The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (14436) Leading Aircraftman Sydney James Branch, No. 451 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Second World War

Place Europe: France, Corsica
Accession Number PAFU2015/191.01
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 15 May 2015
Access Open
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
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 Joanne Smedley, the story for this day was on (14436) Leading Aircraftman Sydney James Branch, No. 451 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, World War.

Film order form
Speech transcript

14436 Leading Aircraftman Sydney James Branch, No. 451 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force
DOW 12 May 1944
Photograph: MEA1117; MEA1162.

Story delivered 15 May 2015

Today we pay tribute to Leading Aircraftman Sydney James Branch, who was killed on active service with the Royal Australian Air Force in 1944.

Born in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, on 12 November 1918, Sydney Branch was the son of Edward and Doris Branch.

As a child, Branch was known by the nickname “Joe”, and he spent his free time in motor garages and playing football. At 17 he joined the New South Wales Department of Main Roads as a mechanic, and worked there for the next five years. Branch enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force on 15 April 1940 as a mechanic and fitter, and the recruiter noted that he was “very enthusiastic” about a career in the Air Force. His older brother, Edward, also enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force as an aircrewman.

Following training at No. 4 School of Technical Training in Adelaide and No. 1 Engineering School in Ascot Vale, Victoria, Branch joined No. 451 Squadron as a leading aircraftman. He embarked for overseas service in April 1941, and the squadron became operational in Egypt that July. Equipped with Hawker Hurricane fighters and Westland Lysander utility aircraft, No. 451 Squadron was employed in an army cooperation role. It carried out reconnaissance missions, directed artillery fire and engaged enemy troops, vehicles, and emplacements on the ground.

Following action in the Western Dessert, including at the besieged fortress of Tobruk in 1941, Branch’s squadron relocated to Syria to join the British 9th Army. In early 1944 it was re-equipped with Spitfire fighters, and in February arrived on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. The island would be the squadron’s base for its next assignment of supporting Allied operations in southern Europe, including the campaign in Italy and the Allied invasions of Elba and southern France.

On 12 May 1944 a German air raid began on the Allies’ aerodrome at Corsica, where Branch was working with the ground crew. German Pathfinder aircraft dropped flares, lighting up the aerodrome and surrounding areas, and this was followed by low-level bombing and strafing. Most of the men were asleep in their tents at the time of the raid, and some were able to take shelter in slit trenches. Branch was hit during the attack, and died that night of his injuries. He was 25 years old.

Branch’s body is buried in the British Military Cemetery at Bastia, in northern Corsica.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with some 40,000 Australian who died in the Second World War. His photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Leading Aircraftman Sydney James Branch, 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.

Lucy Robertson
Researcher, Military History Section

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