The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (410467) Flight Sergeant Julian Dobinson, No. 460 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 Matthew Rose, the story for this day was on (410467) Flight Sergeant Julian Dobinson, No. 460 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Second World War.

410467 Flight Sergeant Julian Dobinson, No. 460 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force
Killed in flying battle 2 January 1944

Story delivered 7 September 2017

Today we pay tribute to Flight Sergeant Julian Dobinson.

Born in the Melbourne suburb of Albert Park on 12 December 1917, Julian Dobinson was the son of William and Margaret Jessie Steward Dobinson.

Growing up, young Julian Dobinson attended Middle Park Central School, then Melbourne Grammar. A keen sportsman, he played football and cricket, and participated in boxing, rowing, and swimming.

Following his schooling, Dobinson was employed as an advertising clerk for the Vacuum Oil Company in Yarraville. After the outbreak of the Second World War, Dobinson served in the 57th/60th Battalion of the Militia before enlisting in the Royal Australian Air Force on the 30th of January 1942.

Dobinson commenced training as an air observer and bomb aimer, before embarking for overseas service in early March 1943.

As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme, he was one of almost 27,500 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and engineers, who, throughout the course of the war, joined Royal Air Force squadrons or Australian squadrons based in Britain.

Arriving in Britain in April 1943, Dobinson undertook further specialist training before being posted to No. 460 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, in September.

No. 460 Squadron would become the most highly decorated Australian squadron in Bomber Command, and was the squadron that suffered the highest casualties. Flying twin-engine Vickers Wellington medium bombers, and then the four-engine Avro Lancaster heavy bombers, the squadron lost over 1,000 men: Australian, British, Canadians, New Zealanders and South Africans. Almost 600 Australians from 460 Squadron are listed here on the Roll of Honour.

On the night of 2 January 1942, the Lancaster in which Dobinson was the bomb aimer took off from RAF Binbrook to take part in a large raid on Berlin. Just after take-off, Dobinson’s Lancaster – fully laden with bombs for the mission ahead – banked sharply and dived uncontrollably into the ground, exploding on impact.

Dobinson and all six of his crewmates were killed. They were the Australians: Flight Lieutenant Barrington Knyvett, Flight Sergeant John Farthing, Flight Sergeant Henry Gill, Pilot Officer Edwin Ross, and Flying Officer Colin Pickworth, and British flight engineer Sergeant Ronald Trett.

The Australian members of the crew were buried side by side in the RAF plot at Cambridge Cemetery.

Julian Dobinson was 26 years old.

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.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Flight Sergeant Julian Dobinson, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Lachlan Grant
Military History Section