The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (416443) Warrant Officer Lloyd George McKenzie, 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 Nathan Boyd, the story for this day was on (416443) Warrant Officer Lloyd George McKenzie, No. 463 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Second World War.

416443 Warrant Officer Lloyd George McKenzie, No. 463 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force
KIA 10 May 1944

Today we remember and pay tribute to Warrant Officer Lloyd George McKenzie.

Lloyd McKenzie was born on 15 January 1918 in the town of Owen, South Australia, the youngest son of Alexander and Eva McKenzie. The family was a large one, and Lloyd had three brothers – Leslie, Gordon, and Henry – and six sisters – Doris, Isabell, Gladys, Adeline, Jean, and Kathleen. His father was a farmer.

Lloyd attended Owen Public School. He was an excellent student, and came second in his qualifying exams. He won prizes in woodwork, football, and high jump, played piano, and was fond of cricket, tennis and golf. After leaving school he studied accountancy and became a district clerk with the local council.

On 23 June 1941, McKenzie enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force. He trained as an observer, and embarked from Melbourne for overseas service on 15 January 1943, arriving in the United Kingdom in March. 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.

McKenzie underwent months of training in the UK, and by May 1943 had been promoted to flight sergeant. It was also here that he met Englishwoman Esther Plumb, and married her in Scotland on 22 November.

Further training followed, and on 9 March 1944 McKenzie was posted to No. 463 Squadron, RAAF. In early May he and his crew were flying back from a raid on Schweinfurt when evasive action resulted in two of the aircraft’s engines failing. Just before dawn a third engine died. The crew decided to aim for a Channel landing, hoping to be picked up in the water. As they crossed the enemy coastline they were joined by a guard of friendly Spitfires, but were forced to jettison everything they could in order to successfully make it back to English soil.

On the night of 10 May, 31 Lancaster bombers from Nos 463 and 467 Squadrons, RAAF, departed as part of a major Royal Air Force raid from Waddington, England. Their target was the heavily defended railway yards at Lille in France. McKenzie was the bomb aimer of Lancaster bomber “JO-E”, one of the squadron’s few aircraft carrying an all-Australian crew.

Twelve Lancasters were lost on the raid, and 50 airmen were recorded as casualties of the mission. One of those killed was Lloyd McKenzie. His Lancaster failed to return to base and was presumed to have been shot down by enemy action. After the war it was determined that the aircraft had exploded, with the bulk of the wreckage falling onto a factory south of the target. Also on board were Flight Sergeants John Brown, Colin Eastgate, George Dann, and George Jones, Pilot Officer William Lewis, and Flying Officer Dudley Ward.

The airmen who died in the raid were buried in the surrounding area. After the war the remains of Commonwealth servicemen buried in Europe were examined and identified where possible. McKenzie’s remains were identified by his badges of rank, in a common grave at the Forest-sur-Marque Communal Cemetery, about nine kilometres east of Lille. He was reinterred there under the inscription: “Ever remembered.”

McKenzie had been set for promotion to warrant officer two days after his death, and was retroactively granted this rank. Warrant Officer Lloyd McKenzie’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 Warrant Officer Lloyd George McKenzie, and all those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.

Christina Zissis
Editor, Military History Section