The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (403827) Flight Sergeant Josiah Turner, No. 70 Squadron, Royal 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 Dennis Stockman, the story for this day was on (403827) Flight Sergeant Josiah Turner, No. 70 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Second World War.

403827 Flight Sergeant Josiah Turner, No. 70 Squadron, Royal Air Force
KIA 7 July 1944
Photograph: P07918.001

Story delivered 7 September 2014

Today we pay tribute to Flight Sergeant Josiah Turner, who was killed on active service with the Royal Air Force in July 1944.

Born in Newcastle, New South Wales, on 26 September 1920, Josiah Turner was the son of Josiah and Alice Turner. Growing up, Turner attended Tighe’s Hill School and Newcastle High School. Before enlisting he worked as a clerk at the Department of Education. At 17 he also served as a cadet in the Royal Australian Artillery’s 13th Heavy Battery.

In March 1941 Turner enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force. Having a passion for raising German Shepherds, Turner took with him into the RAAF his dog Dian, who became War Dog 508 and served as a guard dog in the RAAF. After training at Parkes, Bradfield Park, and Evan’s Head to qualify as an air gunner, Turner was given the news in December that he was to be discharged from the RAAF. He was considered “not likely to become an efficient aircrew”.

Determined to serve his nation, Turner refused to give up. He first joined the Militia before being given a second opportunity to enlist in the RAAF in June 1943. While on leave he married Joyce Body. Together they would have a daughter, Kaye. Josiah saw her just once before embarking for overseas service.

As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme Josiah was one of almost 16,000 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and engineers who joined Royal Air Force squadrons throughout the course of the war.

Arriving in England, Turner undertook further training before being posted to No. 70 Squadron, Royal Air Force, to serve as a rear gunner. Flying out of Italy, No. 70 Squadron was equipped with Wellington bombers.

On the night of 6 July 1944 the bombers from No. 70 Squadron took part in a larger force participating in a raid on the Feuersbrunn airfield in Austria. The raid inflicted significant damage on the target, grounding many enemy fighters. However, the cost for the RAF was severe: ten Wellington bombers, two Liberators, and one Halifax failed to return out of a force of 57 aircraft.

Turner’s Wellington was one of those lost in the action. He was just 23 years old. His body was later recovered and he is buried at the British Commonwealth War Cemetery at Klagenfurt, Austria. Back home in Australia his loss was a cause of much anguish to his young family. At first reported missing, his death was not confirmed for almost a year.

In the 1950s Joyce Turner and her daughter received a letter from the RAAF informing them that Josiah’s German Shepard, Dian, had died after ten years’ service in the RAAF.

Turner was one of thousands of Australians who served within the British and Commonwealth forces in Europe throughout the Second World War. His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with around 40,000 Australians who died in the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Flight Sergeant Josiah Turner, and all of those Australians – as well as our Allies and brothers in arms – who gave their lives in the hope for a better world.