The Flying Angel by Vicki Bennett illustrated by Tull Suwannakit

Portrait depicting Sister Marie Craig. ART24278 - Australian War Museum

Blurb from the author website: After the return of her wounded father from WW1, a little girl had a dream to become a nurse. Marie Craig trained at the Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney and graduated in 1942. She joined the RAAF nursing service in 1943 and in early 1944, 15 nurses from the Royal Australian Air Force nursing service were handpicked for the 2nd unit of flying sisters who made up the No 2 MAETU. Nicknamed 'the flying angels', the unit was based in Papua New Guinea.

Here is a text sample to give you a flavour of this writing:

"The aeroplane is packed with injured soldiers. When we take off there isn't any room for me to sit, so I reach up and steady myself with a hand stirrup that swings from the ceiling. ... I give an oxygen bottle to each of the soldiers so they can breathe properly as we fly higher."

This book focuses on a small fragment of a larger and more complex story from a female perspective. The use of a first-person narrator is an excellent device which gives a truth and immediacy to the story and assists young readers to connect with events well beyond their experience. The themes of heroism, kindness, friendship, sacrifice and bravery are important ones and they are well served by this story. 

One tiny quibble - I do wish there were extra notes included at the back of the book as we have come to expect from other picture book war stories such as those by Mark Wilson. Only including the name of the nurse in the blurb on the back cover seems somehow insufficient. 

The sepia tones and tiny touches of colour work really well to give us a sense that this book is set during a different time in history. Shades of light and dark and subtle glimpses of colour create meaning and shifts in mood. The spread where Sister Marie is haloed in light inside the plane is beautiful, powerful and reaffirms the notion of the flying ‘angel’. I also liked the way the illustrations fill whole pages right to the edges. The collection of objects and photographs on the end papers add interest and demonstrate that the events in this book are based on real people.

Vicki Bennett captures the sense of family, friendship, and compassion during times of conflict, and highlights the remarkable efforts of nurses working in dire conditions to help soldiers during war. The text is eloquent and places readers firmly in the shoes of the nurses who left an indelible mark on surviving soldiers.  Reading Time

You can see inside this book on Tull Suwannakit's web page. I have a personal connection with this book - The Flying Angel. From 2012-2017 I visited an elderly man who had been a soldier in WWII and he served in Papua New Guinea. His name was Bert and I am dedicating this post to his memory. Here is a web page for Vicky Bennett.

Nurses in World War II - 5,000 Australian nurses served in a variety of locations, including the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Britain, Asia, the Pacific, and Australia. Seventy-eight died, some through accident or illness, but most as a result of enemy action or while prisoners of war.

Here is an extract from an exhibition at the Australian War memorial: Air evacuation became a quick and effective way to transport seriously wounded troops from the front line in New Guinea and the surrounding islands. In early 1944, 15 nurses recruited from the RAAFNS to the newly formed No. 1 Medical Air Evacuation Transport Unit (1 MAETU) began training in in-flight medicine and care, emergency survival procedures, and tropical hygiene.  Nicknamed “The Flying Angels”, flight teams comprising a sister and an orderly flew in Douglas C47s, carrying up to 18 stretcher cases at a time, from forward areas back to base hospitals in Australia. Within the first year of operation, some 8,000 patients had been evacuated.

This book might be useful for further reading:

Here is a link to teaching resources about the role of Nurses in War developed by the Australian War Memorial.

Companion reads (note these focus on World War One:

And to read more about the war in Papua New Guinea try to find this excellent book:

The Flying Angel is a CBCA 2022 Picture Book Notable title.

The ANZACS 100 Years on in story and song by Ted Egan

I rarely review books like this - Non Fiction - but this is such a special and important volume.  2014 marks the Centenary WWI and next year Australians will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ANZAC landing at Gallipoli.

The ANZACS 100 Years on in story and song has 158 pages and is probably best read by adults and teachers but I am mentioning it because it is such a fabulous resource.  The accompanying CD has fourteen tracks interspersed with commentary by a soldier who survived WWI.  Jack (John Leslie Nicholson) was born in 1894 and died in 1986.  The contents of this book and CD are organised in chronological order and so between each section Jack recalls his experiences in a way which is so poignant. Chapter 12 of the book briefly relates some details of Jack's life and war experiences. Listening to Jack should help our students make a connection to this important period of world history.  The choice of songs and beautiful recordings are also worth mentioning.

I cannot do justice to this whole book so I would like to focus on one song which touched my heart - A song for Grace.  Here is the third verse :

When the telegram came, my mother collapsed, and I had
The terrible task of breaking the news to my Dad.
With our old draught-horse, Punch, my father was ploughing the land
[When] I ran to the paddock, the telegram clutched in my hand.

The Irishman read it, said: 'Thank you, now leave me alone,
'Go on back to the house, help your mother, she's there on her own'
He called: 'Stand up, Punch; we have to get on with this job'
But I saw his slumped shoulders, and I heard his heart-rending sob.

I don't normally tell my readers where to buy books but I do highly recommend this one for all school libraries so here are the publisher details.  You can read more about Ted Egan here.