The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (420693) Pilot Officer Norman Joseph Lyford, 44 Squadron RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, Second World War

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (420693) Pilot Officer Norman Joseph Lyford, 44 Squadron RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, Second World War.

420693 Pilot Officer Norman Joseph Lyford, No. 44 Squadron RAF
KIA 30 January 1944
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 21 December 2013

Today we remember and pay tribute to Pilot Officer Norman Joseph Lyford.

Norman Lyford was born on 4 December 1921 to George and Lillian Lyford of Pymble, New South Wales. He went to North Sydney High School and went on to become an insurance clerk. He applied to enlist in the Royal Australian Air Force shortly after turning 18 but had to wait ten months to be accepted, during which time he served in Australia with the 30th Battalion of the militia. He was accepted by the RAAF in November 1942 and underwent six months' training in Australia before transferring to Canada for further training under the Empire Air Training Scheme.

This was a program implemented in order to train pilots and aircrew from Commonwealth countries for service with Britain's Royal Air Force. Accordingly, after being granted his commission, Pilot Officer Norman Lyford was attached to No. 44 Squadron of the RAF for active service.

Just over three months later Lyford was the captain of a Lancaster bomber ordered to participate in a bombing raid over Berlin. His aircraft failed to return, and nothing more was heard from it. The crew, including Pilot Officer Lyford, was posted as missing. It took some months to determine the fate of Lyford's aircraft, but eventually the German authorities reported that it had crashed at Giesenhorst, about 44 miles north-west of Berlin. One member of the crew had been found dead, and the other six were taken prisoner.

It was suspected that the dead man was Pilot Officer Norman Lyford, the only Australian on board, and this was confirmed after the war when the remains were disinterred and transferred to a British military cemetery in Berlin. After many years of waiting, the widowed Lillian Lyford had the story of her son Norman's fate confirmed. He was 22 years old when he died.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 40,000 others from the Second World War. There is no photograph in the Memorial's collection to display beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Pilot Officer Norman Joseph Lyford, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.