AN OXFORD University college is preparing celebrations to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Richard Hillary – former Oxford student, RAF fighter in the Battle of Britain, and author of The Last Enemy.
Richard Hillary is an iconic figure in the 20th century history of Trinity College; he became an undergraduate in 1937 and helped to take the Trinity Boat Club to its first Head of the River in over 70 years in 1938.
Like so many of his generation, he gave up his degree in the summer of 1939 and volunteered for military service, training as an RAF pilot and flying as one of the ‘few’ who defended South East England in the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940.
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On the night of September 3, 1940, his Spitfire was shot down in flames over the English Channel, and he was rescued alive but with terrible burns to his face and hands.
This led to a year as one of the ‘guinea-pigs’ of the pioneering surgeon Archibald McIndoe.
Unable to fly subsequently and deemed too disfigured to appear in public, he began instead to write about his experiences.
The Last Enemy was published in 1942 to universal critical acclaim.
He returned to flying and was posted to a remote training airfield on the Scottish borders, where he died in an accident while flying at night at the age of 23 on January 8, 1943.
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The Last Enemy has never been out of print and is widely regarded as a classic World War Two literary memoir.
The royalties from its publication were placed in a Trust that continues to award an annual college prize for undergraduate writing
This year the college will commemorate the centenary of Hillary’s birth with an exhibition and two short talks on Thursday that are open to all.
They include an archive exhibition curated by College Archivist Clare Hopkins and a lecture by literary critic Professor Dinah Birch.
The events start at 4.30pm in Trinity College and anyone interested in attending can contact the college directly for more information.
The archive exhibition entitled Richard Hillary: his Life and Legacy will take place in The Old Bursary from 4.30pm.
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Then from 5.30pm there will be drinks and talks, in The Lawns Pavilion Building:
David Haycock will give a talk entitled Eric Kennington: The Painter Behind the Portrait of Richard Hillary.
This will be followed by a talk by talk by Professor Dinah Birch entitled Richard Hillary and The Last Enemy.
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