As I'm a Scouser - the name 'Wack' appealed to me !! but finding out about this man became very absorbing !! He was a great aviator and designer and a fascinating man ! Lawrence James Wackett, later dubbed ‘Wack’, born in Townsville, Queensland, in 1896, attended Mundingburra State School and won a scholarship to Townsville Grammar. His interest in things technical was sparked at age six by a working model steamboat. It was given him by his father, who committed suicide soon afterwards. Lawrence and two younger siblings were raised by their mother. In 1913 Wackett entered the newly established Royal Military College in its third intake. He impressed authorities by inventing a mechanical fuse setter, but it was not produced. In 1915 he became Duntroon’s first graduate to join the Australian Flying Corps. Sent to Egypt in No 1 Squadron, he assisted with reconnaissance and photography. Finding many aircraft out of action, he improvised a workshop and repaired them. Later, in No 2 Squadron in France, he devised a way, commended by General Sir John Monash, of distributing much-needed ammunition by plane and parachute to within 100 yards of machine-gun crews, and was Mentioned in Despatches in 1917. In 1918, flying at 500 feet (152 m), although under attack, he obtained valuable oblique photographs of areas 10 miles (16 km) behind the Hindenburg Line. His plane was a write-off. He received an immediate award of the Distinguished Flying Cross from General Birdwood, and the Air Force Cross in 1919. ( if you scroll about half way down ... you'll see an article on him and his book ! ) http://www.nla.gov.au/pub/nlanews/2007/oct07/oct07news.pdf
