The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (60895) Pilot Officer Jack Mitchell, No. 467 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 Gerard Pratt, the story for this day was on (60895) Pilot Officer Jack Mitchell, No. 467 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Second World War.

60895 Pilot Officer Jack Mitchell, No. 467 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force
Killed in Action 22 June 1944
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 13 October 2016

Today we pay tribute to Pilot Officer Jack Mitchell, who was killed on active service during the Second World War.

Born in Newcastle, New South Wales, on 2 June 1922, Jack Mitchell was the son of Joseph and Dorothy Mitchell. A keen sportsman in his youth, the young Jack Mitchell played football and cricket, and was keen on athletics, swimming, and sailing. After finishing school he worked at BHP as a Mechanical Engineering Trainee before attending Sydney University, where he studied engineering.

He was in the second year of his degree when, on 28 March 1942, he enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force and began training as a pilot. Around this time he became engaged to Pauline Brown of Dubbo, but they were not to marry.

On 6 October 1942 Mitchell embarked at Sydney for overseas service. As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme he was one of almost 27,000 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and engineers, who joined Australian and British squadrons in Britain throughout the course of the war.

Mitchell was one of many Australian airmen who undertook part of their training in Canada under the Empire Air Training Scheme. In April 1943 he arrived in Britain and undertook further specialist training before being posted to No. 467 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force. As part of Bomber Command, the squadron flew four-engine Avro Lancaster heavy bombers.

On the night of 21 June 1944, the Lancaster in which Mitchell was flying was shot down by flak while taking part in a raid on Gelsenkirchen. All of Mitchell’s Australian and British crewmembers were killed.

He was just 22 years old. His remains are buried beside those of his crewmates in the British and Commonwealth Reichswald Forest War Cemetery in Germany.

Mitchell’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among some 40,000 Australians who died while 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 Pilot Officer Jack Mitchell, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section