The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (420835) Flight Sergeant Douglas Venning Harvey, No. 166 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 Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (420835) Flight Sergeant Douglas Venning Harvey, No. 166 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Second World War.

420835 Flight Sergeant Douglas Venning Harvey, No. 166 Squadron, Royal Air Force
KIA 31 March 1944
Photograph: P04931.001

Story delivered 31 March 2017

Today we pay tribute to Flight Sergeant Douglas Harvey.

Douglas Venning Harvey was born on 24 September 1916 to Edward Venning Harvey and Ada Florence Harvey of Oberon, New South Wales.

Growing up, the young Douglas Harvey attended Bathurst Primary School and then Bathurst High School. A keen sportsman, Harvey played cricket and football, and represented Bathurst in the district football team.

Harvey worked alongside his brother, Ronald, as a farmer and grazier at the property “The Retreat”, in Oberon.

After enlisting in the Royal Australian Air Force in December 1941, Harvey began training as an air gunner and wireless operator. On 15 January 1943 he left Australia for overseas service. As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme, Harvey was one of almost 27,500 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and engineers, who, throughout the course of the war, joined squadrons based in Britain.

After arriving in Britain, Harvey undertook further specialist training, and in November 1943 was posted to No. 166 Squadron, Royal Air Force.

As part of RAF Bomber Command, No. 166 Squadron was equipped with four-engine Avro Lancaster heavy bombers.

On 31 March 1944, No. 166 Squadron was participating in a raid on the German city of Nuremburg. The Lancaster in which Harvey was the wireless operator and air gunner was attacked and shot down by an enemy fighter. It crashed at the aerodrome at Giessen, north of Frankfurt.

Harvey, four of his British crewmates, and a fellow Australian – Sergeant William Allan – were killed.

Douglas Harvey was 27 years old.

His body was never recovered, and today his name is commemorated upon the Air Forces Memorial overlooking the River Thames: the Runnymede memorial which lists all British and Commonwealth airmen with no known grave.

In a letter to Douglas Harvey’s brother, Ronald, the commander of No. 166 Squadron wrote: “Your brother was a most proficient member of a good crew and his loss is deeply regretted. I would like you to know how greatly we all honour the sacrifice he has made so far from his home country in the service of the United Nations.”

Douglas Harvey’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among some 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 Flight Sergeant Douglas Venning Harvey, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section