image of person or book cover 6338860598321222186.jpg
Image courtesy of publisher's website.
Issue Details: First known date: 2018... 2018 The Missing Man : From the Outback to Tarakan, the Powerful Story of Len Waters, Australia's First Aboriginal Fighter Pilot
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'He was our first Aboriginal fighter pilot, he flew multiple sorties during Australia's World War II Pacific campaign, and he should have had a world of opportunity ahead of him at the war's end, but Len Walters became the missing man in the country's wartime flying history

Len Waters was the first and only Aboriginal to serve as a fighter pilot during World War II. Although Australia had officially barred or restricted the recruitment of Aborigines in earlier periods (out of fear that they might side with the enemy), these impediments were significantly relaxed after Japan entered World War II, and Australia came under direct attack for the first time. Although he had not completed his schooling, Len volunteered for service in the RAAF and was accepted.

When he was posted to New Guinea as a pilot, the Kittyhawk he was allocated had by chance been nicknamed by its previous pilot 'Black Magic' and those words were painted on its nose. Len found the name of his plane an amusing coincidence and chose to retain it. He flew 95 sorties in it.

After the war, Len attempted to join the burgeoning Australian commercial airline industry without luck. He never flew a plane again. He wrote later that, having taken off his uniform, he simply 'returned to being a blackfellow'. What happened to him afterwards is simply heartbreaking.' (Source: Publisher's blurb)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Crows Nest, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 2018 .
      image of person or book cover 6338860598321222186.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 384 p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published July 2018.

      ISBN: 9781760296414

Other Formats

  • Also dyslexic edition
  • Large print.

Works about this Work

Ninety-Year-Old Kev Remembers His Brother and Their Shared Love of Flying Julie Hunt , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 11 September no. 709 2019; (p. 13)

'Ninety-year-old Kamilaroi man Kev Waters loves flying. It's in his blood.

He was last in a plane four years ago when the RAAF flew him from his home in St George, south-west Queensland, to Victoria as a guest for the official naming ceremony of their latest FA fighter plane.' (Introduction)

Ninety-Year-Old Kev Remembers His Brother and Their Shared Love of Flying Julie Hunt , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 11 September no. 709 2019; (p. 13)

'Ninety-year-old Kamilaroi man Kev Waters loves flying. It's in his blood.

He was last in a plane four years ago when the RAAF flew him from his home in St George, south-west Queensland, to Victoria as a guest for the official naming ceremony of their latest FA fighter plane.' (Introduction)

Last amended 16 Jul 2019 13:36:00
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