The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (411608) Flight Sergeant Ronald Oakley Sandell, No. 154 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (411608) Flight Sergeant Ronald Oakley Sandell, No. 154 Squadron (RAF), Second World War.

411608 Flight Sergeant Ronald Oakley Sandell, No. 154 Squadron (RAF)
Flying battle 20 April 1943

Today we remember and pay tribute to Ronald Oakley Sandell.

Ronald Sandell was born on 30 January 1921, in Goulburn, New South Wales, to Frederick and Lorna Sandell.
Frederick Sandell was a clothing manufacturer based in Goulburn and a prominent member of the local Chamber of Commerce. However, after his factory closed during the Great Depression, the family moved to Sydney.
Here Ronald grew up with his brothers David and Frederick, and sister Patricia.

While attending Summer Hill School, he was involved in scouting, hockey, tennis, cricket and sailing. He also served as a signal rating with the volunteer Coastal Patrol during manoeuvres at Broken Bay, north of Sydney.
He then went on to work as a salesman with Marcus Clark and Co. Ltd, a department store where his brothers also worked: David as a junior shoe salesman, and Frederick as an advertising assistant.

Ronald applied to become a Royal Australian Air Force aircrew member in May 1940, and in August joined the RAAF reserve in hopes of becoming a pilot. It wasn’t until 24 May 1941, after he had turned 20, that he was formally enlisted in the RAAF.

His older brother Frederick followed suit barely a month after Ronald, while David, who was not yet 18 years old, would have to wait until June the following year before he could follow in his brothers’ footsteps.

Ronald began training to be pilot at Narramine and Uranquinty. On 16 May 1942 he left Australia, bound for overseas service.

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. Sandell first travelled to England were he trained and joined an advanced flying unit in Aston Down.

He then joined 325 Wing in north-west Africa, and was posted to No. 154 Squadron in late February 1943. 154 Squadron was a fighter squadron equipped with Spitfires. When Sandell joined, it was operating out of North Africa.
On the morning of 20 April 1943, Sandell’s aircraft caught fire while on operations. He attempted to get out of the burning Spitfire, but his parachute caught on a wing and he died as the aircraft crashed at Douar Chabaila in Tunisia.
He was buried in Tabarka War Cemetery under the inscription chosen by his family: “Greater love hath no man”.

Ronald Sandell was 22 years old.

Frederick Sandell would be the only one of the three brothers to return home after joining the RAAF, being discharged on compassionate grounds in July 1945. David died in August 1944 while piloting a Lancaster bomber tasked with attacking Konigsberg in Germany.
Ronald Sandell’s 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 Ronald Oakley Sandell, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section