The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (412167) Warrant Officer Elwyn Oswald Thomas Mayne, 460 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 Greg Kimball, the story for this day was on (412167) Warrant Officer Elwyn Oswald Thomas Mayne, 460 Squadron RAAF, Second World War.

412167 Warrant Officer Elwyn Oswald Thomas Mayne, 460 Squadron RAAF
Killed in flying battle 5 March 1945
Story delivered 10 September 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Warrant Officer Elwyn Oswald Thomas Mayne.

Born in Sydney on 11 June 1916, Elwyn Mayne was the son of Robert and Gladys Mayne. Little is known about Mayne’s early life before his enlistment in the Royal Australian Air Force on 22 June 1941. He commenced training as an air gunner in Australia, and then embarked for overseas service.

As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme, he was one of almost 27,500 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and engineers who, throughout the course of the war, joined Royal Air Force squadrons or Australian squadrons based in Britain.

After his arrival in Britain, Mayne undertook further specialist training before being posted to a squadron in Coastal Command where he completed a full tour. During his time in Britain, Mayne married his fiancée, Gloria, of Aberdare in south Wales.

After finishing his tour with Coastal Command, Mayne decided to return to operational duties and undertake a second tour. He was posted to No. 460 Squadron.

No. 460 Squadron would become the most highly decorated Australian squadron in Bomber Command, and the squadron that suffered the highest casualties. Flying twin-engined Vickers Wellington medium bombers, and then the four engined Avro Lancaster heavy bomber, the squadron lost over 1,000 men: Australian, British, Canadians, New Zealanders and South Africans. Almost 600 Australians from 460 Squadron are listed here on the Roll of Honour.

On the night of 5/6 March 1945, 21 Lancasters from 460 Squadron were taking part in a large raid targeting the industrial and rail centre of Chemnitz in Germany. During this operation, the Lancaster in which Mayne was the rear gunner crashed near the small village of Pfieffe, near Spangenberg in central Germany. The local mayor reported that Mayne’s Lancaster had circled low with its engines on fire before crashing.

Mayne was killed, as were all seven of his crewmates: fellow Australians Squadron Leader John Holmes, Flight Sergeant Trevor Clarke, Flying Officer Donald Hudspeth, Flying Officer Ivan Baudinette, and Flight Lieutenant Thommas Morgan – as well as British crewmate Sergeant John Young, and Sergeant Ralph Hayward from Newfoundland (now part of Canada).
Mayne was 28 years old.

The bodies of all the crew were recovered and buried in the Pfieffe churchyard. They were later reinterred side-by-side in the British and Commonwealth War Cemetery in Hanover, Germany.
The loss of such a senior and experienced crew was deeply felt throughout 460 Squadron.

Mayne’s name is listed here 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 Elwyn Oswald Thomas Mayne, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section