The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (430375) Flying Officer Clement Joseph Greenwood, No. 463 Squadron, RAAF, 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 Craig Blanch, the story for this day was on (430375) Flying Officer Clement Joseph Greenwood, No. 463 Squadron, RAAF, Second World War.

430375 Flying Officer Clement Joseph Greenwood, No. 463 Squadron, RAAF
KIA 22 December 1944
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 25 November 2014

Today we pay tribute to Flying Officer Clement Joseph Greenwood, who was killed on active service with the Royal Australian Air Force in 1944.

Born on 21 October 1912 in Bruthen, eastern Victoria, Clement Joseph Greenwood was the son of Percy and Catherine Greenwood. Educated at St Patrick’s College, Ballarat, Greenwood became a teacher. Working for the Victorian Department of Education, Greenwood was a school teacher in the small Victorian town of Rushworth at the time of his enlistment in the Royal Australian Air Force on 29 January 1943.

Greenwood began training as a navigator, and in August 1943 embarked for Canada, where he undertook further specialist training before leaving for Britain. As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme, Greenwood was one of almost 27,500 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and engineers who joined squadrons based in Britain throughout the course of the war.

After arriving in England in early 1944 Greenwood undertook further training before he was posted to No. 463 Squadron, which flew the four-engine Avro Lancaster heavy bombers.

On 22 December 1944, the Lancaster PB 688 of which Greenwood was navigator crashed at Branston in Lincolnshire, England, after returning from a raid on Politz in Germany (now in the Czech Republic). The winter weather that night was atrocious, with Greenwood’s Lancaster one of five to crash on return.

Of Greenwood’s six crewmates only one, the upper gunner, survived the crash. Greenwood and five other crew (four Australians and one British crew member), were all killed. Flying Officer Clement Greenwood was 32 years old.

In a ceremony a week later all of those killed in the crash were buried side by side in the Royal Air Force section of the Cambridge Cemetery.

In a letter written to Greenwood’s father, the commander of No. 463 Squadron conveyed his deepest sympathy and the gratitude of all members of the squadron for “the untinted loyalty, sacrifice and example of he and his fellows in devotion to duty, for it is by such deeds of heroism that the glorious traditions of the Royal Australian Air Force have been created, and their names will be immortalised by the ultimate victory of the cause in which they so readily gave their all”.

Greenwood’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with around 40,000 Australians killed in the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Flying Officer Clement Joseph Greenwood, and all of those Australians – as well as our Allies and brothers in arms – who gave their lives in service of their nation.

Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section