The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (VX33092) Gunner Ronald Frederick Maskell, 3rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, AIF, 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 , the story for this day was on (VX33092) Gunner Ronald Frederick Maskell, 3rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, AIF, Second World War.

VX33092 Gunner Ronald Frederick Maskell, 3rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment
KIA 20 May 1941

Today we remember and pay tribute to Gunner Ronald Frederick Maskell.

Ronald Maskell was born on 31 March 1915 in Tatura, Victoria, the second of six sons born to Ernest and Mary Jane Maskell. After moving to Melbourne, the older boys attended Fairfield State School. Ron attended Orrvale, then Kialla State School before leaving in 1929 to return to his home district. Not quite 14 years old, Ron took to farming life and for the next decade worked in the Shepparton area, where he was also employed at the SPC Cannery.

Ron Maskell enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 3 of June 1940. By August he had been posted to the 3rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, then forming at Werribee. He remained here until the end of the year when on 29 December the unit embarked for overseas service aboard the former ocean liner Mauretania. Two weeks later they arrived at Colombo where they transhipped to the troopship Devonshire. Sailing through the Suez Canal, the ship disembarked the men at Haifa in Palestine on 31 January 1941.

The 3rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment was initially stationed near Gaza, where it conducted further training. On 5 February the men were visited by Prime Minister Menzies. Sergeant Hugh Hill said that after being made to stand for two hours along the road the boys were wild. Next day one of the regiment’s three batteries, the 8th, was sent to Tobruk to aid in the besieged garrison’s defence.

In early April, as the Allied expeditionary force arrived in Greece, the remainder of the 3rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment set out for Amariya in Egypt, where the regimental headquarters would remain, along with the 9th Battery.

The 7th Battery, to which Ron Maskell belonged, was destined for elsewhere. Originally intended to go to Greece, it quickly became clear the campaign there was doomed and that Allied troops would be evacuated. The 7th instead went to the island of Crete. Under the command of Major Hipworth, the men embarked from Alexandria aboard the Ulster Prince on 22 April.

Arriving two days later amid the chaos of troops evacuated from Greece, the battery was initially positioned near the main town of Chania. Some men helped out on the docks while others put up tents for a British army hospital. At night they camped among the olive groves.

Expecting the Germans would soon try to capture Crete, some 48,000 Allied troops remained on the island to defend it. Anticipating an enemy attack by air, the 7th Battery’s complement of 16 Bofors anti-aircraft guns would be valuable.

At the end of April, headquarters, along with the majority of B and C Troops, was moved east to Heraklion to defend the aerodrome. On 4 May, Gunner Ron Maskell’s A Troop was repositioned to defend Maleme airfield, just west of Chania.

Before long the Luftwaffe attacks commenced. Bombing and strafing increased over the next few weeks until the morning of 20 May, when all hell broke loose. Just before 7 am, each anti-aircraft gun was attacked by multiple dive bombers. Then came the gliders, followed by paratroops.

Landing to the west of the Tavronitis River, the enemy glider troops sought cover in the dry river bed. Their mission was to seize control of the bridge, then capture the adjacent Maleme airfield, allowing them to bring in more troops. The attackers were from the elite German Airborne Assault Regiment. Their glider-borne troops had already suffered heavy casualties but Major Braun and Oberleutnant von Plessen rallied a group of survivors for the assault.

A fierce battle took place on the airfield’s western end as the Germans stormed positions held by New Zealand infantrymen. The Germans were only a few yards away, hurling grenades into the main trench near the Bofors gun. The Australian anti-aircraft gunners, including Ron Maskell, joined their fellow Anzacs and fought it out, but were soon overwhelmed. The position was taken and all but one were killed. Among the dead was Ron Maskell.

With the airfield captured, Crete was lost and the Allied survivors were evacuated by the end of May. The 7th Battery had suffered heavily. Only 71 men got away. Nearly 200 had become casualties, 50 were dead, the rest were in hiding on Crete or had been taken prisoner.

Ron Maskell’s body was not recovered from the battlefield. Today he is commemorated on the Memorial at Phaleron War Cemetery in Athens. He was 26 years old.

His 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 Gunner Ronald Frederick Maskell, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Craig Tibbitts
Historian, Military History Section