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In this episode of the Australian Aviation Podcast, host Phil Tarrant and guest Air Vice Marshall (Ret’d) John Quaife, AM, sit down to discuss John’s new book Viking Boys.
A former Air Commander Australia, John spent nearly three decades in the Royal Australian Air Force as a fighter pilot. After retiring from the force, he became a member of the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal, where he learnt incredible stories of untold and remarkable bravery and honour from Australian forces.
Viking Boys tells the story of Beaufighter pilot James Hakewill and his navigator Fred Sides, who died on 5 December 1944 when their aircraft slammed into a German gunboat in a fjord in Norway.
While official records contain no mention of the aircraft hitting the ship, John reveals what truly happened on 5 December 1944.
