Bookshop ramblings, 6B Broadcaster, Eccles cakes and Jack Davenport Beaufighter Leader

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Bookshop ramblings, 6B Broadcaster, Eccles cakes and Jack Davenport Beaufighter Leader

The last week or so has been a good one for me, or at least for Jack Davenport Beaufighter Leader. One excellent review in the Canberra Times, one small but positive review in a Geelong paper, Jack Davenport featuring in the Daily Telegraph history page and a mini interview with me for our local paper’s Sunday Relax magazine. Naturally, the little head was very swollen and David had even phoned the carpenters to come and widen the doors. The quote was a bit steep so David thought he would try and deflate my ego. So he took me along to our local mall which has two bookshops. They are well known chains and both have a reasonably good display of military history on their shelves. Well, the big head was deflated mighty quickly when I saw that neither had any copies on their shelves. I initially gave them the benefit of the doubt, thinking perhaps they had not unpacked their orders, until I found others from the Allen & Unwin new releases on their shelves. Head and ego well and truly deflated. (My publisher has now spread calming oil on my fevered brow and assured me there was an unfortunate problem with the distributor getting stock into Canberra and all should be displayed in the next day or so.)

Before I wander off with my tail tween my legs, let me just mention to Canberrans that if they happen to have a blank spot in their diary on Saturday 25 July, I will be speaking about Jack Davenport at the Australian War Memorial. Details (straight from the AWM website):

Jack Davenport: Courage, Leadership and Memorial
Saturday, July 25 at 2.00 pm

Kristen Alexander will talk about the subject of her latest biography, Jack Davenport, Beaufighter Leader. Wing Commander Jack Napier Davenport AC DSO DFC* GM flew two tours with 455 Squadron RAAF, commanding it during his second. Serving in both Bomber and Coastal commands, he flew operations to France, Germany, Holland, Russia and Norway. Flying both Hampdens and Beaufighters, 455 Squadron became known as a ship busting squadron, and Jack was considered an ace ship buster, who following the war also served as a Councillor of the Australian War Memorial.

No bookings required
Location: BAE Systems Theatre (Near Courtyard Gallery, AWM)

I will be talking for about 45 minutes, with time afterwards for questions.

I must admit, my skiting, lineshooting, blowing of own horn and various reviews that have abounded over the last week or so (more skiting than reviews, I will admit) have got just a tad up David’s nose. He is getting mighty upset about all the attention that one author in the family is currently receiving (self generated and from others) so, in a fit of pique, he has decided to publish the collected editorials from the 6B Broadcaster. Yes, class 6B (aged 10-11) of Artarmon Public School. You too, he cries, can relive the issues of import for the kids of the early sixties. Here is a sample from David’s July 1964 editorial, 45 years ago.

A new competition is beginning in the magazine and it is very exciting. There are good prizes to be won and I advise you to enter. More details of the competition are inside. Some of the things being done by people round the school to raise money for the Hall Fund have been really amazing. The boys of 6L, for example, made cane baskets and then sold them through the canteen, and by also buying the baskets themselves.

Somehow, I am trying not to be cruel when I say this, but if I can’t get my little book onto the shelves of the local chain, the Collected Editorials of the 6B Broadcaster might have even less of a chance.

(David has decided to wreak revenge on the person who wrote the above par. He has decided to run another exciting competition: can anyone think up another phrase for outandout skiting. We already have lineshooting, shoot a line, skiting, of course, blowing her own horn, tooting her own trumpet (or vice a versa for the last two). Not good prizes for this one, just the glory of knowing that another pin has been stuck in the balloon of her head).

Great excitement in the cake stakes. Tried my first Eccles cake at the new Portrait Gallery cafe. Not sure whether I liked the cake or the exhibits more! Just remember, I am more known for my sweet tooth than artistic tendencies! My favourite thing in the whole world is afternoon tea: muffins, scones, cake all served on fine china. I have posted a typical afternoon tea photo at Chez Alexander Fax. So well-known is my teatime fetish that friends are now sourcing afternoon tea nicknackery such as the cute little handmade muffins that feature here alongside the real ones!

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What I'm reading right now (well, not RIGHT now, but when I'm reading)

Anything and everything about the Battle of Britain. My library is getting bigger everyweek. Any suggestions? My favourite, tho' is Fighter Boys by Patrick Bishop. A remarkable, intimate portrait of the young men of Fighter Command, whose skill, temperament and morale determined the fate of Britain and arguably the free worldThe Battle of Britain, fought in the skies over Britain during the sweltering summer of 1940, was one of the most crucial battles ever fought: without the Luftwaffe's control of the skies it was unlikely that Nazi Germany would mount an invasion across the Channel. For most of the 3000 young British airmen involved this was their first real experience of combat. The pressure on the pilots, groundcrew and their controllers was unimaginable at certain points in the Battle a single blunder or failure of nerve could have been enough to tip the balance of the contest and give victory to the enemy. Patrick Bishop creates a new and surprising portrait of the Battle drawing on previously unseen source material and testimonies from survivors on both sides. Against the background of wider strategic considerations, he focuses on the lives and thoughts of the combatants, their attitudes towards 'the enemy' and their aircraft, the fear, horror and exhilaration of flight and battle, attempts by each side to gain the upper hand through.
Down Under by Bill Bryson. I have always loved Bill Bryson’s writing and especially his travel accounts. I usually have the radio on at night to lull me to sleep and recently the ABC repeated a literary luncheon for Bryson’s memoir The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. Despite my tiredness, I could not help cracking up. I recalled how much I had enjoyed the Kid and thought if it still makes me laugh I had better reread it. So I did, and decided it was time to work my way through Bryson’s other books. A friend and I had recently been talking about Down Under and Bryson’s sad experiences in Canberra so I thought I had better reread it first. (Memo to Mr Bryson: Canberra has its moments, but it is dead in the post-Christmas period as half the populace have headed for the coast. Which would partially explain the dismal time in the national capital!) Down Under improves on a second reading! I have not stopped laughing. I enjoy the travel genre but none more so than when the writer shows a genuine affection for the place he or she is visiting. Bryson enjoys Australia and, because of his obvious affection, you do not mind it when he highlights our little idiosyncrasies. I usually have a few books on the go at a time, and usually do not mix my genres. But at the moment, The Valley came to me at about the same time as I picked up Down Under. Different genres maybe, but both highlight aspects of Australia and our history. I say below how Michael McKernan’s style makes me think of Uncle Michael setting you down to tell as story but Bryson makes me think of big brother Bill, leading you by the hand, to teach you of his experiences and share his greater knowledge and learning about his favourite subjects. Just like any big brother, you never quite know when he is pulling your leg with his wonderful gift of exaggeration, until the leg has been flung far away! And then you burst out laughing so loud and can’t wait until your dear brother tells you another tall tale! A wonderful book and I can’t wait to move on to the next Bryson in bedside my pile.
The Valley by Michael McKernan. This beautifully and sensitively tells the story of rural Australia in the years of white settlement from the earliest days to the present, but from the perspective of one valley in NSW, Australia, which is but a short drive from Canberra. It is a story of great wealth and hard work, of struggle and achievement. It is a story of the love of the land; of the creation of community; of the love of country. Michael McKernan has listened to the stories of the people of the valley of Jugiong in southern NSW, and in telling their stories reflects our national story. The voices of The Valley are of workers and land owners, of soldiers and politicians, of men and women, of rabbiters and shearers. Of honest country folk who made sacrifices for both the land and their country. This book is not my usual literary fare but I turned to it with great excitement when it arrived from the publisher the other day. I enjoy Michael McKernan’s style. He is a natural story teller and his expertise is social history, which is what I prefer. As I read his books, it is almost like sitting on Uncle Michael’s lap as he patiently and eloquently spins a yarn. But unlike most yarns, his stories are true and unembroidered, and more powerful because of it.

New Books

Peter Stanley: Men of Mont St Quentin. Scribe Publications. At exactly 1.30 p.m. on 1 September 1918, the dozen men of Nine Platoon, 21st Australian Infantry Battalion, rose from Elsa Trench and walked across a weedy beet-field toward the German defenders of Mont St Quentin. Within hours, three were dead and five more were wounded, one of whom died six weeks later. The survivors returned from war, more-or-less intact, to live through the next sixty-odd years in the shadow of that traumatic event. Men of Mont St Quentin tells the story of the men of Nine Platoon and their families. This is the first time that the story of such a group of Australians has been told - only made possible because Garry Roberts, the father of one of the dead, was so grieved by his son Frank's death that he obsessively collected accounts of what happened that afternoon. The Roberts' family papers, used here in this way for the first time, reveal the lives of Frank's comrades and their families as they came to terms with loss and life after war. In the hands of Peter Stanley, one of Australia's leading military historians, a famous battlefield in France becomes unforgettably connected with Australian men and their families in the long aftermath of the Great War. Social military history at its best.
Kristen Alexander: Jack Davenport Beaufighter Leader. Flying Hampdens and Beaufighters, Wing Commander Jack Davenport AC DSO DFC* GM served two tours with 455 Squadron RAAF. Perceptive, sympathetic, and with Alexander's hallmark blend of sound research and enlightening anecdote, Jack Davenport, Beaufighter Leader charts Jack's development from his Depression-era childhood, to the green pilot who had difficulties locating the target on his first Bomber Command operations, through to the superb pilot who led 455 Squadron on successful strikes against German shipping and the cool and resourceful planner of Coastal Command operations in the latter months of the war. Jack Davenport, Beaufighter Leader recounts the life of an Australian hero. Jack saved the lives of his crew from a near-fatal spin and rescued a pilot from a blazing aircraft; he flew close to well-armed enemy vessels to drop his torpedoes; and led large formations in the narrow confines of the Norwegian fjords to successfully attack enemy shipping. But there is more to heroism than just courage and brave deeds; Jack's career also encompassed the heroism of conviction, duty, responsibility and dedication to service.
Bill Billett: Mont St Quentin. A Soldier's Battle
Paul Daley: Beersheba. A Journey through Australia's forgotten war
H Lewis Wicking: Gunners of the Sixteenth. An Illustrated History of the 16th Australian Field Regiment AIF 1941-2001. (First Australian Armoured Division 1942, Jungle Division 1945)
Phil Davenport: Hurrah for the Next Man
Max Emery: They Rode into History. The History of the 8th Light Horse Regiment AIF, 1916-19

Alexander Fax Booksellers - Australian military history specialists

Tuesday, June 30, 2009