eBook - ePub
The Last Navigator
About this book
'A wonderful book that tells a remarkable and heroic story.'
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SIR ANGUS HOUSTON AK, AFC (RET'D)
The choking, chest-tightening feeling of being trapped in a burning Lancaster, enduring the uncertainty, you count down the requisite 60 seconds for the tanks to blow. Your skip has thrown off the fighters with yet another brilliant corkscrew manoeuvre but will you get your badly wounded bomber home?
Gordon Goodwin was a decorated airman and an inspired leader. During World War II he served in probably the most dangerous occupation of all, flying with the Pathfinders as they led bombing raids into Germany. He undertook 32 Pathfinder missions, including nine over Berlin, and 65 missions over enemy territory with Bomber Command. But to survive his childhood was perhaps a greater achievement. Raised in harsh and loveless circumstances outside Brisbane during the Depression, his accomplishments were remarkable.
This is the powerful first-hand account of Gordon's dangerous and brave war experiences as recalled for his son Paul. 'My father told me that to survive you had to surrender all hope.' That extraordinary formula followed by the men of Bomber Command allowed Gordon to not only come through the war, but to find a successful career with Qantas, finishing as its chief, and possibly last, navigator. The Last Navigator is an illuminating, compelling and ultimately uplifting insight into a time that should not be forgotten.
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SIR ANGUS HOUSTON AK, AFC (RET'D)
The choking, chest-tightening feeling of being trapped in a burning Lancaster, enduring the uncertainty, you count down the requisite 60 seconds for the tanks to blow. Your skip has thrown off the fighters with yet another brilliant corkscrew manoeuvre but will you get your badly wounded bomber home?
Gordon Goodwin was a decorated airman and an inspired leader. During World War II he served in probably the most dangerous occupation of all, flying with the Pathfinders as they led bombing raids into Germany. He undertook 32 Pathfinder missions, including nine over Berlin, and 65 missions over enemy territory with Bomber Command. But to survive his childhood was perhaps a greater achievement. Raised in harsh and loveless circumstances outside Brisbane during the Depression, his accomplishments were remarkable.
This is the powerful first-hand account of Gordon's dangerous and brave war experiences as recalled for his son Paul. 'My father told me that to survive you had to surrender all hope.' That extraordinary formula followed by the men of Bomber Command allowed Gordon to not only come through the war, but to find a successful career with Qantas, finishing as its chief, and possibly last, navigator. The Last Navigator is an illuminating, compelling and ultimately uplifting insight into a time that should not be forgotten.
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Yes, you can access The Last Navigator by Paul Goodwin in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Military Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- COVER PAGE
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- TITLE PAGE
- COPYRIGHT PAGE
- DEDICATION
- CONTENTS
- FOREWORD BY WING COMMANDER PHILIP PATRICK MBE, DFC
- MAP: RAF BOMBER COMMAND OPERATIONS OF SQUADRON LEADER GORDON Goodwin
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- 1 THE MONTVILLE YEARS
- 2 ESCAPE TO BUNDABERG
- 3 PASSING MUSTER
- 4 TRAINING IN CANADA
- 5 MONTREAL AND MEETING BENNETT
- 6 CROSSING THE ATLANTIC
- 7 INTO WELLINGTON WARFARE
- 8 FINDING JOY
- 9 COLOGNE, HARRIS AND 1000 BOMBERS
- 10 SEA RESCUE, LAST OF TOUR
- 11 THE DIRTY DUCK, ROYALTY AND RADAR
- 12 ESCAPE, BOFFINS AND THE MOSQUITO BOMBER
- 13 THE REGENT PALACE, HAMBURG AND MARRIAGE
- 14 BACK INTO BATTLE
- 15 THE MIGHTY LANC
- 16 BOMBING BERLIN
- 17 A FRENZY OF FIGHTERS
- 18 A LITTLE LEVITY, LEIPZIG AND WIND SPEED
- 19 LOSING THE TWO JIMMIES
- 20 A HAPPY GATHERING
- 21 THE BUZZ-BOMBS STRIKE
- 22 DUISBURG AND THE DENOUEMENT
- 23 QANTAS AND A NEW LIFE
- 24 LANCASTER LOST AND FLYING BOATS
- 25 CONNIES, SUPER CONNIES AND JETS
- 26 THE LAST NAVIGATOR
- AFTERWORD
- PICTURE SECTION
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- ENDNOTES
- BIBLIOGRAPHY