The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (404203) Sergeant Douglas Robert Rutherford, No. 59 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 Ricahrd Cruise, the story for this day was on (404203) Sergeant Douglas Robert Rutherford, No. 59 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Second World War.

404203 Sergeant Douglas Robert Rutherford, No. 59 Squadron, Royal Air Force
Killed in action 2 March 1942

Story delivered 8 June 2017

Today we pay tribute to Sergeant Douglas Rutherford.

Douglas Robert Rutherford was born on 27 February 1918 in Maryborough, Queensland, to Robert and Gertrude Rutherford. He had a sister, Violet.

As a young man, Douglas Rutherford attended Torquay State School, and then Maryborough Boys Grammar School. Following his education he worked as a bank officer at the Commonwealth Bank at Maryborough.

On 21 June 1940, Rutherford enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force. He was one of almost 27,500 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and engineers, who, throughout the course of the war, joined squadrons based in Britain as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme.

Following his enlistment, Rutherford began training as an air observer and soon embarked for overseas service, first to Canada, then Britain. At Vancouver, he met his uncle, Herbert Stainton, who was an engineer aboard the troopship Empress of Asia.
After arriving in Britain, Rutherford undertook further specialist training before being posted to No. 59 Squadron. Part of the Royal Air Force Coastal Command, the squadron was equipped with twin-engine Lockheed Hudson light bomber, coastal reconnaissance aircraft.

On 2 March 1942, Rutherford was on his first mission when the Hudson in which he was air observer was lost in action during a patrol over the North Sea.

Rutherford and all three of his crewmates – Sergeant Keith Lauder, Flying Officer Donald Bain, and Sergeant Winston Jones – were killed.

Their bodies were never recovered, and today their names are commemorated on the Air Forces Memorial overlooking the River Thames, the Runnymede memorial which lists British and Commonwealth airmen with no known grave.
Douglas Rutherford was 24 years old.

His name is also 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 Sergeant Douglas Robert Rutherford, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section