TO celebrate his 90th birthday, John Allnut has given his beloved home town a birthday present, a detailed book of his life growing up in Augusta.
Entitled The Boy From Augusta, the book talks about Mr Allnut's life growing up in Augusta from the 1920s, as well as his experience in World War II.
Mr Allnut flew 31 missions as a tail gunner in a Lancaster Bomber over his two-year tour of duty, but one of the planes he remembers most was the first plane he ever saw flying over Augusta.
"A bi-plane came to Augusta to give joy flights off the sand bar at the mouth of the river," he said.
"It was part of the 1930, 100-year celebrations and cost 10p a flight minimum.
"From the front verandah of Pericles house I was able to see the plane actually land. "
The book is a treasure trove of historical images and memories like the sight of his first plane and gives an insight into the growing town of Augusta.
He wrote the book because he found himself telling his stories often.
"My little ones kept asking about my stories," Mr Allnut said.
"About 12 years ago I started writing notes down and took about that long to put it all together.
"I gave copies to my family for my 90th birthday and the museum seemed like a good place to also give some copies to."
Mr Allnut was assisted by his daughter Barbara Constable who compiled the stories and formatted the book for printing.
Augusta Museum curator Greame Davis said the book would be a valuable resource for researchers in the area.
"The book is essentially a diary told through his experiences," Mr Davis said.
"It is quite valuable as we can take people who are mentioned in the book and add them to our database.
"Whenever someone wants to find out about how their grandparents fitted into early life we might be able to match them up.
"There are also many events mentioned that we might not have had historical references for."
The book is currently available for members of the historical society for referencing.