Iain Adams (2013) Are we in tune? Singing the praises of unsung heroes (Chapter 2: 9-24). In, Palmer, C. (Ed.) Unsung heroes of the Olympics 1896-2012. SSTO Publications. [topic: Identity, heroes, sacrifice, bravery] (original) (raw)

The word ‘hero’ is derived from the Greek hërös, meaning a person who is ‘admired for their courage or outstanding achievements’ (Soanes, 2001: 600). Smith notes that in antiquity, a hero was strong, noble and brave, a mythical or legendary figure who served a ‘valuable function as a medium through which culture was transmitted from generation to generation’ (1973:59). Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, I was surrounded by people of my grandfather’s age who had fought in World War I and by my parents’ generation who had fought in World War II. My father had been a night fighter pilot and, on a visit to the RAF Museum, I had sat in the pilot’s seat of a Beaufighter night fighter, similar to the ones he flew. As a commercial pilot, I was appalled at the primitive equipment he had used to fight night after night, sometimes in atrocious weather. My mother had been a ‘flying Nightingale’, a nurse on Dakota air ambulance aircraft landing on the D-day beaches days after the invasion, often under shell-fire, to deliver supplies and evacuate wounded troops (in Operation Overlord). Despite daily risking their lives, neither considered themselves heroes as it was what all of their friends and colleagues were doing.

Sign up for access to the world's latest research.

checkGet notified about relevant papers

checkSave papers to use in your research

checkJoin the discussion with peers

checkTrack your impact