Re: The Pilot and the POW

Date: March 11, 2004

"No hard feelings as pilot meets the PoW
By Emma O'Sullivan

FORMER RAAF bomber pilot John McCredie took part in bombing missions over camps where chairman of the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War memorial appeal, David Baird, was held captive.

There were no hard feelings between the World War 2 veterans when they met yesterday for the first time during Mr McCredie's first visit to the memorial.

The pair also share a sentimental connection - Mr McCredie was the best man at wedding of Mrs Baird's brother-in-law, late Ballarat school teacher Clem Walker.

Mr McCredie and Mr Walker served together for two years and both became captains in 99 squadron.

Mr Baird, who was a prisoner of the Japanese in camps along the Burma railway for three years, said he remembered the bombing raids vividly.

"I've been wanting to meet John for a long time. He had us running for cover." Mr Baird said.

Mr McCredie, previously a consulate general and Australian ambassador, said he was always a bit scared about meeting former prisoners of war who were held at sites where he completed bombing missions, `But he's relieved my mind," he said.

Mr McCredie, who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, has recently completed a book about his experiences as a bomber captain in South-East Asia during World War 2.

Veterans Affairs awarded a grant towards publishing costs of the book, titled Survival Of The Fortunate, due to be released later this year.

While many war books focussed on the battlefield, Mr McCredie said his book was concerned with surviving and maintaining morale during wartime.

"The book came about from writing about what I did in the war in letters to my daughter, when she was at boarding school 30 years ago," he said.

"I was very concerned to show her we weren't only about killing."

The meeting was organised by Clem Walker's son Wesley."