From Orphan to RAF Hero

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 17 October 2023

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Many of the WW2 generation faced hardship in their youth (they did spend their childhood in the Great Depression), but few had as bad of an early life as Denis Elliott, who became an RAF Flight Lieutenant. At age three he was placed in a brutal and abusive orphanage in London and was later subject to beatings by his first foster father. It wasn’t until the Second World War that everything in Denis’s life began to change — he finally overcame the lack of confidence and self-esteem that had plagued his childhood in Kent and went on to become a skilled, confident, brave pilot flying operations against Japanese forces in Burma, Malaya and Thailand.

He spent two stints serving in the RAF, which saw him posted across Africa, the Middle East, the Far East and Europe, flyingearning to flying B-24 Liberators and Avro Lancasters.

Today’s guest is Phillip Martin, author of “From Orphan to High-Flyer.” We discuss these stories, along with those of Denis’s personal growth, friendship and overcoming adversity.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This guy here with another episode of the History Unplugged Podcast.
0:08.1	Dennis Elliott was born in England in the 1920s, but when his father left his mother and
0:12.7	she remarried, his stepfather set him to an orphanage at the age of three.
0:16.7	The place was a Dickensian nightmare, with staff going around, wrapping the children on
0:21.5	the knuckles for any sort of misbehavior.
0:23.8	Dennis' life was brutally difficult, and it wasn't until the Second World War broke
0:27.8	out that everything in his life began to change.
0:30.7	He joined the RAF, and overcame the lack of confidence itself as seen that it plagued
0:34.6	his childhood, and would not have to become a skilled pilot, flying operations against
0:38.6	Japanese forces in Burma, Malaysia, and Thailand.
0:41.7	Today's guest is Philip Martin, and he knew Dennis, when the latter was an elderly man,
0:46.5	spending his retirement years gardening.
0:48.3	Dennis told him stories about his life, flying B-24 Liberator missions, fearing the plane
0:52.6	could crash at any moment on long bombing runs.
0:55.3	Up as the author of the new book, From Orphan to High Flyer, we look at Dennis' stories
0:59.1	of perseverance, finding purpose, and seizing opportunities, and the most unlikely of circumstances.
1:04.1	This is a very human look at the many people involved fighting in World War II, and I hope
1:08.2	you enjoy this discussion with Philip Martin.
1:10.2	And one more thing before we get started with this episode, a quick break for word from
1:16.5	our sponsors.
1:22.0	When I've explored the lives of men who served in World War II, and look at their early
1:27.0	years, oftentimes they experience hardship in the Great Depression, their family was in
	...

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