The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (433297) Flight Sergeant Donald Norrie Herbert, No. 531 Squadron USAAF, 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 Nicholas Schmidt, the story for this day was on (433297) Flight Sergeant Donald Norrie Herbert, No. 531 Squadron USAAF, Second World War.

433297 Flight Sergeant Donald Norrie Herbert, No. 531 Squadron USAAF
KIA 9 October 1944

No photograph in collection.
Image supplied by family

Story delivered 9 October 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Flight Sergeant Donald Norrie Herbert.

Donald Herbert was born to Herbert Reginald Herbert and Olive Ruby Dempsey on 27 August 1923 in the Sydney suburb of Manly. He attended school in Manly and went to Sydney Technical High and, later, Sydney Technical College, where he studied chemical engineering. He played football and cricket at school and, later, with Manly’s sporting clubs. After leaving school he worked as a mechanical draughtsman before gaining employment with South Shore Gas Works as an analytical chemist, where he conducted routine control tests.

Herbert enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force on 9 March 1943, aged 19. He spent time in a number of training schools around Australia before being posted to No. 73 Squadron, RAAF, where he was described by his commanding officer as having a “cheerful personality” and carrying out his duties satisfactorily.

Herbert was posted to RAAF Command headquarters and served in various places around the country. In the early years of the Pacific war some RAAF airmen were attached to United States Army Air Force squadrons to help fill shortages of American aircrew. In September 1944 Herbert joined No. 531 Squadron USAAF, then stationed in north-western Australia. There he served as a wireless navigator in a four-engine Liberator heavy bomber.

On 9 October Herbert was the only Australian on board a US Liberator during a mission to bomb Koepang, in Dutch Timor, when it was shot down. The remaining Allied aircraft reported that immediately after the release of the bombs Herbert’s Liberator was hit by anti-aircraft fire and
crashed nose-first into Koepang Bay. Five parachutes were observed leaving the aircraft before it hit the water.

The wreckage of the Liberator was discovered by a search party close to the shore near the village of Namsain. None of the crew was found to have survived the crash.

Olive Herbert wrote repeatedly to the RAAF asking for news of her son, but it was only in late 1945 that a RAAF search party reported success. On interviewing the local people they discovered that two bodies had been recovered from the wreckage and buried nearby. The search party exhumed the bodies: one was an American; the other wore a RAAF uniform. As the only Australian on board, this was assumed to be the body of Flight Sergeant Herbert. He was reinterred by the RAAF at the Ambon War Cemetery, but it was not until early 1947 that an inquiry into the incident confirmed identity of the dead man. Herbert was officially pronounced as having died on 9 October 1944. He was 21 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 and his photograph is displayed 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 Donald Norrie Herbert, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.