Flight Lieutenant Virgil Paul Brennan
Attended Nudgee in 1930
During the first half of 1942 a number of RAAF pilots took part in an air battle for Malta that was unmatched in its ferocity and longevity by anything experienced, either before or after, by Australian fighter pilots. VP (Paul) Brennan or 'Brennan of Malta’ as he became known, was the most famous Nudgee Old Boy to serve in the air force. In forty-seven flights over Malta, resulting in twenty-two aerial combats, he shot down ten enemy aircraft, won the Distinguished Flying Cross and Distinguished Flying Medal and subsequently wrote a best selling book about his experiences.
Brennan attended Nudgee in 1930, having come from Warwick on the Darling Down. After completing his schooling at Downlands, which opened in 1931, he worked as an articled clerk in his parent's legal office. He was regarded as a friendly, likeable boy who was nicknamed 'Digger' because of his love of adventure. He joined the air force in 1940, trained in Canada and was sent to the UK in August of 1941. In October he was posted to 64 Squadron RAF but was sent to Malta in early 1942.
Malta measures only twenty-seven kilometres by fourteen kilometres, but its position in the centre of the Mediterranean has historically been of immense strategic importance. Prior to withstanding thousands of air raids by the German Luftwaffe and the Italian Regia Aeronautica, it had twice before endured sieges: in the sixteenth century it may well have saved Western Europe for Christendom, while the other forced the surrender of the French garrison and thus severed Napoleon's lifeline to Egypt and the East. During the Second World War the whole Mediterranean could be dominated by warships and submarines from its  harbours, and by aircraft from its three airfields. It thus became the scene of intense and prolonged dogfights that were more taxing on the outnumbered aircrew than even the Battle of Britain. The fortitude of the civilians was recognized by the awarding of the George Cross to the embattled island.
In order to reinforce the beleaguered Hurricanes defending the island, the decision was made to augment the defences with Spitfires. A group of pilots, Brennan included travelled with their crated Spitfires to Gibraltar where they were assembled and loaded on the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle. On 7th March 1942 they were subsequently flown off her deck while still a thousand kilometers from Malta.
On 17th May, ten days later he chalked up his first kill in the air battles over the island. When he quickly recorded five confirmed victories, he was now termed an 'ace'. In May he shot down a further four enemy aircraft, and won the DFM. On the 7th of July he scored his tenth.
He then returned to Australia via the U.K and was posted to 79 Squadron. On the way to New Guinea, Brennan was involved in an accident while landing in Townsville when the aircraft behind him did not see his Spitfire in front and overran it, cutting it to pieces half way down the runway. Having survived almost four months of intense combat, Brennan of Malta died of his injuries on the way to hospital.
Written and researched by Martin Kerby:
Kerby, MC With Their Faces to the Foe: A History of Nudgee College Old Boys at War
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