The Last Enemy (autobiography)

Last updated

The Last Enemy
The Last Enemy.jpg
First edition
Author Richard Hillary
LanguageEnglish
GenreWar memoir
Publisher Macmillan
Publication date
1942, reprinted April 1998
Media typePaperback
Pages178
ISBN 1-58080-056-4
OCLC 38073310
940.54/4941 21
LC Class D786 .H5 1997

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.

Contents

Background

Hillary joined the Royal Air Force at the start of the Second World War as a university undergraduate. Its text details his experiences as a Spitfire pilot during the Battle of Britain, during which he was shot down in action, sustaining severe injuries. [1]

He wrote the book in New York City whilst still recuperating from his wounds during a propaganda publicity tour in the United States in 1941 organized by the British Government to attempt to raise support for the Allied cause and the U.S.A.'s entry into the war. However, he was not allowed to appear in public personally, owing to concerns that his severely facially scarred appearance might prove counter-productive, and his work was confined to newspaper interviews and radio broadcasts. [2]

Hillary was killed in his 24th year whilst piloting an aircraft in a training accident in 1943.

Publication history

The book was first published in 1942 under the US title Falling Through Space, with a cover showing an airman plummeting through the sky. For the British publication the title was amended to The Last Enemy, taken from (I Corinthians 15:26, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death". [3] A Dutch translation was published in 1958 under the title De laatste vijand.

Other media

A television dramatization of the book was produced in 1956. [4]

Reception

Hillary's biographer, Denis Richards, writes that the book and its author met with instant acclaim, although the book was unusual in the depth of its storytelling: [5]

The author was acclaimed not only as a natural writer, but also as a representative of the doomed youth of his generation, although in his constant self-analysis he was in fact a most untypical British fighter pilot of 1940.

In the preface for the book's first edition in 1942 J. B. Priestley wrote: "The Last Enemy differs from all other books about the R.A.F. because its author, Richard Hillary, is by temperament and inclination, and to some extent training, a writer. ... The value of this book lies in the fact that it is a statement of a fully articulate young man about life in a Service which is generally inarticulate. Richard Hillary happens to be a kind of young man who doesn't often find his way into the R.A.F. He is in my view a born writer."

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Brindley Nicolson</span> Recipient of the Victoria Cross

James Brindley Eric Nicolson, was a fighter pilot and wing commander in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, for his actions in August 1940 during the Battle of Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 303 Squadron RAF</span> Military unit

No. 303 Squadron RAF, also known as the 303rd "Tadeusz Kościuszko Warsaw" Fighter Squadron, was one of two Polish squadrons that fought during the Battle of Britain along with No. 302 Squadron, of 16 total Polish squadrons during the Second World War. Flying Hawker Hurricanes, the squadron claimed the largest number of aircraft shot down of the 66 Allied fighter squadrons engaged in the Battle of Britain, even though it joined the fray two months after the battle had begun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 41 Squadron RAF</span> Flying squadron of the Royal Air Force

No. 41 Squadron Royal Air Force is a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF), currently operating as the Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES) for the RAF's Typhoon, presently based at RAF Coningsby in the English county of Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom. Its current official abbreviated title is 41 TES. The squadron was originally formed in April 1916, during First World War as part of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), and served on the Western Front as a ground attack and fighter squadron. Disbanded in 1919 as part of the post-war draw down, No. 41 Squadron was re-formed as an RAF squadron in 1923, and remained on home service until 1935, when it was deployed to Aden during the Abyssinian crisis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Max Aitken, 2nd Baronet</span> Canadian-British fighter pilot (1910–1985)

Sir John William Maxwell Aitken, 2nd Baronet,, briefly 2nd Baron Beaverbrook in 1964, was a Canadian-British fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War, a Conservative politician, and press baron. He was the son of Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Hillary</span> Australian flying ace (1919–1943)

Flight Lieutenant Richard Hope Hillary was an Anglo-Australian Royal Air Force fighter pilot during the Second World War. He wrote the book The Last Enemy about his experiences during the Battle of Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 603 Squadron RAF</span> Force Protection squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force

No. 603 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. On reforming on 1 October 1999, the primary role of 603 Squadron was as a Survive to Operate squadron, as well as providing force protection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Debden</span> Former Royal Air Force base in England

Royal Air Force Debden or more simply RAF Debden is a former Royal Air Force station located 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of Saffron Walden and approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the village of Debden in north Essex, England

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 40 Squadron RAF</span> Defunct flying squadron of the Royal Air Force

No. 40 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1916 at Gosport as No. 40 Squadron Royal Flying Corps and was disbanded for the last time in 1957. The squadron also included many non-British members, including volunteers from the Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Barking Creek</span> Friendly fire aviation incident in 1939

The Battle of Barking Creek was a friendly fire incident over England on 6 September 1939 that caused the first death of a British fighter pilot in the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 466 Squadron RAAF</span> Royal Australian Air Force squadron

No. 466 Squadron RAAF was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) bomber squadron during World War II. Formed in the United Kingdom in late 1942, the squadron undertook combat operations in Europe until the end of the war, flying heavy bomber aircraft. Following the conclusion of hostilities with Germany, the squadron began retraining to undertake operations in the Pacific against the Japanese, but the war came to an end before it left the UK. In late 1945, the squadron was disbanded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Stapleton</span> South African World War II flying ace

Basil Gerald "Stapme" Stapleton, was a Royal Air Force (RAF) officer and fighter ace who flew Spitfires and Typhoons during the Second World War. He preferred the name Gerald and was nicknamed "Stapme" after a phrase used in his favourite cartoon strip Just Jake published in The Daily Mirror. His score of 6 enemy aircraft destroyed, 2 shared destroyed, 8 probably destroyed and 2 damaged, all achieved on Spitfires during the Battle of Britain made him one of the outstanding pilots of that battle and he was revered as one of Richard Hillary's contemporaries in whose book The Last Enemy, he features. Without doubt he was one of the real 'characters' to survive the war and to many the quintessential image of a Battle of Britain fighter pilot, complete with handlebar moustache.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Lock</span> British RAF fighter pilot (1919–1941)

Eric Stanley Lock, was a British Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War.

Maurice Michael Stephens, was a Royal Air Force flying ace of the Second World War. Stephens scored 17 kills, three shared kills, one probable kills and five damaged.

A Perfect Hero is a 1991 TV drama serial set in World War II England. It was produced by Havahall Pictures in association with LWT for ITV and first broadcast at 9:00pm on Friday 17 May 1991 and ran for six episodes. It was broadcast in the US as part of Masterpiece Theatre during Season 21 that ran from 1991 to 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denis Crowley-Milling</span> Royal Air Force Air Marshal (1919-1996)

Air Marshal Sir Denis Crowley-Milling, was a Second World War fighter pilot and later an air officer in the Royal Air Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Charterhall</span> Former Royal Air Force base in the Borders of Scotland

Royal Air Force Charterhall or more simply RAF Charterhall is a former Royal Air Force station located in the Scottish Borders and the historic county of Berwickshire between the village of Greenlaw and Duns. It was originally a First World War landing ground named Eccles Toft. The airfield was reconstructed in 1942 and was used mainly by No. 54 Operational Training Unit during Second World War. The RAF left in 1947 and the airfield was officially closed.

<i>Squadron 303</i> (book) Book by Arkady Fiedler

Squadron 303 is a non-fiction book written by Polish author Arkady Fiedler and published by Peter Davies. It became his most popular book, selling over 1.5 million copies. Written in 1940, published in August 1942, the book is about the legendary No. 303 ("Kościuszko") Polish Squadron of Polish Air Force fighter pilots who flew with Great Britain's Royal Air Force (R.A.F.) during the Battle of Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noel Agazarian</span>

Noël le Chevalier Agazarian was a British World War II fighter ace with seven victories. He was the brother of Special Operations Executive agent Jack Agazarian, who was executed by the Germans in 1945, and Monique Agazarian, pilot, author and businesswoman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Denholm</span> Scottish fighter pilot and flying ace

Group Captain George Lovell "Uncle" Denholm, was a Scottish fighter pilot and flying ace of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He flew Spitfires during the Battle of Britain, and is counted amongst the ranks of 'The Few'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. R. H. Barton</span> British World War II flying ace

Anthony Richard Henry Barton was an English flying ace who served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He was credited with having shot down at least six aircraft.

References

  1. "The enemy remains the same for today's RAF pilots" in The Daily Telegraph , 7 January 2003
  2. "British Writing of the Second World War", Review by Richard Greaves
  3. "Embrace of the last enemy" in The Times , 11 January 2003
  4. The Last Enemy at the Internet Movie Database
  5. Richards, Denis (2012) [2004]. "Hillary, Richard Hope (1919–1943)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37548.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)