The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (414286) Flight Lieutenant Donald John Wilson, No. 130 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Second World War.

Places
Accession Number AWM2017.1.352
Collection type Film
Object type Last Post film
Physical description 16:9
Maker Australian War Memorial
Place made Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Campbell
Date made 18 December 2017
Access Open
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Copying Provisions Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Description

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 (414286) Flight Lieutenant Donald John Wilson, No. 130 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Second World War.

Film order form
Speech transcript

414286 Flight Lieutenant Donald John Wilson, No. 130 Squadron, Royal Air Force
Killed in flying battle 8 December 1944

Story delivered 18 December 2017

Today we remember and pay tribute to Flight Lieutenant Donald John Wilson.

Donald Wilson was born in Townsville on 16 October 1921, the only son of Philip and Hylda Wilson.

After his schooling, Wilson worked for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia at the Woolloongabba branch in Brisbane.
On 17 August 1941, at the age of 19, Wilson enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force.

He began training as a pilot, and on 17 October 1942, left Sydney for overseas service. As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme, Wilson 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.

Arriving in Britain in December, Wilson undertook specialist training before being posted to No. 130 Squadron, Royal Air Force, in December 1943. No. 130 squadron was a fighter squadron, and was equipped with single-seat Supermarine Spitfires.

Known as “Willie” to the other squadron members, Wilson was an extremely popular figure, who had served with the squadron for nearly a year, and been promoted to flight lieutenant.
On 8 December 1944, Wilson was flying with a group of six Spitfires, conducting an armed reconnaissance and sweep deep in German territory.

The group was attacking a railway locomotive when it encountered approximately 20 Messerschmitt BF 109s and Focker-Wulf FW 190s. In
the ensuing engagement, Wilson radioed that he had been hit, and was “going to go down”. Nothing further was heard by his fellow pilots.

Wilson survived the crash and was believed to have been taken prisoner and executed. His death, along with several other Allied airmen shot down in the region, were later the subject of war crimes investigations.
His body was buried in the British and Commonwealth Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, at Kleve, in Germany.

Donald Wilson was 23 years old.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among almost 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 Lieutenant Donald John Wilson, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section

  • Video of The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (414286) Flight Lieutenant Donald John Wilson, No. 130 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Second World War. (video)