The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (404165) Flight Sergeant Horace Kempton Bedwell, No. 158 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (404165) Flight Sergeant Horace Kempton Bedwell, No. 158 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Second World War.

404165 Flight Sergeant Horace Kempton Bedwell, No. 158 Squadron, Royal Air Force
KIA 30 April 1942
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 19 October 2015.

Today we pay tribute to Flight Sergeant Horace Kempton Bedwell, who was killed on active service with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.

Born on 22 November 1920 in Toowoomba, Queensland, Horace Kempton Bedwell was the son of Edward Kempton Bedwell and Simona Jeanne Charlotte Bedwell.

Educated at East Toowoomba State School and Toowoomba Grammar, Horace Bedwell served for two years in the 25th Battalion of the Militia, and was also a keen sportsman, playing golf and tennis. He was working as a bank clerk at the time of his enlistment in the Royal Australian Air Force in June 1940.

Once in the RAAF Bedwell began training as a pilot, and in December 1940 he embarked for overseas service, first to Canada for further training, then to Britain. As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme, Bedwell was one of almost 27,500 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and engineers who joined squadrons based in Britain throughout the course of the war.

After arriving in Britain in July 1941, Bedwell undertook further specialist training, and in October he was posted to No. 104 Squadron, Royal Air Force. Around this time the squadron, equipped with the twin-engine Vickers Wellington medium bomber, split into two: the new No. 104 Squadron was sent to Malta, while the home contingent – including Bedwell – remained in Britain as No. 158 Squadron.

On the night of 29 April 1942 No. 158 Squadron’s Wellingtons were taking part in a raid on Ostend in Belgium. During this raid the Bedwell’s aircraft was shot down, and he, along with one Rhodesian and three British crewmates, were killed in action.

Horace Bedwell was 21 years old.

His body was never recovered, and his name and those of his crewmates are listed on the Air Forces Memorial overlooking the River Thames in Runnymede. The memorial lists all British and Commonwealth airmen with no known grave.

Bedwell’s name is listed here on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with around 40,000 other Australians who died serving in the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Flight Sergeant Horace Kempton Bedwell, and all of those Australians – as well as our Allies and brothers in arms – who gave their lives for their nation.

Dr Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section