# On this day in 1918...



## Wildcat (May 31, 2008)

... Australia lost one of its greatest fighter pilots.



> IF STAN Dallas had ignored his father's advice, his grandchildren and their children might be gathering tomorrow for the 90th anniversary of the death of possibly our finest ever fighter pilot.
> 
> But when Dallas announced in a 1917 letter home that he was considering marrying a "wonderful" nurse he had met in a "rather romantic way", Peter Dallas responded with paternal caution. The upheaval and uncertainty of wartime was not conducive to wise matrimonial decisions, he warned. Better to wait until the war ended.
> 
> ...


Time to recognise and remember a brilliant fighter pilot | theage.com.au


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## Graeme (Jun 1, 2008)

Nice post Wildcat, thanks for that.
He must have been a truly decent man...
_



Dallas accompanied nervous novices up and manoeuvred them into a position where they could down an enemy plane while he protected them.

Click to expand...

_
I see that last week (27th May) was also the 90th anniversary of the death of Australia's "ace of aces", Captain R.A. Little...

Little, Robert Alexander (1895 - 1918) Biographical Entry - Australian Dictionary of Biography Online


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## pbfoot (Jun 1, 2008)

good info thx


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## Wildcat (Jun 1, 2008)

Thanks Graeme. Interesting to see that Dallas might in fact be the leading Australian ace of all time. The article I posted says 48-50 and the AFC site states that the latest research claims 50 (49 a/c + 1 balloon) which is 3 more than Little. Interesting stuff.
Major Roderic S. Dallas, Royal Air Force


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## Njaco (Jun 1, 2008)

Thanx Wilcat, never heard of Dallas. Sounds very unselfish and deserving a VC. I have heard of Little. When I was young my father had a paperback collection - about 20 books - each about a different ace of WWI. Read them until the pages came out!


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