The Flying Hours

Squadron Leader Andrew Patrick Millar’s Distinguished Service Order citation attests to his ‘superb leadership’, and‘excellent example and personal achievements’ that were ‘largely responsible for the high standard and efficiency’ of his squadron. The Flying Hours is Squadron Leader Millar’s candid and retrospective personal account of his experiences while serving as a pilot with the Royal Air Force and commanding No. 20 Squadron in the Far East during the Second World War battle against the Japanese. Utilising notes made at the time and his comprehensive logbook Andrew Millar’s gripping prose describes the trials and tribulations of mounting combat operations against the Japanese while based in India and Burma, firstly in Westland Lysanders and then piloting Hawker Hurricanes. The No. 20 Squadron motto was facta non verba (actions not words) and Andrew Millar was clearly a well respected man of action. The award of the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Distinguished Service Order are testament to the fact that a young man, who read medicine prior to volunteering for the Royal Air Force, became a highly skilled pilot who led by example. Incorporating previous unpublished photographs The Flying Hours recalls in detail Andrew Millar’s operations against the enemy, the strains of combat, and the hardships and difficulties under which his squadron lived, along with the inter-personal relationships, and the minutiae of life. The brutal and uncompromising fighting in Burma has often been described as the‘Forgotten War’. We are fortunate that Squadron Leader Andrew Millar’s memoir ensures that one crucial element of the Far East air war is no longer ‘forgotten’.