The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (434468) Flight Sergeant Colin Eric Mengel, No. 12 Squadron (RAF), 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 Gerard Pratt, the story for this day was on (434468) Flight Sergeant Colin Eric Mengel, No. 12 Squadron (RAF), Second World War.

434468 Flight Sergeant Colin Eric Mengel, No. 12 Squadron (RAF)
Flying Battle 23 September 1944

Today we remember and pay tribute to Flight Sergeant Colin Eric Mengel.

Colin Mengel was born on 29 July 1924, one of three sons born to Arthur and May Mengel of Mackay, Queensland. Known as “Col” to his family and friends, Mengel was a gifted student, who attended Intermediate State School, State High School and later technical college.

In 1939 he sat and passed junior public examinations, achieving first-class results in arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and bookkeeping. At the age of 17 he moved from Mackay to Brisbane to work as a clerk in the Stamp Duties Office. He continued to study, attending night classes in bookkeeping, accountancy, and mercantile law.

From June until December 1942, he gained valuable military experience serving as a cadet in 3 Wing of the 56th Squadron of the Air Training Corps. He was a keen dancer, golfer, swimmer, and cyclist, who also enjoyed playing football, tennis, and cricket.

Mengel was known as a country boy with a fine sense of humour, who, like his brothers Alf and Ray, loved telling jokes.

Mengel enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force at the Number 3 Recruitment Centre in Brisbane on 4 December 1942. He then began a period of training that saw him posted in bases across Australia including the Number 3 Wireless Air Gunners’ School in Maryborough, north of Brisbane and the Number 1 Bombing and Air Gunnery School at Evans Head in northern New South Wales.

On 10 September 1943, he sailed from Brisbane for the war in Europe. He arrived in the United Kingdom in October 1943 after a brief stopover in America. Once in England, he continued his training, and in August 1944 was posted to Royal Air Force Number 12 Squadron, which was based in Wickenby in Lincolnshire. Number 12 Squadron flew Avro Lancasters on bombing raids over Germany and occupied Europe. Mengel served in this unit as a wireless operator and air gunner.

Mengel was promoted on several occasions throughout his training, and in February 1944 was promoted to the rank of flight sergeant.

On the 23rd of September 1944, Mengel took off aboard Lancaster NG116 on a bombing raid to Neuss, near Düsseldorf in Germany. At about 10:30 in the evening, Mengel’s plane was struck by anti-aircraft flak fire near the German–Netherlands border and burst into flames. The aircraft crashed in a wooded area near the German town of Aldekerk, its wreckage strewn over a wide area. All seven of the crew were killed.

At the time of the tragedy, Allied authorities were not sure of the fate of the crew, and reported Mengel and the rest of his crew to be missing in action. This began a period of terrible uncertainty for Mengel’s family and friends. Alex Ross, one of Mengel’s workmates in Brisbane, wrote to his family that, “Col is always a gentleman and of a cheery nature. I know that all who know Col, especially his workmates, wish him a safe return.” Mengel’s father, desperate for any news about his son, wrote to the authorities that, “Any details, however small, as to the fate of the plane of the sons we loved and cherished, would be some consolation and would be appreciated.”

It was not until late in 1945, after the war was over, that Mengel’s family and friends received the notice that Colin Mengel was officially presumed to have been killed in the flying battle over Germany. He was 20 years old, and had been with Number 12 Squadron for less than a month.

Wing Commander Stockdale of Number 12 Squadron wrote to Mengel’s mother that “Although a comparatively new member of my Squadron, Flight Sergeant Mengel had become very well liked by all with whom he had come into contact, and I had every confidence in his courage and ability”.

Back home in Australia, a street near where his parents lived is now called Mengel Street in honour of his sacrifice.
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 Sergeant Colin Eric Mengel, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section