Late last year, I came across a small quarterly magazine/journal by the name of Slightly Foxed ( https://foxedquarterly.com ) and was intrigued, so I subscribed.

The quarterly 'simply' has people writing about a forgotten or underappreciated book that the writer believes would be of interest to a wider audience. The most recent edition I have is No 73 Spring 2022 (its a publication from the UK, so its March 2022 that I read it) looked at 16 different authors/books across a wide range of topics etc.

Of those authors/works featured I was aware of 5 of the 16 authors in the spotlight. I have read works by 5 of them (some only a little and not the work in question; some a lot but again not the work in question; the last was the actual book in question but only because having read the article, I immediately acquired and read the book (my review is [here]).

Slightly Foxed (amongst other things) also publishes a limited edition (of some 2000 copies; approx 60 or so books as of March 2022) of a series of memoirs across a wide range.

I have purchased a random selection of them and have read 2 of them so far. (Sorry for the long introduction but) one of them is the book in question here: The Last Enemy by Richard Hillary.

It tells very briefly of the early life and education of the author but concentrates on his training for, participation in as a fighter pilot and death in the Second World War. My mention of his death is not a spoiler, as it is evident from early on in the book.

It depicts the wide variety of attitudes and reactions of people when faced with the prospect of participation in the war effort: from at least pacifist; a number of patriotic fighters; people from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, which were not at that time directly involved or at least directly affected by the War; those who were only interested in the challenge of defeating an enemy. And the question of whether any of those attitudes changed over the course of the War and if so why?

Neither the description of the War nor people's participation is not jingoistic nor glorified. And whilst some of the events and the deaths were in themselves horrifying, were not described that made one's stomach turn.

Much of the memoir is less about the War itself than about the group of friends and fellow travellers of the author.

And it depicts an England and a London of a different era. and with the Russian invasion of Ukraine going on as I write, one can only think of the suffering and despair and loss of life that is being repeated (regardless whatever one thinks of the respective merits of the claims of the warring countries.

A compelling read and a reflection on humanity and on the humanity of people.

Big Ship

14 March 2022 ( )

Described by critics as "not a book written by a pilot about the war, but a book written by a writer about a pilot", The Last Enemy tells the story of a young writer's experiences as a Spitfire pilot in training and during the Battle of Britain, and of the life he led after being shot down.
Richard Hillary begins his story with a gripping account of his flight from Hornchurch on September 3, 1940, up and out over the Channel and into ferocious aerial combat, "a blur of twisting machines and tracer bullets". His plane hit and hurtling towards the water, Richard bails out of the flaming cockpit and parachutes into the Channel where, hours later, he is eventually rescued by the Margate lifeboat.

The Last Enemy then tells the extraordinary and moving story surrounding that September day. It describes carefree days at Trinity College, Oxford, light-hearted competitive rowing in Germany and Hungary, training as a fighter pilot, aerial combat and then, after being shot down and cruelly burnt by the flames, of a slow and painful recovery. Richard tells also of great friendship and of tragic loss and - in yet more sombre tones - of intense and agonizing personal reflection and questioning about his own war experience, which transformed him fromm a gifted and handsome athlete, admired and envied by his contemporaries, into a ravaged figure. Unsure of whether or not he would ever be passed fit enough to fly again, Richard asks himself what he can do for those who have died? As he himself wrote: "Then after a while it came to me. I could write." And so he came to write The Last Enemy.

The Last Enemy (first published in America as Falling Through Space), is a war memoir written by the Second World War Anglo-Australian fighter pilot Richard Hillary detailing his experiences during the Battle of Britain in 1940. It details his experiences as a Spitfire pilot during the Battle of Britain, during which he was shot down in action, sustaining severe injuries, severely facially scarred. The Last Enemy, taken from (I Corinthians 15:26, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death".
(Recommended by David Mamet) ( )

sad, glad i don't live in a war zone, ( )

Indeholder "Indledning", "Første bog", "Under München-paraplyen", "Før Dunkerque", "Spitfires", "Peter Pease's verden", "Angriberne", "Anden bog", "Skal jeg leve for en skygge?", "Skønhedssalonen", "Den sidste af de langhårede drenge", "'Jeg kan se, de også har fået ram på Dem'".
Richard Hillary blev født i 1919 i Sidney. Han var jagerpilot under anden verdenskrig og blev den 3. september 1940 skudt ned over kanalen og slemt forbrændt.
Efter en lang sygeperiode vendte han i november 1942 tilbage til aktiv tjeneste og blev dræbt den 7. januar 1943.
Indledningen fortæller hvordan han bliver skudt ned og forsøger at drukne sig men uden held. Han bliver reddet op i redningsbåden fra Margate og transporteret i land.
Første bog fortæller om tiden inden krigen. Hvordan de melder sig til flyvekorpset i september 1939. "The phoney war" inden Dunkerque. Hvordan de træner og til sidst bliver spitfire-piloter. En spitfire er en enkeltmandsmaskine, så der er ikke noget med at have en instruktør parat ved siden af, hvis man har glemt lidt teori under landingen.
Efter Dunkerque bliver piloterne hånet af soldaterne for at have været helt fraværende i kampen, hvilket de har lidt ondt af, da det var deres indsats længere inde i landet, der gjorde evakueringen mulig og en hel del af deres kammerater blev dræbt i de luftkampe.
I kampene efter Dunkerque bliver alle Richard Hillary's venner dræbt en efter en. Han meddeler det helt lakonisk: "Fra denne flyvning kom Don McDonald ikke tilbage." Han flyver selv uden briller, hjelm og handsker for at have så meget udsyn og bevægelighed som muligt i det snævre cockpit. Det bliver dyrt betalt, da han bliver skudt ned, for han er hårdt forbrændt og kun sygeplejerskenes dygtighed og ihærdighed forhindrer at hans hænder skal amputeres.
Hans og de andre patienters behandlinger, sygehusinfektioner, operationsresultater og generelle humør og oplevelser skildres fint.
Han klarer det meste uden egentlig at lade sig påvirke så meget, men på en orlov hjælper han en døende kvinde ud fra et udbombet hus og hun kigger på ham og siger "'Jeg kan se, de også har fået ram på Dem'" og det rammer ham dybt.
Han beslutter sig for at skrive om sine oplevelser og bogen slutter med lidt rigeligt patos i den anledning.

Slutningen virker påklistret, men ellers er den udmærket. ( )