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On Active Service: a range of books about the 3 Services in W W 2. A Digger History site. |
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These Eagles. The RAAF story of 1942 |
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Sub category Index
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THESE EAGLES |
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"These Eagles Suffer Us Little Birds To Sing" |
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| Bombs Gone by B3/77. Flying Hudsons, No. 2 Squadron, R.A.A.F., stationed in Ambon in the early stages of the war with Japan, wreaked tremendous damage on enemy ships and landing forces. |
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FOREWORD |
| WHILE the war is still in progress, any attempt to write a history of the Royal Australian Air Force and the part it is playing in this war, would be like trying to bite an apple suspended on a string. Too many facts are still too unstable to permit of a satisfactory bite being taken at them; and even if this were possible, the undesirability of supplying the enemy with information which would be of the greatest value to him is so obvious as to need no pleading. To give a true picture of the manifold operations of the R.A.A.F., it is essential to know and discuss high strategy. This is a close military secret, and its discussion impossible. Therefore, that which follows can be no more than a glancing over the shoulder at receding events. Some of them will lose stature as we progress along the road to peace: others as surely will shine with such lustre that even though they lose individual prominence, they will take a permanent place in the complex tapestry of the war story. The cutting of a single thread might unravel and blemish the whole. With this in mind, no apology is made for the minutiae of this quick summary of the deeds of individuals. It is the story of a new and amazing breed of men - most of them little more than boys - whose industry in the air and on the ground is steadily weaving the splendid pattern which, although yet unfinished, has caused the world to turn its head in wonder. As the late Wing Commander Brendan E. Finucane, leader of a famous Australian Spitfire squadron, said: "These Australians are tough. Waggle your wings, and they will follow you through hell and high water." To date in this war, that has been their history, surely the briefest and truest ever written. Companion volumes to "These Eagles" are "H.M.A.S.", giving the story of the Royal Australian Navy at war, and "Soldiering On", telling the story of the Australian Army's land fronts. |
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END PAPERS |
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End papers (front and rear identical) |
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MESSAGE from CHIEF of AIR STAFF |
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| THIS book relates many stirring incidents in the lives of members of the R.A.A.F. It is the first
installment of a history of the R.A.A.F. in the present war which will some day be written in full. There is every indication that the war will be a long one, and we must prepare ourselves fully to be ready for everything; to anticipate the worst and to put all our energies into ensuring the best; to keep the offensive spirit alive and active; to study our enemy closely and be ready to strike and strike hard at every opportunity. It will only be by persistent ruthlessness and determination that we will eventually force our will upon the enemy and attain our objective.
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