The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (421127) Flying Officer Alexander Somerville Roulston, No. 587 Squadron, Royal 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 Tristan Rallings, the story for this day was on (421127) Flying Officer Alexander Somerville Roulston, No. 587 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Second World War.

421127 Flying Officer Alexander Somerville Roulston, No. 587 Squadron, Royal Air Force
Accidentally killed 11 May 1944

Today we remember and pay tribute to Flying Officer Alexander Somerville Roulston.

Alexander Roulston was born on 2 August 1912 in the Sydney suburb of Summer Hill, the second son of Alfred and Evelyn Roulston. His father was a building estimator, and he had two brothers, Harvey and Robert.

In 1928, at the age of 16, Roulston signed up for two years of training with the Royal Australian Air Force reserve. He spent two years as a student at the Wagga Government Experiment Farm, and worked for three years on the staff.

Roulston trained and worked as a carpenter and joiner, and was working a building foreman when he married Edith Mary Culley on 6 February 1940. The couple had two sons, Harvey, who was born on 28 June 1941, and Brett, born on 8 July 1943.

Roulston enlisted in the RAAF on 7 December 1941, and began training in Australia. He was granted a commission as pilot officer in the RAAF in January 1943, and in March embarked from Melbourne for the UK. As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme he was one of almost 27,000 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and engineers, who joined Australian and British squadrons in Britain throughout the course of the war.

By July he had been promoted to flying officer, and the following February was posted to No. 587 Squadron of the Royal Air Force. At 9.30 on the morning of 11 May 1944, Roulston was engaged on a cooperative flight with the 206th Regiment army camp in Somerset. He was flying in dive attacks against an anti-aircraft battery, whose job was to sight their guns on his aircraft as it flew over them. Roulston had completed one run and was climbing away again when his engine was heard to fail. The aircraft dove towards the ground and burst into flames upon contact, killing Roulston instantly. He was 31 years old.

An inquiry determined that the higher ground over which Roulston was circling meant that he likely did not have enough height in which to recover control of the vehicle.

Roulston was buried at the Bath Haycombe Cemetery under the inscription “Always remembered”. He was remembered in Wagga as “one of the finest centres to ever play in Wagga football, and possessing a delightfully unassuming manner, he became a warm favourite with all whom he became associated with”.

A portrait of Roulston painted in 1943 by Norman Carter was a finalist for that year’s Archibald Prize.

Flying Officer Alexander Roulston’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with some 40,000 others from 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 Flying Officer Alexander Somerville Roulston, and all those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.

Christina Zissis
Editor, Military History Section