Fatal Mission is the story of Australian navigator Oscar Furniss,
just one of 55,000 young men who perished while flying for Bomber
Command during World War II. Lovingly crafted by his nephew, Mal
Elliott, this book brings to life a young man whose name was
never spoken by his family and who was a stranger to his
modern-day descendants.
Elliott follows Oscar from his carefree childhood in the Blue
Mountains through his training over the vast emptiness of Canada
to the mist-shrouded patchwork landscapes of Britain and on to
the hostile skies of occupied France. He uses the accounts of the
two surviving aircrew to piece together the events of the fateful
night that saw most of the crew of Lancaster JA901, affectionally
know as Naughty Nan, perish as pilot Colin Dickson heroically
manoeuvred his burning aircraft away from the towns and villages
that dotted the landscape.