The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (404257) Flight Sergeant Moheddeen Abdull Ghias Howsan, No. 405 Squadron, RCAF, 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 Gerard pratt, the story for this day was on (404257) Flight Sergeant Moheddeen Abdull Ghias Howsan, No. 405 Squadron, RCAF, Second World War.

404257 Flight Sergeant Moheddeen Abdull Ghias Howsan, No. 405 Squadron, RCAF
Flying Battle 1 April 1942

Today we remember and pay tribute to Flight Sergeant Moheddeen Abdull Ghias Howsan.

Moheddeen Howsan was born on 23 April 1919, the elder son of Moheddeen and Rahim Howsan of the Brisbane suburb of Mount Gravatt. Howsan was a member of a prominent family in Mount Gravatt, and the descendant of one of the first Islamic families to settle in the area.
Known as “Bob” to his friends, Moheddeen attended Buranda Boys’ School and Brisbane Boys’ Grammar School, and was a keen sportsman who enjoyed cricket, football, tennis and rowing. After school he worked as a shop assistant and salesman, and in 1939 studied elementary electronics.

After the outbreak of the Second World War, Howsan served for nine months in a local militia force, the 43rd Battery of the 11th Artillery Brigade. In July 1940 he enlisted to serve in the Royal Australian Air Force. His younger brother Hamid also served in the air force, one of four members of the extended Howsan family to serve during the war.

After completing his initial training, Howsan embarked overseas to continue his pilot training in the United Kingdom. In regular appraisals made during his training, his skills were consistently listed as “very good” and “superior” and he was promoted on several occasions, eventually attaining the rank of flight sergeant.

In October 1941, after receiving his flying badge, he was posted to Number 405 Squadron, a unit of the Canadian Air Force that was operating from the United Kingdom. During the Second World War, it was common for airman from across the British Commonwealth to serve in units that required their service, and Howsan was one of many Australian servicemen to be attached to the air force of other Allied countries.

With 405 Squadron, Howsan flew Vickers Wellington aircraft on bombing raids over Nazi-occupied Europe from the base at Pocklington in Yorkshire.

In the early hours of 1 April 1942, Howsan took part in one such raid as the pilot of Wellington LQ-L on a bombing raid on a Ford motor factory north-east of Paris. After reaching its target, Howsan’s aircraft came under enemy anti-aircraft fire. At around 4 am, his aircraft was struck by flak and caught fire.

Howsan continued to fly the damaged aircraft as his crew attempted to put out the flames. But the damage was too extensive. Canadian Pilot Officer Laurel Burgoyne was able to escape from the burning aircraft, and despite his parachute catching fire, made it to ground. He was later taken as a prisoner of war.

He was, however, the only survivor. Burgoyne saw the furiously burning aircraft falling to earth on path to crash into the small town of Marley-le-Roi, east of Paris. In his final act, Howsan was able to steer his plane away from the town, and it crashed into a nearby field, narrowly avoiding the local houses, school and church. The remaining five aircrew were all killed.

Howsan was 22 years old.

His body and those of his crew were recovered from the burning wreck by the townspeople, who still commemorate Howsan’s heroic action that saved the town. His remains now lie in the small Les Gonards Cemetery near Versailles, along with the two Canadian and two British airmen who died with him.

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 Moheddeen Abdull Ghias Howsan, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section