The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (419561) Flying Officer Frank Edward Nelder, 462 Squadron, 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (419561) Flying Officer Frank Edward Nelder, 462 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Second World War.

419561 Flying Officer Frank Edward Nelder, No. 462 Squadron RAAF
KIA 23 October 1944
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 19 January 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Flying Officer Frank Edward Nelder.

Frank Nelder was born on 25 June 1923 to Alfred and Lily Nelder of Brunswick, Victoria. Little is known of his early life, but following his schooling he became a bank clerk. Nelder enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in August 1942 at the age of 19. After an extended period of training he was awarded his flying badge in June 1943. Three months later he was in the United Kingdom to further his training and experience as a pilot.

Frank Nelder received his commission as a flying officer in September 1944, and was posted to No. 462 Squadron, flying Halifax bombers. Eight weeks later, on the night of 23 October 1944, he was part of a bombing raid over Germany. Flying Officer Nelder and his six crew departed on time with the rest of the formation of bombers. They failed to return.

In November, Flight Sergeant John Maurice Grace arrived in the United Kingdom, having been found by an American army unit near Aachen. He was a member of Nelder's missing crew, and reported that they had been flying in very heavy cloud when they heard a terrific thump from the back of the aircraft and the Halifax immediately started to break up. In the poor visibility they had been hit from behind by a Lancaster bomber of No. 625 Squadron flying in the same raid. Grace had been in the nose with a parachute on, and had fallen out as the aircraft broke up. Apparently the only man wearing his parachute, he was the only one to survive. He had been able to identify the body of the pilot from the Lancaster before becoming too distressed to see the other bodies recovered.

After the war the bodies, hastily buried by the Americans, were reinterred in a Commonwealth War Cemetery. Workers discovered a silver watch and eight photographs on the body of Flying Officer Frank Nelder. These were returned to his family in Australia, who wrote: "Words cannot express the delight ... for your great kindness in returning watch and photographs to us. Such a favour we never dreamed would be our good fortune." Their son had died in the war effort aged 21.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with around 40,000 others from the Second World War. There is no photograph in the 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 Flying Officer Frank Edward Nelder, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.