Carved into history
Corporal Simone Liebelt joins No. 10 Squadron to remember World War II fallen at the RAAF Memorial Grove, Canberra.

 

Warrant Officer Engineering 10SQN WOFF Jason Bomm sits with President of the Sunderland Flying Boat Squadron branch of the RAAF Association, Peter Jensen, on the new 10SQN memorial seat after the commemorative plaque dedication.

Photo by CPL Simone Liebelt.

IT WAS a special occasion for No. 10 Squadron recently when past and present members came together to honour those who didn’t return from World War II.

Current squadron members from RAAF Base Edinburgh joined veterans of the former Sunderland Flying Boat squadron to dedicate a remembrance plaque and memorial seat at the RAAF Memorial Grove in Canberra.

Among the guests were Chief of Staff HQ Air Command Air Commodore Stephen Martin and Colonel Sujes Brastel, French Embassy Defence Attaché.

Also present was Sir Richard Kingsland, 92, a distinguished RAAF pilot who was one of the original aircraft captains of the squadron.

“Being at war in No. 10 Squadron was complex and demanding of skills and endurance,” he said in a memorable speech.

“Taking off hours before dawn, flying all day in the Atlantic weather, which was often indescribably foul, locating, with no modern navigational aids, convoys in the mid-Atlantic, and returning at night to blacked-out bases demanded survival skills of a very high order.”

The commemorative service honoured the 151 members killed while serving in the only RAAF squadron to fly continuously in action from the start to the end of World War II.

The squadron engaged in anti-submarine warfare for the protection of allied shipping over the western approaches of the Atlantic Ocean – a role which encompassed 3239 operational sorties and led to the sinking of six enemy submarines.

Special mention was made of Flight Sergeant Charles Harris and Flight Lieutenant John Bell, from No. 10 Squadron, who were the first Australian airmen killed in action in World War II. They were attempting to get the family of President de Gaulle out of France in their Walrus amphibious aircraft after the German invasion, when they were shot down on June 18, 1940.

Flight Sergeant Harris’ son, Dr Bruce Harris from Dubbo – who was born after his father left for the war – unveiled the memorial plaque at the service.

“The flight by John Bell and his crew was a dramatic, sad and ill-fated task,” Sir Richard said.

“The Seagull was an aeroplane which was hardly designed to take on enemy fighters anywhere; it had the gliding angle of a brick and it was probably one of the toughest assignments that has ever been offered to anybody.”

He finished by saying, “No. 10 Squadron performed so well and consistently over the whole of World War II, and it is still carrying on the great squadron traditions from its place in Edinburgh with sophistication and with techniques that make old and bold and grumpy old men like me gasp in wonder”.

In response, No. 10 Squadron Commanding Officer Wing Commander Reg Carruthers said, “I would just like to reassure you that the No. 10 Squadron of today, with the young men and women that are out there maintaining, administering and flying the AP-3C, continue on the traditions started over the oceans and seas surrounding England over 60 years ago, and in reality, the only thing that has changed is the aircraft that we’re flying”.

“The crews that are up there flying over Iraq today have got the same larrikinism and the same spirit, which is exhibited right through everybody that I’ve met from No. 10 Squadron, and I’m very proud to say that I have been the commanding officer of no doubt the finest squadron in the Royal Australian Air Force.”

 

On the plaque

No. 10 Squadron RAAF 1939-45

This commemorative plaque recognises the contribution, during World War Two, of all No. 10 Squadron members.

A total of 151 members gave their lives during the conflict, including F/Sgt. Charles Harris and F/Lt. John Bell on 18 June 1940 – the first Australian airmen killed in action in World War Two, during a covert humanitarian rescue operation over France, flying a Walrus amphibian aircraft.

No. 10 Squadron served as an exclusive RAAF squadron unit flying Sunderland aircraft, attached to 19 Group RAF Coastal Command from 1939-45 and operating from Mt. Batten, Plymouth Sound, Devon, United Kingdom.

The Squadron engaged in anti-submarine warfare for the protection of Allied shipping over the Western approaches of the Atlantic Ocean to the British Isles, the Bay of Biscay and Spanish waters, mounting 3,239 operational sorties.

These sorties encompassed 42,951 flying hours and led to the sinking of 6 enemy submarines. Lest we forget.

 

 

 

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