Military History Evening

Thursday, 6th August 2026

Guest Speaker: Vincent Burke

'Minions of the Moon' is a biography by Vincent Burke detailing the life of Edward Bagot, an Australian RAAF Pathfinder pilot who served in RAF Bomber Command. Bagot flew Lancaster bombers with 156 Squadron and famously chronicled his harrowing wartime experiences. 

A South Australian, and an intensely religious person, Edward Bagot's story is particularly striking because he believed he had a premonition of his own death, which reportedly allowed him to fly without fear. Aside from his bravery in the skies, Bagot descended from an English aristocratic family dating back to William the Conqueror, granting him a fascinating, dual-life existence where he socialized with nobility and London's West End theater celebrities during his military leaves. 

The biography reconstructs his journeys through his early diaries and the letters he sent to his family from England. Vincent Burke himself, the author,…