Norman Maxwell (Max) Dunn was a fascinating, remarkable man. Born in 1916 he is described as a quiet man but a straight shooter. Max experienced life at a completely different time when war was not too far away. He came from a time of a gentleman who had a sense of national duty. Max was intelligent and amongst his talents was also a poet.
He joined the RAAF at 23 and was amongst the first to enlist in 1940. Max flew Tiger Moths receiving training in Victoria before being in the first contingent to Great Britain. Once there he was clearly recognised as a skilled pilot and was sent to Wales for Air Force Training with a Hurricane Squadron.
Max fought at the Battle of Britain and up to June 1941 flew missions across the English Channel to France.
On his 25th birthday, 19 June 1941, Max was shot down in a dogfight with the Germans over France. Ditching his plane in the Channel, he survived 17 hours in the water before being picked up by a German patrol boat and sent to a Prisoner of War camp in Sagen, Poland which eventually became home to 12,000 allied airmen POWs.
While in the camp Max took classes in accountancy and, apparently, tunnel digging. The movie The Great Escape is based on the activities of him and his fellow POWs.
During his internment in the camp he also kept a diary and wrote poetry which was eventually published as a book following his return from the war.
In late January 1945, as the Russians advanced across Poland, the Germans marched the POWs 80km through snow towards the American forces and in April 1945 he was liberated.
Max settled back in Sydney, married and had two children who are well-known and well-liked in the strata industry – Alastair Dunn and Heather Fardy.
Max retired from Erikson Telecom in 1977 but soon became bored and in 1978 he became a strata strata manager. Max helped establish the Institute of Strata Management and was instrumental in setting up the original Chatswood office. He was ISTMs third President, a role that Alastair would also later take on as its sixth President.
Max sadly passed away in 1998 but left an indelible mark on so many people.
The Max Dunn award was proposed in 1995 by his friend and strata colleague, David Le Page. The award recognises those in the strata industry who like Max encourage friendship and harmony.