The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (420920) Flight Sergeant Barry Alan Croft, No. 299 Squadron, Royal 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 Joanne Smedley, the story for this day was on (420920) Flight Sergeant Barry Alan Croft, No. 299 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Second World War.

420920 Flight Sergeant Barry Alan Croft, No. 299 Squadron, Royal Air Force
KIA 6 June 1944
Photograph: UK1385

Story delivered 29 March 2014

Today we pay tribute to Flight Sergeant Barry Alan Croft, who was killed on active service with the Royal Air Force in the battles of D-Day in 1944.

D-Day, 6 June 1944, has become an iconic event in the history of not only the Second World War but also the Western world. On this tumultuous day, a multi-national Allied force landed on the shores of Normandy. It was the first major step in the liberation of Western Europe from the tyranny of Nazism and fascism.

Barry Alan Croft was born in Gulgong, New South Wales, on 25 August 1923 to Reginald and Norine Croft.

He grew up to be a farmer and grazier, and before his enlistment in the Royal Australian Air Force, at the age of just 18 in January 1941, he had worked on the family farm for his father.

In May 1942 Croft embarked for Canada for training under the Empire Air Training Scheme. Under this program he was one of almost 16,000 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and engineers who joined Royal Air Force squadrons throughout the course of the war.

While stationed at Calgary Croft met his fiancée, Miss B. McIlroy. They would not get the chance to marry; on completion of his training, Croft embarked for Britain in April 1943. Once there he was promoted to flight sergeant and posted to No. 299 Squadron, Royal Air Force.

No. 299 was a special operations squadron that became operational in April 1944. It performed the specialist tasks of dropping agents and supplying both them and resistant movements working behind enemy lines in occupied Europe. On the night of 5 and 6 June 1944, the squadron carried the paratroopers and gliders of the British 6th Airborne Division to their landing zones in Normandy.

It was whilst performing this task that the Croft was killed in action, at just 20 years old. He was one the first Australians killed in the D-Day invasion of Europe.

Croft's body was not recovered and his name is listed and commemorated upon the Air Forces Memorial overlooking the River Thames. The Runnymede memorial lists all British and Commonwealth servicemen with no known grave.

Croft was one of thousands of Australians who served within the British and Commonwealth forces on D-Day and throughout the Normandy campaign. On this day of days, Barry Alan Croft made the ultimate sacrifice.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with around 40,000 Australians killed in the Second World War. His photograph, displayed today in front of the Pool of Reflection, was taken on 4 June 1944, just two days before his death.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Flight-Sergeant Barry Alan Croft, and all of those Australians - as well as our Allies and brothers in arms - who gave their lives in hope of a better world.