The Last Enemy, published in America as Falling Through Space, is an autobiographical book by Spitfire pilot Richard Hillary. Richard Hillary was born in Sydney, Australia, on 20 April 1919 but was educated at Shrewsbury School in England and Trinity College, Oxford. He joined the Royal Air Force at the start of World War II. It covers his training and his experiences in the RAF, the Battle of Britain and his ordeal after suffering severe burns to his face and hands after a crash. He underwent plastic surgery, by the famous pioneering surgeon Archibald McIndoe and returned to flying at RAF... Charterhall in November 1942. He was lost on night training when his Blenheim crashed on the 8th January 1943. He wrote the book in New York where he was recovering from his burns and subsequent surgery. He had gone to the United States to raise public awareness of the war in Europe, the United States not declaring war on Nazi Germany until after Hitler declared war on the USA in the wake of Pearl Harbor, although he was not allowed to appear in public himself due to fears his scarred appearance might prove counterproductive.
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