Beaufort A9-557. (Image: AWM)

Silent Witnesses.

In their prime these two aircraft filled the air with the sound of their engines. Now, they are silent witnesses to past battles and the stories of those men that flew them.

As I delve deeper into the research of my mother’s story as a World War Two WAAAF Radar Operator and her post-war service, I am consumed by the history contained therein. The tales of love and of loss, of combat and close calls. How lives overlapped and how those at home also served. Away from the kinetic side of war, my mother sat in remotely based radar stations, watching the amplitude and frequency of the waves that ran across her screen. It is a story that absorbs me and leaves me overwhelmed. It is a story that has lain dormant for 80 years and has in many ways been overlooked.

And without detracting from the story, I can say that these two very aircraft at the Australian War Memorial, are inextricably linked. The saying goes that truth is stranger than fiction and as I close in on the final draft of my mother’s story, this has never been truer. I cannot wait to share this side of Australian military history and the human side with others and consider myself to be very fortunate to be the custodian of her story.

Lest We Forget.

Meteor A77-368. (Image: AWM)