THE HOMECOMING HERO

Since September 1939, William ‘Bill’ Garing had seen plenty of combat flying. If he’d wanted it, he could reasonably have expected to be granted permission to sit the remainder of the war out. But for the ambitious and pugnacious Bill – whose moniker would soon become the highly fitting ‘Bull’ – this would have been the last thought to enter his head.

Bred in rugged mountain country in north-east Victoria, Bill would walk the six miles to and from his small rural school every day. At age four, he was given responsibility for tending 20 head of cattle, a task he was expected to carry out barefoot. ‘The Alps really made you a