RAAF hat band and badge : Wing Commander J M Lerew, Royal Australian Air Force

Padded embroidered RAAF officer's cap badge with gilded metal eagle attached to the front of a woven black mohair hat band. On the reverse of the badge is pasted a circular paper label. Part of the label is bent and some of the text is illegible. The label is green with embossed text. The letters 'DJ' are in the centre in cursive script and around this the text 'DAVID ...O...' above and 'FOR SERVICE' below.

John Margrave Lerew was born at Hamilton, Victoria on 20 August 1912. He studied at University, graduating with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering. He enlisted as an air cadet in the RAAF Citizens Forces and was allocated the service number C5499. Prior to this he had served in the Scotch College Cadet Corps, served a year as an artillery surveyor with 3 Division, four months with Melbourne University Regiment and had completed nine months compulsory training with 39 Battalion. On 1 April 1933 he joined the regular RAAF and was commissioned as a pilot officer with the service number 73. He was promoted to flying officer in 1935 and probationary flight lieutenant in 1936, the rank being confirmed in 1937. In that year Lerew became a staff officer in the Directorate of Works and Buildings at RAAF headquarters. He was connected with Air Force Works and the selection of aerodrome sites in Australia. Lerew was later appointed to command an aircraft park and technical squadron at 2 Aircraft Depot. He was promoted to squadron leader in June 1940.

On 31 May 1941 Lerew was appointed commander of 24 Squadron and promoted to temporary wing commander in October. He commanded the squadron during the occupation of Vuna and Lakunai aerodromes at Rabaul, New Britain from 5 December 1941 to 23 January 1942. 24 Squadron was formed at Amberley in Queensland on 17 June 1940 and moved to Townsville to carry out maritime, reconnaissance, and training duties. Following Japan’s entry into the war, in December 1941, the squadron moved to Rabaul, in an attempt to provide some aerial defence for New Britain and the surrounding islands. On 20 January 1942 over one hundred Japanese aircraft attacked New Britain. Although the squadron tried to defend the island its efforts were futile.

The squadron’s eight Wirraways took-off to intercept the raiders but were immediately attacked by a large force of Mitsubishi Zeros. The Wirraways were no match for the Zeros. Within seven minutes, three Wirraways were shot down, two crash-landed, and another was damaged. When 24 Squadron went to Rabaul, Lerew had been given a letter from Northern Area HQ to use his discretion in evacuating his unit if an invasion took place. However when Lerew signalled to Australia that he was about to evacuate his men, he received a response that as Rabaul had not yet fallen, his men were to assist the Army as infantry in keeping the airfield open. This was not feasible as squadron had only two Wirraways and a Hudson left and the Army could not handle untrained personnel. In response Lerew cabled back in schoolboy Latin ‘Morituri vos salutamus’. After some confusion in Australia this telegram was deciphered and translated to read the Roman Gladiators’ salute ‘We who are about to die salute you’.

Lerew was told to hand over the squadron to another officer and return to Port Moresby in New Guinea to assume command of a new Hudson squadron leaving the remaining personnel of 24 Squadron to be used as infantry at Rabaul. Instead, he organised the evacuation of the squadron. Little could be done from Australia to evacuate those in Rabaul but Lerew had formed the basis of an escape plan. The squadron’s sick and wounded were evacuated on the remaining aircraft, while the rest of the personnel trekked through the jungle on foot. Lerew had sent a message to Port Moresby requesting that flying boats be sent to bay near Put Put in two days, or to Tol Plantation in four days.

When the Japanese invaded Rabaul on 23 January 1942, squadron members and other evacuees travelled by truck in severe rain to the Warrangoi River. The airmen, soldiers and civilians numbered around 150. They crossed the river in two canoes that could only take a few people at a time. After crossing the river they walked through the jungle in the dark, crossing several streams. Some of the group, led by Lerew, headed to Put Put and the rest to the Tol Plantation. Near the deserted Sum Sum mission Lerew’s group were rescued by flying boat; the next day the rest were rescued from Tol Plantation.

On 11 February 1942 Lerew led a formation of three Hudsons from Port Moresby on low level attacks on shipping at Gasmata, New Britain. Lerew’s crew were Flying Officer William Watt, Sergeant Raymond Henry and Sergeant Kenneth McDonald. Although Lerew’s plane was attacked and an engine and wing caught fire, he continued his attack. After low level bombing a Japanese ship, the fire spread. Lerew pulled the plane up to climb and ordered crew to bale out. He then baled out through a side window. However the rest of the crew were unable to bale out due to the fire and perished in the aircraft. One other aircraft from the mission was shot down, with the loss of the crew. He third aircraft returned to base. Two Japanese ships were damaged, but not destroyed and one enemy aircraft was shot down, with at least one other damaged.

Lerew landed close to Japanese lines and evaded the Japanese in the jungle. He received some assistance from local villagers, who gave him food and quinine. After a few days he found an abandoned house, and later located a planter called Bill hiding in a cave. Bill fed Lerew and after a few days took him to see Harold Koch, a veteran of the First World War living in the area. Koch had a hidden launch and took Bill and Lerew to Finschhafen, New Guinea, where they were met by other Australians. They travelled on to Salamaua and were then flown to Port Moresby. Lerew received the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for his service in New Britain. It was during this time Lerew caught malaria, which was to reoccur at various times during his life.

Lerew returned to Australia and took command of Station Headquarters at Townsville, Qld; then at Nowra, NSW followed by Batchelor, NT. In August 1942 he assumed command of 7 Squadron until mid December when he took command of 1 Aircraft Depot for a year. At the end of December 1943 he travelled to England, via the United States and Canada to study aircraft accident prevention. While in England he was presented with his DFC by King George VI at Buckingham Palace.

In 1946 Lerew left the RAAF and began working for the International Civil Aviation Organisation in Canada. He remained with them in a number of different capacities until he retired in 1972.

After returning to Australia in 1945, Lerew had married Laurie Steele and settled in South Yarra, Victoria. Laurie had been widowed when her first husband was killed in a night flying accident while serving with the Royal Air Force. Lerew had met her when he was in England and she was in charge of the female staff at an aircraft factory. He convinced her to return to Australia. They had two daughters but their marriage broke down and they divorced. In 1963 Lerew met Oude Reimerink, known as Josephine, a Dutch woman who had survived the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. They married in Mexico in 1966 and eventually settled in Vancouver, Canada. John Margrave Lerew died on 24 February 1996.