Fr John Glover was an Australian secular priest, trained at St. Patricks Seminary, Sydney. Fr Glover began learning to fly with Butler Air Transport Co while a Parish Priest at Cootamundra, NSW, in 1936. Fr Glover moved to New Guinea with the Divine Word Mission (SVD) n 1938 where he recommenced flying aircraft for the Mission in 1940. After the Japanese attacks on Lae, Wau and Bulolo, in January 1942, Fr Glover joined the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles. He helped to evacuate Europeans from the Markham Valley piloting a Spartan 2-seater and a Fox-Moth 4-seater re-built and maintained by Karl Nagy, who had been Guinea Airways’ chief engineer. He served in the Middle East as Chaplain 2nd/1st Btn 6th Division AIF. Returning to New Guinea after the War he was killed while crash landing a plane at the Catholic Mission at Mingende in 1948.

Memoir by Fr Glover of his flying experiences in New Guinea, mainly during the Pacific War, Ts., p/c, 27pp, annotated. Includes accounts of pre-War air operations in Lae and Wau and of ferrying European civilians from the coast to Kainantu and Mt Hagen to escape the Japanese occupation. Fr Glover also tells the story of his attempted flight with Karl Nagy in a Fox-Moth bi-plane over the Owen Stanley Ranges to Horn Island, off Cape York, to arrange evacuation of the refugees in the Highlands.
A note on the memoir explains that it was found in a clean-up at Mascot, NSW, by John Baker, a former employee of Butler Air Transport, who gave it to A.R.W. (Jim) Hoile, who passed it on to Adrian Leydon, Secretary of the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles-ANGAU Association.
This microfilm also includes Mr Leydon’s research file on Fr Glover consisting of correspondence with the SVD Mission at Mt Hagen and others, published articles and biographical documents, 1989-2003.