The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (A33272) Pilot III (Sergeant) William Percy Harrop, No. 77 Squadron, RAAF, Korean War

Accession Number PAFU2014/074.01
Collection type Film
Object type Last Post film
Physical description 16:9
Maker Australian War Memorial
Place made Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Campbell
Date made 4 March 2014
Access Open
Conflict Korea, 1950-1953
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Copying Provisions Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Description

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 Meredith Duncan, the story for this day was on (A33272) Pilot III (Sergeant) William Percy Harrop, No. 77 Squadron, RAAF, Korean War.

Film order form
Speech transcript

A33272 Pilot III (Sergeant) William Percy Harrop, No. 77 Squadron, RAAF
KIA 3 September 1950

No photograph in collection

Today we remember and pay tribute to Pilot III William Percy Harrop, posthumous recipient of the United States Air Medal.

Harrop was born in Lakemba, New South Wales, on 21 October 1924. On 23 February 1948 he enlisted for service in the Royal Australian Air Force at Point Cook, Victoria, and after qualifying as a pilot was posted to No. 77 Squadron at Iwakuni, Japan.

The Korean War began on 23 June 1950, as North Korean forces crossed the 38th Parallel. Only nine days later No. 77 Squadron, flying P-51 D Mustang fighters, became the first Australian unit to become involved in combat operations. As United Nations forces were pushed back to what became known as the Pusan Perimeter, No. 77 Squadron was in high demand, flying many sorties each day from Japan to Korea and back again.

On 3 September 1950, following his second sortie of the day, Harrop and two other pilots flew towards Taegu. Harrop sent a radio message to his fellow pilots saying that he was not injured, but that his aircraft was on fire and that he was going to crash.

He brought his aircraft down in a field next to an orchard, and after he exited the aircraft it exploded. Harrop made his way to a nearby hut where he waved to aircraft overhead. A search was quickly organised, but it was not until late afternoon that a rescue helicopter arrived in the area. Despite extensive fly-overs, Harrop was unable to be located.

He was initially listed as missing in action, but after the UN forces broke out from the Pusan Perimeter, RAAF Chaplain Esmond New and Sergeant Tom Henderson began a search for Harrop. They located and identified his body on 14 January 1951. Harrop was laid to rest four days later in the British Commonwealth section of the United Nations Cemetery at Pusan, South Korea.

The investigation into Harrop's death found that North Korean troops, attracted by the burning Mustang, had entered the orchard. As Harrop attempted to escape he was seen, and in the ensuing fight, armed only with his service pistol, he shot and killed two North Korean soldiers before being shot in the right leg and captured. He was executed soon after, shot once in the back of the head.

Local Koreans, driven from their nearby village by the earlier fighting, returned at the end of the month to find Harrop's body near the hut where he had taken shelter. The bodies of the two North Koreans were also found in the orchard and buried nearby. The villagers buried Harrop's body in an orchard outside their village, his grave overlooking a nearby stream.

Harrop's name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with the 339 others from the Korean 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 III William Percy Harrop, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.

  • Video of The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (A33272) Pilot III (Sergeant) William Percy Harrop, No. 77 Squadron, RAAF, Korean War (video)