Richard Hillary

Richard Hillary was born in Sydney, Australia in 1919 and brought up in England. Whilst at Trinity College, Oxford, the Second World War broke out. He joined 603 Squadron and became a Spitfire ace during the Battle of Britain. Shot down and horribly burned in September 1940, he was operated on several times by pioneering plastic surgeon, Archie Mcindoe. During his slow and painful recovery he wrote The Last Enemy, his very personal account of his experiences. The book is regarded as a one of...See more

Richard Hillary was born in Sydney, Australia in 1919 and brought up in England. Whilst at Trinity College, Oxford, the Second World War broke out. He joined 603 Squadron and became a Spitfire ace during the Battle of Britain. Shot down and horribly burned in September 1940, he was operated on several times by pioneering plastic surgeon, Archie Mcindoe. During his slow and painful recovery he wrote The Last Enemy, his very personal account of his experiences. The book is regarded as a one of the classic texts of the war but is also a window on the soul-searching of a complex hero. Hillary was desperate to fly again and during a night flying exercise on January 1943 his Bristol Blenheim MK.V crashed killing him and his radio/observer Sergeant Wilfrid Fison. Hillary was aged just twenty-three. See less