The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (404257) Flying Officer Cecil Terence O’Brien, No. 459 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 (404257) Flying Officer Cecil Terence O’Brien, No. 459 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Second World War.

404257 Flying Officer Cecil Terence O’Brien, No. 459 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force
KIA 10 July 1942
Photograph: 006970

Story delivered 7 April 2016

Today we pay tribute to Flying Officer Cecil Terence O’Brien, who was killed on active service with the Royal Australian Air Force in 1942.

Born in the town Barcaldine, in central-west Queensland, Cecil Terence O’Brien was the son of Thomas and Catherine O’Brien. Known as Terry, he attended Nudgee College and worked as a merchant within the family store at Capella in Queensland.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, O’Brien enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force. After undergoing lengthy pilot training he was eventually posted to No. 459 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force.

The squadron was formed at Burg-el-Arab in Egypt in February 1942 as a maritime patrol squadron and part of 201 Group of the Royal Air Force’s Middle East Command. It commenced operations off the Egyptian coast in February, and by May it was fully equipped with the twin-engine Lockheed Hudson light bomber. During this time the main role of the squadron was to intercept and sink ships supplying the Axis forces in North Africa in the lead up to and during the first battle of El Alamein.

On 10 July 1942 the Hudson in which O’Brien was a crewmember crashed upon take off at Edku in Egypt. He was 29 years old.

His body was recovered from the crash scene and buried alongside his crewmates in the British and Commonwealth War Cemetery at Hadra in Alexandria, Egypt.

His name is listed here on the Roll of Honour on my left, among some 40,000 Australians who died while serving 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 Flying Officer Cecil Terence O’Brien, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section