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J. G. BEILBY : 1942 - 1943 TWO [2] ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPT JOURNALS THAT SHOW TWO INTERESTING AND DIFFERENT VIEWS OF A LIFE LIVED, ONE CIVILIAN, ONE MILITARY, BY AN AUSTRALIAN PILOT IN CANADA

8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. On offer are two [2] books, used by J.G. Beilby of Brisbane, Australia, while on duty in Alberta, Canada, training with the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War 2. Beilby is a pilot and sergeant with the Royal Australian Air Force. The first, a book entitled “My Cruise with R.A.A.F” is inscribed “To johny, Xmas 1942, ‘Nil Desperandum’. From Bill”. The book, obtained by Beilby in Australia, lists the many cities through which Beilby travelled through. From Panama through the U.S. to Canada, Scotland, and finally England, ending in a listing written “Whitley Bay (Commando)”. The book is over 100 pages in length, but there is writing on only the first 6 pages. Beilby sails out of Brisbane, Australia on June 22nd, 1942 on the ‘S.S. President Cleveland’ going towards Norfolk, Virginia. The ship goes to Tahiti, Panama, Cristobal, Balboa, Panama, Santiago di Cuba, Key West, finally landing in Norfolk. From Norfolk Bielby goes to Philadelphia, Washington, New York, up to Winnipeg, Calgary and then Vancouver. On the return journey, Beilby leaves on the famous ‘S.S. Queen Elizabeth’ operated by the Cunard line, from Halifax, Nova Scotia on March 10th, 1943, stopping in Boston and New York before going across the Atlantic to Bournemouth, London, Newcastle and Whitley Bay in England. The other book, smaller and more compact, has a front title of “Royal Canadian Air Force Diary.” In this book other, Beilby has written addresses and phone numbers. Near the end of the book, there are pages filled with dates for “Anniversaries”and “Birthdays” of friends and family as well as a page titled “Name Suggestions,” implying Beilby’s girlfriend or wife was pregnant during his time in the RCAF service. The “Cash Accounts” section near the end of the book also shows over 10 war bonds bought by Beilby, totalling $1250 as well as the year they fully mature. There is also a page of living expenses for the month of November, that include purchases of a “Jacket - $53.00”, “Mother’s gift - $4.00”, “Prescriptions - $8.50”, and man others. The most interesting part of the book though, is the first 145 pages, taken up by a tremendous amount of scientific and military information about flight. The foreword says that, “in COLLINS AERO DIARY the Publishers have constructed from technical literature and practical data a useful compendium on the subject of Flight.” This literature and data contains everything from conversion tables to flight dynamics to Morse code, semaphore, color pages of maps of other countries, and a tremendous amount more. The two books together produce an interesting document of a soldier in the 2nd World War. (Background: John George Beilby was born in 1920 in Brisbane, Australia. He was a Sergeant and pilot in Unit 21 of the Operational Training RAF during the War. He mostly likely died on April 24, 1944. Flying a Wellington LN 878 of No 21 Operational Training Unit RAF, he took took off from RAF Station Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, on a day cross country exercise on 24 April 1944. The last known position of the aircraft was a fix which placed them 80 miles east of Hull. The aircraft failed to return to base after the exercise. Subsequent reports show that the Wireless Operator had contacted numerous stations during the trip and was well up to his job. He would have taken correct action in distress had he had time. There was no evidence to show how the aircraft became lost. From the way the plot faded suddenly there is a strong possibility that it had been shot down by enemy fighters. Subsequent searches found no trace of the missing aircraft or crew. Sgt J.G.Beilby, Pilot....Following post war enquiries and investigations it was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.). Manuscript. Book Condition: Good

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