The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (400733) Squadron Leader Arthur Geoffrey Oxlade, No. 464 Squadron, Royal Australian 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 Charis May, the story for this day was on (400733) Squadron Leader Arthur Geoffrey Oxlade, No. 464 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Second World War.

400733 Squadron Leader Arthur Geoffrey Oxlade, No. 464 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force
KIA 6 June 1944
Photograph: SUK12020; UK1132

Story delivered 8 March 2016

Today we pay tribute to Squadron Leader Arthur Geoffrey Oxlade, who was killed in the service of the Royal Australian Air Force on D-Day, 1944.

D-Day, 6 June 1944, has become an iconic event not only in the history of the Second World War but also in the history of the Western world. On this tumultuous day, a multi-national Allied force landed on the shores of Normandy as part of the first major step in the liberation of Western Europe from the tyranny of Nazism and fascism.

Born in Echuca, Victoria, on 8 April 1920, Arthur Geoffrey Oxlade was the son of Arthur Harold Oxlade and Olive Oxlade. Before his enlistment in the Royal Australian Air Force in October 1940 Oxlade had worked as a clerk, residing in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill.

Oxlade undertook flying training at Narrandera and at Bradfield Park. In February 1941 he travelled to Canada and then England, arriving there in July. As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme, he 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.

Oxlade held several postings to various night-fighter squadrons, including No. 151 Squadron and No. 256 Squadron, RAF, and No. 456 Squadron, RAAF. In March 1944 he was promoted to squadron leader of No. 464 Squadron. Flying the de Havilland Mosquito, Oxlade had formed a strong partnership with his navigator, Donald Shanks, with whom he had flown since August 1942.

On the night of 5 June, Oxlade’s squadron was to fly out on an intruder patrol over northern France and intercept any enemy aircraft heading toward the invasion landing zones. It was during this mission that the aircraft he was piloting was hit by flak and caught fire.

Oxlade chose to continue the mission despite the damage to the aircraft, and soon the fire was extinguished. After completing the patrol, the crew began the journey back to England. However, before the aircraft had reached the Channel one its engines cut out, and the second engine soon caught fire. Oxlade instructed his navigator, Shanks, to bail out, and as the latter descended he watched the aircraft crash.

Nothing concrete was known of Oxlade’s fate until Shanks, who had hidden among French farmers for several months posing as a French peasant, was able to return to Allied lines and report on the incident. Oxlade’s remains were recovered from the crash scene and he was buried in the village cemetery at Gueures, near Dieppe in France.

He was 24 years old.

In a letter to Oxlade’s mother, Shanks wrote that “no man was blessed with a better pilot or more efficient teammate”. He added that Oxlade had made a “very high mark for himself in the RAAF”. He was, Shanks said, “absolutely exemplary and a credit to Australia”.

Oxlade was one of thousands of Australians who served within the British and Commonwealth forces on D-Day and throughout the Normandy campaign. On this day of days, Arthur Oxlade made the ultimate sacrifice.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among around 40,000 others from 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 Squadron Leader Arthur Geoffrey Oxlade, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section