{"id":89929,"date":"2023-05-20T04:57:25","date_gmt":"2023-05-19T18:57:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/?p=89929"},"modified":"2023-05-17T09:53:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T23:53:53","slug":"pen-to-paper-for-past-flying-serviceman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/news\/pen-to-paper-for-past-flying-serviceman\/","title":{"rendered":"Pen to paper for past flying serviceman"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE exploits of a World War Two gunner from Victoria\u2019s south-west are being memorialised in the form of a book by one of the region\u2019s RSL members.<\/p>\n

Inverleigh RSL Sub-Branch treasurer Andy Tepper has been chipping away at a biography detailing the service history of Colac-born Royal Australian Airforce Flying Officer Keith Kelly.<\/p>\n

With more than 200 pages written, Tepper said Flying Officer Kelly\u2019s career of 40 missions was impressive.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d done his cadetship in Colac at about 17 and then joined the RAF and went over to England as part of the Dominion Air Force,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe went through all the training there and joined up a Wellington bomber crew. He accomplished 40 missions in this Wellington bomber.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were doing missions over to Italy from Africa. They crash-landed once at the airfield in Tunisia, and were living in tents and mud fields in the Foggia plains.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile they were in Italy they got shot up by a German fighter. There\u2019s another story where they were flying over the Alps and the plane froze up. It was quite an adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following his conflict service, Flying Officer Kelly taught Morse code and survival techniques in Palestine before returning to Australia on Melbourne Cup, 1945 after which he lived in Bannockburn.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A section of the Inverleigh RSL Sub-Branch home base is dedicated to Keith Kelly. Photo: TIM BOTTAMS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Having known Flying Officer Kelly personally, Mr Tepper gathered much of his research through interviews before the veteran passed in 2019.<\/p>\n

Mr Tepper said he felt compelled to write down Flying Officer Kelly\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was legendary he\u2019d done 40 missions. You were lucky to survive five,\u201d he said. \u201cHis story encompasses war life in Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a group called the Golden Oldies and I knew him from there. They flew over to England to get citations for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had the 70th anniversary of the bomber command over there and Keith was in the photo in their centrefold. It was a big surprise to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a Wellington bomber and he was a wireless operator part of the initial crew before they went on actual missions. The Wellington was the longest surviving bomber in the war.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE exploits of a World War Two gunner from Victoria\u2019s south-west are being memorialised in the form of a book by one of the region\u2019s RSL members. Inverleigh RSL Sub-Branch treasurer Andy Tepper has been chipping away at a biography detailing the service history of Colac-born Royal Australian Airforce Flying Officer Keith Kelly. With more […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":198,"featured_media":89930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-89929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPen to paper for past flying serviceman - Golden Plains Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/news\/pen-to-paper-for-past-flying-serviceman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pen to paper for past flying serviceman - Golden Plains Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"THE exploits of a World War Two gunner from Victoria\u2019s south-west are being memorialised in the form of a book by one of the region\u2019s RSL members. 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