The nineteen-forties for most in the southern continent were frightening times but for a young lad growing up on the Atherton Tablelands and close to the battle zone, the Pacific War was exciting, while his dreaming was mostly in the sky, flying the big birds and their usage once the war was at an end. With an older brother fighting in the high mountain jungle of New Guinea and a younger brother itching to join the fray; Owen’s only wish was towards commercial flying, which intensified after becoming close to an American pilot but as with all war, there is always heartache and loss. Young Owen therefore would also be touched by such troubling times.