Thursday 1st May 2025, 6.30pm
Join us for a captivating evening with Ian Campbell, Curator of the Bennett/Vial Archive at the Queensland Air Museum and author of Relentless Skies, Volume 1: The Most Efficient Airman, the first part of the new biography of Air Vice-Marshal Don Bennett CB CBE DSO FRAeS.
Ian will address the topic: Why did ‘Bomber’ Harris choose Don Bennett to command the Path Finder Force? Ian’s 30-minute presentation will delve into critical elements of Bennett’s character, the forces that drove him to his pre- and early-war achievements, and his emerging leadership style. The picture emerges of a complex man, but one whom Harris understood better than most.
Air Vice-Marshal Don Bennett CB CBE DSO FRAeS is best known as the Australian commander of the Royal Air Force’s elite Path Finder Force in the Second World War. His drive, determination and passion for excellence saw him play a principal role in prosecuting the bombing campaign against Nazi Germany.
Yet, the full story of his life has never been comprehensively explored. Few can recount his exploits as a pioneering aviator, or know why he was regarded as the most technically brilliant airman of his generation. Fewer still know the man’s background, interests, passions and obsessions, or what drove him to his many aviation achievements.
Relentless Skies, Volume 1: The Most Efficient Airman, explores Bennett’s life up to 1942. New light is shed on his early years, pilot training, participation in the Centenary Air Race, setting world records in the seaplane Mercury, the 1940 rescue of the Polish General Staff from France and how he survived being shot down whilst attacking the Tirpitz.
Binding together this series of extraordinary events and achievements is, crucially, an exploration of Bennett’s character and how it influenced his choices, relationships and approach to leadership. Unparalleled access to the Bennett archive has enabled biographer Ian Campbell to reveal the many facets of one of Australia’s greatest, and often misunderstood, wartime leaders.
About the Author:
Ian Campbell, curator of the Bennett/Vial Archive at the Queensland Air Museum (QAM), has had a lifelong passion for military history. Growing up behind the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, he spent many hours wandering the halls thoroughly absorbed in the displays. A graduate of the Australian National University, with qualifications in History and Politics, he enjoyed an varied career in government, private and not-for-profit sectors, before retiring to concentrate on researching and writing within his chosen specialist field.
His first book, Thinks He’s a Bird, about Australian Pathfinder and Lancaster pilot, Flight Lieutenant Keith Watson, was released in 2022.
Now, and with unparalleled access to the QAM papers held within AVM Don Bennett’s private collection, Ian Campbell has completed Volume 1 of a new 2-volume biography of the man MRAF Sir Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris cited as being ‘The most efficient airman I have ever met’.
The evening starts with a delicious hot supper in The Hub Café at 18.30.
To book your tickets please click here.
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