IVAN SOUTHALL

Ivan Southall joined 461 Squadron in October 1943. He quickly rose to the rank of Captain and in August 1944 sunk uboat U-385 for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He has been involved recording the history of 461 Squadron since the latter days of the war, and throughout 1945 and 1946 he worked with the War History section of the RAAF overseas in Kodak House London. And since that time and almost to the present day he has written at intervals, at length, about the Sunderland. As an author, he has written over sixty books which have been published in up to twenty three languages. He has been awarded numerous prizes for literature and in 1981 became an 'Order of Australia' recepient.

His book 'They Shall Not Pass Unseen' was first published in 1956. While never written as a concise squadron history it, none-the-less, gave an insight into some of the more dramatic events that ocurred in 461 Squadron during the 'Battle of the Atlantic'.