Before I Forget: Memoirs of a Cold War Aviator

One airman’s life in the RAAF—told with clarity, humour and quiet courage.

Before I Forget follows John MacNeil’s journey from a Melbourne boyhood to a 31-year career in the Royal Australian Air Force — recounted in his own clear, understatedly wry voice. Accepted for aircrew just as the Second World War ended, MacNeil returned to service during the Korean War, trained as a navigator, and went on to fly long, high-stakes maritime patrols in cutting-edge Neptunes through the tense decades of ...