The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (413561) Pilot Officer Maurice Joseph Freeman, No. 460 Squadron, Royal Australian 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 Chris Widenbar, the story for this day was on (413561) Pilot Officer Maurice Joseph Freeman, No. 460 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Second World War.

413561 Pilot Officer Maurice Joseph Freeman, No. 460 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force
KIA 23 November 1943
Story delivered 30 October 2017

Today we pay tribute to Pilot Officer Maurice Joseph Freeman.

Maurice Freeman was born on 20 September 1915 in Bathurst, New South Wales, to Michael and Agnes Freeman.

Young Maurice attended St Stanislaus College, before going on to work as a station overseer at a property near Bathurst. A newspaper article published after his death reported that Freeman “became one of the most popular lads in the city” of Bathurst. He was a prominent league footballer, playing for Charlestons and captaining the district team, as well as being known in cricket and tennis circles.

He enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in Sydney on 12 September 1941, just before his twenty-sixth birthday
Maurice’s brothers Pat and Terry also enlisted in the RAAF during the war. His father, Michael, joined the Royal Australian Engineers after his three sons had entered the RAAF.

After attending No. 4 Elementary Flying Training School at Mascot Airport, No. 10 Elementary Flying Training School at Temora, and No. 6 Service Flying Training School near Molalla, Freeman had a period of final leave before heading to England for overseas flying duty.

In November 1942, he finally embarked for England. As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme, Freeman 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.

Once he completed his training in England, he was posted to the Australian No. 460 Squadron. This was the most highly decorated Australian squadron in Bomber Command, and the squadron that suffered the highest casualties. Flying Wellingtons and then the four-engine 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 23 November 1943, the Lancasters of 460 Squadron were taking part in a raid on Berlin.

The Lancaster being captained and piloted by Maurice Freeman, was shot down and crashed near Duisburg. Four of Freeman’s British and Australian crewmates managed to bale out and became prisoners of war. The other crew members, Australian Flight Sergeant Douglas Buchanan Aberle, British airman Thomas Elliott, and Pilot Officer Freemen, were killed.

Maurice Freeman was 28 years old.

His body was recovered from the crash site and buried in the North Military Cemetery at Dussledorf . He was later reinterred at the British and Commonwealth Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, at Kleve in
Germany, where he is buried near his crewmates under the epitaph chosen by his family:
Greater love no man hath Than to give his life For his friends
After his death, Maurice Freeman Memorial Gates were erected in his honour in Bathurst.

His 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 Pilot Officer Maurice Joseph Freeman, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section