Keith Septimus Frearson, 18 September 1922–2 February 2000: A Memoir and a Tribute (2000)

Abstract

Keith Frearson was born to store-keeper parents, William Allan Frearson and Olive Elizabeth, née Roberts, in the small wheat-farming town of Tammin in Western Australia. He was the sixth of eight children – he attributed his second name to the fact that his mother had lost count. He was a RAAF navigator in Lancasters in Bomber Command during World War II. He beat the odds many times in an exceptional number of flights over Germany (including the raid on Dresden) for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). These horrific experiences undoubtedly affected him and his behaviour for the rest of his life though he rarely spoke of them except in typical Frearson jests.

Originally published in Economic Record, vol. 76, September 2000, pp. 297–300.