A Very Short War

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A VERY SHORT WAR (2010) is a one hour documentary produced by Conti Bros Films, written by Susan Young and directed by Bill Young and Myles Conti. It was funded by Screen Australia, The History Channel, NRK2, Norway and private funding.

It follows the life of early Australian aviator Cliff Carpenter who built his first aeroplane in a garage on Military Road Cremorne, Sydney and lost his life 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. Susan Young (writer) and Bill Young (co-director) are the niece and nephew of Cliff Carpenter.

The nine RAF airmen who lost their lives that day, the 9th April 1940, were the first Allied servicemen to lose their lives in the defense of Norway. They are remembered with a special ceremony held each year at their graves in the Sylling churchyard, Norway - north east of Oslo. Amazingly there was one survivor - Welshman Ogwyn George, the radio operator - who fell 3000 feet without a parachute, hitting trees and then unusually deep snow and was discovered and rescued by Norwegian Johan Brathen.

The documentary includes an interview with legendary Australian aviatrix, Nancy Bird Walton who flew with Cliff Carpenter and got lost over Bass Strait whilst trying to locate King Island. They eventually made landfall back in Victoria near Geelong desperately short of fuel. This interview recorded in September 2008 and which lasted 45 minutes, is the last extensive interview Nancy Bird Walton gave before her death on the 13th January 2009. She was afforded a State Funeral in Sydney.

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