McPherson Media

In 1943 Warrant Officer Pell was sent to England with 115 Squadron to train in Wellington bombers before taking over a Lancaster and joining the round-the-clock bombing raids on Germany and occupied Europe. Serving with the RAAF’s Bomber Command this veteran conceded his ‘different’ war during which his planes dropped tonnes of bombs on an unseen enemy still haunts him today. Mr Pell explained why his part in Operation Manna, dropped food to the starving Dutch population late in the war, meant so much to him.

Cliff is 96 but still can’t believe he’s a day older than 75. He joined the RAAF the minute he was old enough and managed to survive years of war before coming home. He would serve in the Middle East and Italy and on his return became active in the RSL and Legacy, devoting decades of service to them both. Asked what Remembrance Day means to him, Cliff did not hesitate: “Everything! It remembers the ones we lost. I’ll always remember them, especially when the Last Post is played”.

Joining the Royal Australian Navy towards the end of hostilities, John would discover the official end to fighting did not necessarily mean an end to the dying. He would serve with occupation forces and would confront the dying – and killing – up way too close and personal. His war was one of transition, of managing huge numbers of surrendering enemies and still trying to keep alive.

Frank started in one war and by the time the shooting was over already found himself in another. He finished up working in signals and served in the Pacific, where signals would be filtered from the sky and sent to interpreters – sometimes going as far as the legendary Bletchley Park in the UK. And no sooner had the Japanese surrendered than his unit was told to start monitoring the Russians as the Cold War replaced the world war.

Working as ground crew in the RAAF, Jim Russell was never too far from the fighting. He recalled his team in 1945 doing a lot of work on heavy bombers in preparation for embarkation to Okinawa to join the bombing campaign against the Japanese mainland. But two atomic bombs put an end to the war and today Jim prefers thinking about the lightyer moments, such as when he and some mates – “with a skin full” – nabbed a sheep from the saleyards near their base and cut it up for a good feed.