Paul Chester Jerome Brickhill (20 December 191623 April 1991) was an Australian fighter pilot, prisoner of war, and author who wrote The Great Escape, The Dam Busters, and Reach for the Sky. Early life Brickhill was born in Melbourne, Victoria to journalist George Russell Brickhill (1879–1965) and Izitella Victoria (née Bradshaw) Brickhill (1885-1966). He was the third son of the couple's five children, the others being Russell (1911–2002), Ayde Geoffrey (1914– ), Lloyd (1918–2011), and Clive (1923–2009). When Brickhill was 11 the family moved to Sydney, where he was educated at North Sydney Boys High School. A classmate, and friend, was actor Peter Finch. Brickhill left school in 1931 as his father had been made redundant as a result of the Depression. While his other brothers continued with their education it was necessary for Brickhill, who was regarded as the least academic of the children, to get a job to assist his older brother Russell in bringing money into the family. He was sacked from his first two jobs due to his stutter. He then got a job as office boy and then lift boy at the Adelaide Steamship Company. That job did not last long, as Peter Finch, who was by now working as a copy boy, was able to convince a news editor at The Sun to interview Brickhill in 1932. Brickhill was hired as a copy boy, and within a year was promoted to cadet journalist. Within a few years he had worked his way up to journalist, and by 1940 was a sub-editor. World War II Brickhill was initially unimpressed by war fever, until the shock of the invasion of France and subsequent withdrawal from Dunkirk, coupled with boredom with his deskbound sub-editor job, caused him to enlist on 6 January 1941 with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). His flight training commenced in March 1941 at the Number 8 Elementary Flying Training School at Narrandera, New South Wales as undertaken in Australia Under the Empire Air Training Scheme. Brickhill undertook advanced training as a fighter pilot in Canada and the United Kingdom before being assigned to No. 92 Squadron RAF, a unit equipped with Spitfires and part of the Desert Air Force in North Africa. On 17 March 1943, he was shot down over Tunisia and became a prisoner of war. He was flown to Italy on 23 March, then sent by train to Germany.