The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (433081) Flight Sergeant George Francis Ayre, No. 692 Squadron RAF, First 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 (433081) Flight Sergeant George Francis Ayre, No. 692 Squadron RAF, Second World War.

433081 Flight Sergeant George Francis Ayre, No. 692 Squadron RAF
KIA 15 January 1945
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 17 June 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Flight Sergeant George Francis Ayre.

George Ayre was the younger of two sons of George and Florence Ayre. He was born in Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England, on 11 October 1915, and immigrated to Australia with his family when very young. George attended school in Lismore, New South Wales, and went on to study at the Australian College of Accounting, graduating in 1940 to become a chartered accountant.

George had been an RAAF cadet from 1935, and had tried to enlist for active service in the air force at the start of the war. He served for two years with the army in New South Wales before his application was accepted, when he began an extensive period of training in schools around Australia – notably in Temora. Ayre finished the last three or four months of his training in the United Kingdom, and was finally promoted to flight sergeant in October 1944.

Like many Australian pilots, Ayre was posted to the British Royal Air Force for active service. He joined No. 692 Squadron, a squadron equipped with Mosquito bombers. These versatile aircraft could carry a sizeable bomb load with a crew of just two men.

On the evening of 14 January 1945 Flight Sergeant George Ayre was acting as navigator in Mosquito MM128 on a bombing sortie to Berlin. He and his pilot, Flight Officer Chaundy, failed to return. Ayre’s finacée, Laurie Smith, could not believe that he had been killed and for some time held out hope that he had been able to safely bail out of his aircraft. Further investigation, however, found evidence that Chaundy and Ayre’s plane had crashed, hitting the ground almost vertically and burying nearly the entire aircraft. They were buried in Belgium near where the crash took place. George Ayre was 29 years old.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with around 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 Flight Sergeant George Francis Ayre, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.