy UNIT, WHICH TREATED
EDITION 05 2018 RSLQLD.ORG 31
Bombay, Alan was seconded into the lines, ELAS underground missions and
military postal system for six weeks longrange reconnaissance. THE COLONIALS
until the next sailing. After two weeks On several occasions, return fire AS SOMEWHAT
at sea, he arrived in Melbourne and peppered the “Beau”, with some hot INFERIOR BEINGS.
jumped on a northbound train, alighting enemy rounds ripping between the
at Stanthorpe in Queensland. pilot’s legs – tearing trousers, but THE PAIR SIMPLY
He was finally home after a three- missing flesh. Minor physical injuries GOT ON WITH THE
anda- half-year hiatus. did occur when their aircraft pancaked JOB, KEEPING APART
Signing up in 1941, 19-year-old or crashed and burned on landing, due
Alan trained first in long-admired Tiger to battle damage. FROM THE RECKLESS,
Moths at Narromine in New South Tolerating the invasive annoyance CAROUSING
Wales. Following this, he flew Ansons of frequent sandstorms, poor diet and
in Alberta, Canada, then back to Moths makeshift accommodation was merely BEHAVIOUR OF
and Ansons at Wiltshire, England, as a part of being in a RAF unit, which THEIR PEERS
sergeant, before climbing into the pilot’s treated the Colonials as somewhat AND SURVIVED.”
seat of Beauforts and Beaufighters in inferior beings. The pair simply got on

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