Wg Cdr Arthur Gill, OBE, DFC

[Fantome]

that recruiting brochure artwork looks like the work of Frank Wootton.
A poster that the RAAF put up all over Australia, from 1940 on, was displayed outside the recruiting centre in Adelaide. I heard once from a pilot in the Second World War (and airlines after) how he was hurrying down North Terrace, aged twenty-two, to join the police force, when that poster hit him right between the eyes. Three months latter he was out at Parafield on the outskirts of Adelaide beginning his course with EFTS there . His name was Colin Griffin. He lived near Kyneton in his latter years. He passed away in 2013. The book he rated most highly about the war in the air was Hillary's 'The Last Enemy'.

THe poster that inspired Col showed a pilot waving as he is halfway into the cockpit of his fighter , the caption reading COMING? - THEN HURRY.

Here is what the Kyneton Aero Club Newsletter had to say about Col -

Vale : Colin Sidney Griffin 01/01/19-03/06/13 by Warren Canning

Long time Kyneton Aero Club member Col Griffin passed away at Kyneton Community Aged Care on Monday 03 June at age 93.
Many members will have fond memories of hours spent with Col, listening to his stories from WWII, and later Airlines and then instructing at Melton. Col started his flying career on DH82 Tiger Moths in Adelaide, before moving to Geraldton on Avro Ansons; where he was involved in the search for HMAS Sydney, after graduating with “Wings” he headed to the UK to join 456 Squadron RAAF.
In the UK Col flew several types, but it was the DH Mosquitos that he flew operationally with 456 SQN, completing 43 missions plus a tour as an instructor on Mossies, for a total of 650 hours on type. After the war he returned to Australia to begin an airline career that would see him fly numerous types, including DC3, Bristol Freighter, Vickers Viscount, F27, DC9 and B727. Few may know that Col was the Captain of Vickers Viscount VH-RMI on its second last sector ever; into Winton in 1966. It took off with a different crew on its next sector and suffered a fire that burnt through the wing spar; with all onboard lost. Col then was seconded to the Board of Inquiry into the crash.
When Col reached the, what would now seem a very young, age of 60 he was retired from the airlines, as was the policy back then. Not to be deterred he took up GA instructing and spent 10 years at Melton as CFI, training many Private and future airline pilots, finally retiring from commercial aviation at age 70. It was a tribute to the respect in which Col was held as an instructor that many of these pilots flew to Melbourne from various interstate locations to be at his Memorial Ceremony.
When asked how many hours he had accrued, Col would respond that he stopped counting when he went over the 30,000 mark, and that was many years ago. He continued flying into his 90s, still taking his wife, Doreen, away in their RV-6 VH-EMG to Adelaide for trips to see their families. At the time CASA pulled his medical, Col had flown continuously for 70 years.
It was a great pleasure to have spent many hours flying with Col; we would often share the command on the out and back sectors to a lunch destination, where he would invariably hold the floor with his many amazing stories from those 70 years of flying, and it was again a mark of the respect in which he was held that people who had met Col through these “lunchtime” adventures flew into YKTN to be at his Memorial. In 2011 we got to share a great adventure together when we flew Yak 52 VH-YEK, in which Col was a partner, on the RAAF’s 90th Anniversary Air Pilgrimage. When the RAAF media realised they had a genuine WWII Mossie pilot on the event Col instantly became the media darling; doing numerous print, radio and TV interviews along the way. At the Gala Dinner at the Point Cook Officers Mess on the night of the 90th Anniversary he came in for special mention in front of the Chief of Defence, Chief of Air Force and 6 Retired Chiefs of Air Force, and he loved every minute of it.
As Col’s health faded he was no longer able to get into his RV-6, so Saturday lunches reverted to a very enjoyable time around the table at the Kyneton Aero Club; where Col revelled in the companionship of fellow aviators, and was always only too happy to offer very sound advice, or to listen as others gave theirs. Even in these later years, he lived life to the absolute fullest, he had a great wit and infectious sense of humor, not always politically correct, but that was one of the things we all loved about Col.
Colin Sidney Griffin will be sadly missed; he truly was one of a kind.

The club's president, Matt added these remarks -

It is sad and unfortunate that I begin another report discussing the passing of another member of the Kyneton Aero Club family. Col Griffin.
Many of you will have also attended the memorial service held on Saturday 15 June. Approximately 200 people turned up to say goodbye to a dear family member and friend, many having travelled from interstate.
It was a fitting farewell for someone who had made a positive impact on so many lives, starting with a Missing Man formation fly-past and finishing with a very moving service performed by the Kyneton RSL, complete with Bugler.
While I never had the opportunity to share a cockpit with Col, I did have the opportunity to share a couch with him on many occasions and listen to him tell countless stories of his adventures in the air over a 70 year period.
For me, a comparatively young and inexperienced pilot, Col was an inspiration. I hope I make it to 70 years of age and be fit and able to fly. The idea of flying continuously for the next 50 years is beyond imagining. He was an amazing man and will be sadly missed by all.