Places | |
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Accession Number | AWM2021.1.1.153 |
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 | 2 June 2021 |
Access | Open |
Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
Copyright |
Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial![]() |
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. |
The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (414026) Sergeant Mervyn Lionel Vivian Hass, No. 464 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 (414026) Sergeant Mervyn Lionel Vivian Hass, No. 464 Squadron, RAAF, Second World War.
Film order form414026 Sergeant Mervyn Lionel Vivian Hass, No. 464 Squadron, RAAF
Accidental 6 December 1942
Today we remember and pay tribute to Sergeant Mervyn Lionel Vivian Hass.
Mervyn Hass was born in Oakey, near Toowoomba on the eastern side of the Darling Downs, Queensland, on 16 May 1915, the son of Frederick and Jane Hass.
He grew up in Oakey, attended Oakey State School, and went on to work as a cream grader with the Oakey Dairy Association.
During the Second World War, an airbase was sited just three kilometres north of the town, and runways were built. With a full complement of RAAF personnel, the base housed almost 2,000 troops, while a depot serviced, assembled and conducted test flights of Bristol Beaufort, P-51 Mustang, Norsemen, CAC Wirraway and Supermarine Spitfire aircraft.
Given this, it was perhaps no surprise that Oakey residents would enlist in the Royal Australian Air Force.
Hass first enrolled in the RAAF reserve in February 1941 at a mobile recruitment centre in Toowoomba. He was later called up, and enlisted in the RAAF on 20 July. After initial training, he began training as an air gunner, attending wireless/air gunner school in Parkes, and bombing and gunnery school at Evans Head.
Promoted to sergeant, he received his air gunner’s badge on 1 May 1942, and the following month embarked at Sydney, 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.
Arriving in the United Kingdom, Hass was transferred to the newly established No. 464 Squadron in November.
Although a squadron of the RAAF, the personnel of the squadron were drawn from many countries, and less than a third of the squadron members were Australian. Based at Feltwell in Norfolk, led by South African Wing Commander Ronald Young and equipped with Lockheed Ventura light bombers, No. 464 Squadron joined 2 Group of Bomber Command. Its first operation – an attack on the Phillips Radio valve factory at Eindhoven in the Netherlands – took place on 6 December 1942.
All squadron aircraft took off at 11:20, forming with Numbers 487 and 21 Squadrons. Low level was maintained by the formation and the journey was uneventful until the men crossed the Dutch coast, at which point they experienced lots of flak. This produced the first casualty, as one aircraft was witnessed diving into the sea.
The route led to the crossing of an enemy emergency landing ground which was well defended, and flak was extremely accurate, accounting for the aircraft piloted by the commanding officer of No. 487 Squadron, Wing Commander Francis Cecil Seavill, whose aircraft was seen to blow up and crash in flames on the aerodrome. Sergeant Swan was also hit, five feet of the port main plane being shot away. He jettisoned his bombs, which were seen to burst on a gun emplacement, before making a safe return to base. Pilot Officer Sydney Abbott was hit by a flak shell in the port engine but continued to the target, bombed, and made it back to base.
Heavy opposition was then met over the target by flak guns mounted on the roof. The aircraft in which Hass was the air gunner was shot down by the flak, and was seen to dive into a block of houses near the target area.
All crew members died:
• Flight Officer Maurice Moor
• Flight Officer Nathan Cohen
• Pilot Officer Sidney Venneear
• and Sergeant Mervyn Hass, who was 27 years old
Today, Mervyn Hass’s remains lie buried in Eindhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery, underneath the inscription "Greater love hath no man. God’s greatest gift, remembrance”.
His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 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 Sergeant Mervyn Lionel Vivian Hass, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.
Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section
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Video of The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (414026) Sergeant Mervyn Lionel Vivian Hass, No. 464 Squadron, RAAF, Second World War. (video)