The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (415619) Flight Sergeant Frederick Cornish, No. 100 Squadron RAAF, 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 Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (415619) Flight Sergeant Frederick Cornish, No. 100 Squadron RAAF, Second World War.

415619 Flight Sergeant Frederick Cornish, No. 100 Squadron RAAF
KIA 16 October 1943
Story delivered 5 May 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Flight Sergeant Frederick Keith Cornish.

Frederick Cornish was born in 1923, one of five children of Frederick and Doris Cornish of West Leederville in Perth. Known to family and friends by his middle name of “Keith”, he attended West Leederville Primary, Perth Boy’s School, and Perth Senior Technical College before working as a warehouseman at Westralian Farmers. Cornish bought and sold drapery for his employer during the day, and was engaged in studying accounting and wool classing at night. He was also a keen swimmer and surfer, and enjoyed riding and repairing motorbikes.

Cornish enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in December 1941, perhaps following the lead of his older brother, Geoff, who had taken a Short Service Commission Scheme with the Royal Air Force in Britain in 1938. Geoff served as a pilot in No. 50 Squadron RAF, but was shot down and taken prisoner during a bombing raid over Essen.

After Frederick Cornish qualified as a pilot, he was posted to the No. 1 Operational Training Unit at Bairnsdale in Victoria, where he carried out flight training on the Bristol Beaufort twin-engine torpedo bomber. Afterwards, he honed his torpedo-dropping procedures and tactics at No. 6 Operational Training Unit at Jervis Bay on the New South Wales south coast.

After nearly two years of constant and demanding flight training, Cornish deployed to New Guinea in October 1943, where he was posted to No. 100 Squadron RAAF based at Gili Gili Airfield at Milne Bay. Flying from bases throughout eastern New Guinea, the squadron flew reconnaissance patrols, and anti-shipping and bombing sorties against the Japanese in the Solomon Islands. The squadron was particularly active throughout September and October 1943, carrying out anti-submarine patrols in support of the Allied amphibious landings around Lae.

On 16 October 1943, just nine days after joining No. 100 Squadron, Cornish was on board Bristol Beaufort A9-191, which suffered engine failure and crashed after taking off for escort convoy duty in the Solomon Sea. Fully loaded with bombs, the aircraft exploded, killing all on board.

The commanding officer of No. 100 Squadron wrote to the Cornish family to say:
The knowledge that [Keith] ever trod fearlessly that hazardous path of duty, which the defence of his Country, and all that it stands for, demanded of him, may help to soften for you and your family, as it does for us, the loss which we have sustained.

Frederick Cornish was 20 years old. His remains were buried at the Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery, where the epitaph written by his grieving family appears on his headstone: “Your Cheery Smile and Noble Sacrifice will never Fade, Keith”.

Frederick Cornish 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 Sergeant Frederick Keith Cornish, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Aaron Pegram
Historian, Military History Section