The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (76) Wing Commander Archibald Robert Tindal, Headquarters North Western Area Darwin, 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 Jana Johnson, the story for this day was on (76) Wing Commander Archibald Robert Tindal, Headquarters North Western Area Darwin, Second World War.

76 Wing Commander Archibald Robert Tindal, Headquarters North Western Area Darwin
KIA 19 February 1942
Photograph: P00873.001

Story delivered 19 February 2017

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the first Japanese attacks on Darwin on 19 February 1942. The raid was the first of nearly 100 Japanese attacks on mainland Australia which took place during the Second World War. This evening we remember Wing Commander Archibald Tindal of the Royal Australian Air Force, who was killed during the attack.

Popularly known as “Arch”, Archibald Robert Tindal was born in Eversley in Hampshire, England, on 18 January 1916. He was the second child of Archibald and Hilda Tindal. Five months earlier his family had left Armidale in New South Wales to travel to England so that his father could join the British Army.

Arch’s father was born into a family of pioneering pastoralists based around Grafton, in north-eastern New South Wales. He served as a second lieutenant in France with the 177th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, while his family, including the infant Arch Tindal, lived in England. Archibald Tindal senior was killed on the Somme on 8 September 1916 during the battle of Guillemont. Two of his brothers were later awarded the Military Cross while serving in the British Army.

After the war the widowed Hilda Tindal returned to Australia with her two children. The family settled in Armidale, where Arch Tindal attended the prestigious Armidale School. He became captain of Tyrrell House and a school monitor, and was reportedly a good rifle shot, serving in the school cadets.

Tindal enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in July 1934 as an 18-year-old air cadet. A year later he was commissioned as a pilot officer and posted to No. 3 Squadron. After a year he began a series of postings to different headquarters and schools.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, in April 1941 Tindal – now a squadron leader – was posted to No. 24 Squadron in Townsville, northern Queensland. This was a general purpose squadron equipped with the single-engine CAC Wirraway aircraft and twin-engine Lockheed Hudsons. A month later Tindal was posted to RAAF headquarters in Townsville.

In January 1942 Tindal was promoted to wing commander and sent to Darwin, where he became the armament officer for RAAF North Western Area Headquarters.

With Japan’s entry into the war, New Guinea and northern Australia were now in the front line. While visiting New Britain in early January, Tindal twice flew into action as part of attempts to intercept enemy aircraft during Japanese attacks on Rabaul.

Tindal went into action again six weeks later when the Japanese attacked Darwin on 19 February. At around 10 am, 188 Japanese aircraft attacked Darwin’s harbour, the township, and the nearby airfields. Two hours later, 54 Japanese bombers attacked the RAAF airfield. During this second raid, Tindal was sitting on top of a trench firing a gas-operated machine-gun when he was hit and killed by a cannon shell. He was 26 years old.

Tindal is thought to be the first RAAF combat fatality sustained on the Australian mainland. The air force base at Katherine was later named “Tindal” in his honour, and RAAF Base Tindal remains one of Australia’s most important defence installations.

His 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. 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 Wing Commander Archibald Robert Tindal who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Karl James
Historian, Military History Section