News Archive

Hermann Goering and the Bunbury Solicitor: A Ding Dong Dogfight

Adolph Hitler and Hermann Goering were one of the most evil combinations of the 20th century but they very nearly didn’t make it as a pair.  Goering, who created the dreaded Gestapo in Nazi Germany at the time of World War ll and was a key figure in the “final solution” of exterminating the Jewish people, survived a ding dong dog fight with a West Australian airman in World War l.

The late Bunbury solicitor Frank Slee was the pilot who came close to victory in the air battle against the then little-known German, but was finally shot down himself.

Goering claimed and was awarded the victory after Slee made a forced landing near the Belgian town of Moorslede on June 8, 1917.

The story will be told in a talk by former POST reporter John Slee, who is the son of the late Australian pilot.  Mr Slee will also tell the story of a notorious route March of 70km through the Egyptian desert by thousands of Australian soldiers, some of whom died through exposure to the heat. Frank Slee was one of these soldiers.  This was in July 1915 and was ordered by their leaders as an exercise to toughen them up.

Tuesday 10th April 2018, 7:30pm

Reid Library, Second Floor Conference Room

Doors open 7pm, talk commences 7:30pm Cost: $5 donation (Free for Friends of the Library Members)

RSVP: Kathryn Maingard (08) 6488 2356
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/o/friends-of-the-uwa-library-8193886496

Image Credit: Alan Wilson - Dogfight!! Nieuport Scout & Fokker DR.I replicas, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26901367

Media references

University Library +61 8 6488 7425