Richard Hillary (1919–1943)
Auteur de Le dernier ennemi
A propos de l'auteur
Œuvres de Richard Hillary
The Battle of Britain 1 exemplaire
Le dernier ennemi - Avant-propos de l'Amiral Jubelin 1 exemplaire
La dernière victoire 1 exemplaire
L'ultimo anniversario 1 exemplaire
Oeuvres associées
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Nom légal
- Hillary, Richard Hope
- Date de naissance
- 1919-04-20
- Date de décès
- 1943-01-08
- Lieu de sépulture
- ashes were scattered from a Douglas Boston over the English Channel
- Sexe
- male
- Nationalité
- Australia
- Lieu de naissance
- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Lieu du décès
- Greenlaw, Berwickshire, Scotland, UK
- Lieux de résidence
- Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
- Études
- Shrewsbury School
Oxford University (Trinity College) - Professions
- fighter pilot
memoirist - Organisations
- Royal Air Force
- Courte biographie
- Richard Hillary was born in Sydney, Australia, the son of Edwyna and Michael Hillary, a government official. He was sent to England to be educated at Shrewsbury School and Oxford University. At age 20 in October 1939, after the start of World War II, he was called up to the Royal Air Force. In July 1940, having completed his training as the Battle of Britain was beginning, he was posted to RAF Montrose in Scotland, flying Spitfires. His squadron moved south to RAF Hornchurch in August 1940 and immediately saw combat. In one week of action, Hillary personally claimed five German Messerschmitt fighter planes shot down, claimed two more probably destroyed, and one damaged. On September 3, 1940 he was shot down himself. He passed out inside his flaming Spitfire and was unable to to bail out, sustaining extensive burns to his face and hands before falling out of the plane. Regaining consciousness while falling through space, he deployed his parachute and landed in the North Sea. He rescued by a lifeboat from the Margate Station and taken for medical treatment to the Royal Masonic Hospital in London. He endured three months of repeated surgery in an attempt to repair the damage to his hands and face. He wrote a memoir of his experiences, published in 1942 as The Last Enemy in Great Britain and as Falling Through Space in the USA. In 1941, Hillary persuaded the British authorities to send him to the USA to rally support for Britain's war effort. While there, he spoke on the radio, had a love affair with Merle Oberon, and drafted much of The Last Enemy. Hillary managed to return to flying even though, as was noted in the officers' mess, he could barely handle a knife and fork. He returned to service at RAF Charterhall in the Scottish Borders. He was killed on January 8, 1943, along with Navigator/Radio Operator Sgt. Wilfred Fison, when he crashed a Bristol Blenheim night fighter during a night training flight in adverse weather conditions.
Membres
Critiques
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Auteurs associés
Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 8
- Aussi par
- 3
- Membres
- 376
- Popularité
- #64,175
- Évaluation
- 3.7
- Critiques
- 10
- ISBN
- 46
- Langues
- 8
The quarterly 'simply' has people writing about a forgotten or underappreciated book that the writer believes would be of interest to a wider audience. The most recent edition I have is No 73 Spring 2022 (its a publication from the UK, so its March 2022 that I read it) looked at 16 different authors/books across a wide range of topics etc.
Of those authors/works featured I was aware of 5 of the 16 authors in the spotlight. I have read works by 5 of them (some only a little and not the work in question; some a lot but again not the work in question; the last was the actual book in question but only because having read the article, I immediately acquired and read the book (my review is [here]).
Slightly Foxed (amongst other things) also publishes a limited edition (of some 2000 copies; approx 60 or so books as of March 2022) of a series of memoirs across a wide range.
I have purchased a random selection of them and have read 2 of them so far. (Sorry for the long introduction but) one of them is the book in question here: The Last Enemy by Richard Hillary.
It tells very briefly of the early life and education of the author but concentrates on his training for, participation in as a fighter pilot and death in the Second World War. My mention of his death is not a spoiler, as it is evident from early on in the book.
It depicts the wide variety of attitudes and reactions of people when faced with the prospect of participation in the war effort: from at least pacifist; a number of patriotic fighters; people from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, which were not at that time directly involved or at least directly affected by the War; those who were only interested in the challenge of defeating an enemy. And the question of whether any of those attitudes changed over the course of the War and if so why?
Neither the description of the War nor people's participation is not jingoistic nor glorified. And whilst some of the events and the deaths were in themselves horrifying, were not described that made one's stomach turn.
Much of the memoir is less about the War itself than about the group of friends and fellow travellers of the author.
And it depicts an England and a London of a different era. and with the Russian invasion of Ukraine going on as I write, one can only think of the suffering and despair and loss of life that is being repeated (regardless whatever one thinks of the respective merits of the claims of the warring countries.
A compelling read and a reflection on humanity and on the humanity of people.
Big Ship
14 March 2022… (plus d'informations)