It’s been a long time coming, but Harry Dean’s book about his World War II experiences, My Pacific Star, has now been published, 40 years after his death.
Harry was in an operational bomber reconnaissance squadron of the Royal NZ Airforce and took part in the Pacific campaigns. He attained the rank of Squadron Leader and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross after facing death on numerous occasions.
Harry wrote his memoirs straight after the war, while it was fresh in his mind. Getting them published is something that his eldest daughter, Hilary Pedersen of Gulf Harbour, says the family was always keen to achieve.
The family self-published his typewritten manuscript three years ago, and shared it within the family circle, but Hilary says it was her father’s dream to see the book in print for a wider audience.
Her determination to make this happen received a setback when one copy of the manuscript – the one that had all Harry’s original black and white prints with it – was stolen from her car.
Many of the images eventually published in the hardback edition were supplied by a family friend, former RNZAF Air-Vice Marshal John Hamilton, and taken by John’s father Denys Hamilton who was Harry’s squadron mate.
Former journalist and writer Hilary’s search for a publisher ended when Austin Macauley Publishers expressed interest and Hilary received her first copies of the book early this month.
She says her father would have been happy to see the book, which she says is written in the style of the times.
“He was a gregarious character who loved the camaraderie of the airforce and always said the war years were the best years of his life,” Hilary says. “He went back to sheep farming in Hawke’s Bay, but he really missed those days.”
Her memories of her father are of a larger than life, amusing man handicapped by a lifelong stammer “which he turned into an asset by sheer force of personality”.
John Hamilton comments in the foreword that My Pacific Star is not a history, but a personal story of wartime.
“It provides an evocative record of one man’s perspective that will be valued, not only by Harry’s family and friends, but also those of today wanting to understand the conditions these service personnel faced,” the foreword says.
The book is named after a medal that was approved by the King and awarded to all those who served in the Pacific during the War.
The book is available locally at Paper Plus and also online, www.austinmacauley.com
