A jaw-dropping account of life as an RAF doctor during the Second
World War. As an RAF medical officer, Aidan McCarthy served in
France, survived Dunkirk, and was plunged into adventures in the
Japanese-American arena comparable with those of famous war heroes.
Interned by the Japanese in Java, he helped his fellow prisoners
with amazing ingenuity in awful conditions. En-route back to Japan
in 1944, his ship was torpedoed but he was rescued by a whaling
boat and re-interned in Japan. His life was literally saved by the
dropping of the Nagasaki atom bomb. He was then eyewitness to the
horror and devastation it caused. "This is an almost
incredible account written with humour and dignity." - Pete
McCarthy "This book is an epic." - Sir Dennis Spotswood,
Marshal of the RAF "His description is terrifying but
fascinating." - Air Marshal Sir William Coles
"'Jaw-dropping account of life as an RAF doctor during the Second World War' Pete McCarthy, author of McCarthy's Bar 'This book is an epic' Sir Dennis Spotswood, Marshal of the RAF 'His description is terrifying but fascinating' Air Marshal Sir William Coles"
AIDAN MACCARTHY qualified as a doctor at Cork University in 1938. He joined the RAF in 1939, and in 1941 was awarded the George medal for rescuing a pilot from a blazing plane. After the war he was awarded the OBE for his prisoner-of-war work. He continued to serve in the medical branch of the RAF and in 1969 was appointed to command the RAF central medical establishment in London. He retired in 1972. Married in 1948 he had two daughters, one of whom now runs MacCarthy's Bar in Castletownbere. He lived until 1995.
