RAAF Black Cats

Robert Cleworth · John Suter Linton

Sept 2019 · Bolinda · Narrated by David Tredinnick

Audiobook

8 hr 5 min

Unabridged

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About this audiobook

In March 1945 Reg Cleworth, a navigator on PBY Catalina seaplanes flying out of Darwin, went missing in action. No details were ever given about the incident that took his life, nor the reason his plane went down. For Reg’s younger brother, Robert, the news came as a prophecy fulfilled. The last time they saw each other, Reg confided in Robert, ‘I don’t think I’m coming back’. Forty years later Robert decided to investigate what happened to his brother. What he uncovered was an extraordinary story of a covert Australian airborne mine-laying operation in cooperation with the US Seventh Fleet to disrupt the Japanese supply routes. One of the riskier and more dangerous RAAF undertakings of the Pacific War, secrecy restrictions were imposed on everyone involved. They were never formally lifted. Had it not been for a chance meeting that allowed Robert access to previously unopened files in the US national archives, this remarkable story may never have been told. What he unearthed revealed the sacrifice and achievements of the RAAF Catalina crews and the vital role they played in MacArthur’s strategic plan for the south-west Pacific.

About the author

Robert (Bob) Cleworth MPhil has compiled five books, one on Australian War Graves and Missing Australians, in addition to three publications on the work of RAAF Catalina Operations in World War II. He was, for a number of years, Secretary of the Catalina Association of New South Wales.

John Suter Linton has written four true-crime books: The Stranger You Know, Bound by Blood, An Almost Perfect Murder and Murder at Anna Bay. John has also worked extensively in radio, television and print media, and as a writer, journalist, researcher and producer.

David has been narrating audiobooks for over 25 years, working on a number of award-winning titles. He has also worked extensively in theatre, radio, film and television, most notably appearing in all four seasons of The Secret Life of Us. When not lending his voice to books he is employed as an archivist, audio producer and librarian.

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