The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (12189) Flying Officer Malcolm John McLeod, No. 463 Squadron, Royal Australian 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 Gerard Pratt, the story for this day was on (12189) Flying Officer Malcolm John McLeod, No. 463 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Second World War.

12189 Flying Officer Malcolm John McLeod, No. 463 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force
KIA 4 July 1944

Today we remember and pay tribute to Flying Officer Malcolm John McLeod.

Malcolm McLeod was born on 1 May 1921 in Ardlethan, New South Wales, the son of Peter and Annie McLeod. Growing up he had three sisters, Maureen, Elsie, and Myra.

After leaving school Malcolm worked as a shop assistant and a farm hand. On 5 February 1940, aged 18, he enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force. He was initially attached to No. 11 Squadron, RAAF, in Port Moresby, which monitored Japanese shipping movements. He trained as an air gunner, and on receiving his badge in November 1942 was commissioned as a pilot officer.

On 15 January 1943, McLeod embarked from Melbourne, bound for the United Kingdom. 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.

Further specialist training followed in England, and in May 1943 McLeod was promoted to flying officer. In October he was posted to No. 467 Squadron, RAAF, and flew five operations over Europe. The next month he joined No. 463 Squadron. As part of Bomber Command, the squadron flew four-engined Avro Lancaster heavy bombers.

In 1943 McLeod married a woman named Marcelle in Weymouth, and in February 1944 a daughter, Jacqueline, was born to the couple.

On the night of 4 July 1944, Bomber Command launched a major raid on German flying bomb installations in the limestone caverns and quarries at St Leu D’Esserent in France. The plan was to collapse the roofs of the caverns and disrupt surrounding roads and train tracks. Flying Officer McLeod was the mid-under gunner on board Lancaster “JO-K”, which took off from the Royal Air Force base at Waddington shortly after 11 pm.

Of the 15 aircraft committed to the mission by No. 463 Squadron, two failed to return, including McLeod’s Lancaster. German night fighter resistance was heavy around the target, and the aircraft was shot down. It crashed near Lyon-la-Foret, some 80 kilometres west of the target. There were no survivors.

Killed in the crash with Flying Officer Malcolm McLeod were fellow Australian Flying Officers Noel Webb, Arthur Connor, and Ernest Fletcher, Warrant Officer Launcelot Harrison, and Flight Sergeants Archie Gillett and Patrick Dunford, along with British Sergeant Thomas Hendry. The bodies of seven of the crew were recovered from the crash site and buried at the Marissel French National Cemetery in Beauvais. The eighth crew member was never found.

After the war the remains of Commonwealth servicemen buried in Europe were examined and identified where possible. Four of the crew of Lancaster JO-K were identified, including Malcolm McLeod. His remains were buried beside those of his crewmates, where they rest today under the inscription chosen by his grieving wife: “My beloved husband. His duty nobly done.”

He was 23 years old.

Flying Officer Malcolm McLeod’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 Malcolm John McLeod, and all those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.

Christina Zissis
Editor, Military History Section