A Very Short War

The film follows the life of early Australian aviator Cliff Carpenter who built his first aeroplane in a garage on Military Road, Cremorne, Sydney and died when the RAF Sunderland Flying Boat L2167 from 210 Squadron was shot down over Norway on the day of the German invasion of that country.

They are remembered with a special ceremony each year at their graves in the Sylling churchyard, 25 km west of Oslo.

[1] There was one survivor – Welshman Ogwyn George, the radio operator – who fell 3,000 feet (900 m) without a parachute, hitting trees and landing in unusually deep snow.

The next morning they flew to Invergordon in Scotland where, for what was believed to be a mechanical problem, they changed aeroplane to Sunderland L2167.

The documentary includes an interview with legendary Australian aviator Nancy Bird Walton, who flew with Cliff Carpenter and got lost over Bass Strait whilst trying to locate King Island.