Hey, Eric
Eric Hey DFC
Flight Lieutenant
1916-2009
Born March 20th, 1916 at Bega, New South Wales
ERIC HEY always liked to move fast, even as an eight-year-old when he was noted "furiously peddling" a borrowed pushbike. The spirit never left him, taking him to cars, motorbikes, planes and to his most glorious hour, flying Spitfires in World War II.
The reconnaissance work was dangerous, as indicated in his log book entry for May 27, 1944: "Spezia (Italy) 3 hr 10 min flight duration . bounced by a fighter - came out of the sun; missed [me] & [he] turned, but I had gone, rapidly." Hey survived the war, which took him over the skies of Malta, Italy, Palestine, and the South Pacific - at Moratai and Labuan - and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Eric Charles Hey, who has died at 92, was born in Bega, the son of a plumber, John Hey, and Kazia Hey. He showed natural aptitude as a student, excelling in mathematics and spelling from kindergarten. When he was six, the family moved to Mittagong, where he developed a love of the outdoors.
In 1940, he began a correspondence course for a diploma of mechanical engineering. He married Coryl in June 1941, and was called up for military service. Hey earned his RAAF wings in 1942. Posted to Britain, he completed his training as an aerial reconnaissance pilot in Dyce, Scotland, with the highest pass ever recorded.
Hey then took to the skies. In one action, to photograph the German battle fleet off Greece, he had to fly at 16,000 metres over the top of an extensive cumulous cloud formation. Over Palestine, his Harvard single-engined aircraft stalled and he had to crash-land. During leave in Palestine, he passed London University
entrance examinations.
Back in Australia, Hey joined the rush of returned servicemen to study for degrees. Given the choice between medicine and dentistry, he chose the later went to the University of Sydney and drove taxis part-time to support himself. After graduating, Hey rejoined the RAAF in 1950 on a short service commission as
a senior dental officer at Richmond.
An edited version of Malcolm Brown's story on Eric Hey
