The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (423076) Flight Sergeant Malcolm Robert Burgess, No. 50 Squadron, RAF, 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 (423076) Flight Sergeant Malcolm Robert Burgess, No. 50 Squadron, RAF, Second World War.

423076 Flight Sergeant Malcolm Robert Burgess, No. 50 Squadron, RAF
Flying Battle 6 June 1944

Today we remember and pay tribute to Flight Sergeant Malcolm Robert Burgess.

Malcolm Burgess was born on 9 June 1922 in the Sydney suburb of Vaucluse, the son of Dulcie and Charles Burgess.

Burgess grew up in Vaucluse attending a local primary school before going on to Sydney Grammar in 1933. While at school, he played Rugby Union and would later go on to play in the Burke Cup team. Burgess was also a keen yachtsman and was a member of the Vaucluse Amateur Sailing Association.

After finishing his studies at Grammar, Burgess went to work as a salesman for Sydney Snow Ltd in Pitt Street while studying for the matriculation exam to enter Sydney University. He took the exam in 1941 but was unsuccessful.

With the Second World War raging, Burgess enrolled in the Royal Australian Air Force Reserve in late December 1941. On 20 June 1942, just weeks after his 20th birthday, Burgess travelled to Sydney where he joined the Royal Australian Air Force. After completing his initial training, he was accepted for training as aircrew.

Burgess embarked from Brisbane on 3 October, destined for training in Canada as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme. Over the next 11 months, Burgess underwent intense training as an air gunner and in early September 1943 he was awarded his air gunner’s badge and promoted to sergeant.

By mid-October Burgess had been transferred to England where he joined an operational training unit. He met his new crewmates, including fellow Australian Pilot Officer Roland Ward. They were the only Australians in the seven man crew and as Burgess would be the crew’s rear gunner, he would be Ward’s eyes at the back of the aircraft.

Burgess and his crewmates were posted to No. 50 Squadron, RAF, based at Waddington, on 17 May 1944. At this stage of the war England was a hive of activity as preparations for the Allied invasion of France, known as D-Day, neared completion.

As part of the wider D-Day operations, aircraft from RAF’s Bomber Command struck German targets around Allied landing sites to disrupt German defences as much as possible.

On the night of 5/6 June 1944, Lancaster bombers from No. 50 Squadron were sent to bomb a German artillery unit located around the village of St Pierre Du-Mont. This German unit had the ability to fire on the Allied landing points at Pointe Du Hoc and Omaha Beach, and the unit’s destruction would mean one less obstacle for the seaborne forces to overcome.

Lancaster R for Roger, flown by Ward and with Burgess as rear gunner, took part in the operation. After bombing the target R for Roger was hit by flak and began to burn. Ward gave the order to bail out but only one crewman, Flight Sergeant Keith Reading, the mid-upper turret gunner, managed to do so. After being repatriated to England, he was able to give an account of the loss of his crewmates and their aircraft.

Burgess and the other six members of the crew were initially posted as missing and it was not until 1945 that the deaths of the other six crew members were confirmed.

Malcolm Burgess was days short of his 22nd birthday.

The dead airmen were initially buried in battlefield graves by American soldiers. Burgess’s remains were later located in St Laurent Sur Mer Cemetery and reinterred in the Bayeux War Cemetery next to his compatriot Pilot Officer Roland Ward.

His name is listed 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 Flight Sergeant Malcolm Robert Burgess, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section