Speech by Wing Commander Anthony O'Leary OAM        På dansk                Updated:  23 MAR 2015

Key links: The Ode * The speech * The wreaths * Porter and Morris *
British War Graves * Lancaster ME449 * 103 Squadron Loss of Lives 

Wing Commander Anthony O'Leary OAM Royal Australian Air Force, Assistant Defence Advisor, held this speech at the
Stadil Memorial on 4 SEP 2013:

Denmark ME449 Memorial – 12 March 2015

Thank you very much, distinguished guests, family members of the crew of Lancaster ME449, ladies and gentlemen.  My name is Anthony O’Leary and I am a WGCDR in the Royal Australian Air Force.  Today I have the great privilege of representing both the Australian Government and Royal Australian Air Force.

As an airman I am absolutely delighted to be here with you and to take part in this commemoration.  We are here to acknowledge the service and sacrifice of a unique British and Australian Lancaster crew who crashed, with mixed fortune, in March 1945 while returning from a mission to lay mines in the straits between Denmark and Sweden.

In honouring the crew today we also pause to reflect on the contribution of the service men and women of Australia, Denmark and Great Britain who have fought and fallen to preserve the peace and freedoms we enjoy today.

Today also highlights that it’s not just service men and women that contribute, and make sacrifices during war.  There are remarkable people who fill the gaps left by those who serve.  In WWII there were the underground or resistance, and members of the community who stood up for what they believed in, and promoted humanity at great risk to themselves and their families.

The story of ME449 in March 1945 is the story of many people, all showing great courage and doing extraordinary and remarkable things.  It is therefore most fitting we also pay tribute to the humanity and generosity of the Danish community that came to the aid of the crew of ME449 in their hour of need.  These people risked theirs, and their families’ lives, to help total strangers.

I would now like to reflect on Bomber Command, of which 103SQN and ME449 crew were an integral and most important part.  125 000 airmen served in Bomber Command during WWII of which 55 573 were killed on operations.  Approximately 70 percent of aircrew died, were taken prisoner, or were injured between 1939 and 1945.

The crews of Bomber Command flew over 364 000 (364 514) sorties, and at the peak of the campaign up to one thousand heavy bombers would conduct operations on a single night, of which ten percent of aircraft and crews would fail to return home.  In 1943 and 1944 the attrition rate was so high that crews had less than a 50 percent chance of surviving a tour of 30 operations.

Understanding this risk, over 12 000 Australians still volunteered to serve in Bomber Command, and believe it or not, over 10 500 were like Bertie, Mitchell, and Porter and served in mixed crews within RAF Squadrons.  Only two percent of all Australians who enlisted served in Bomber Command, however, the 3 486 who died account for 20 percent of all Australian Combat deaths.  The Australian 460 Squadron alone lost 1 018 aircrew, or the equivalent to the Squadron being wiped out five times over.  The men of Bomber Command showed great character and conviction.

The men, like the crew of ME449, who elected to serve in Bomber Command to me are all remarkable; they knew the odds, yet still volunteered day after day to walk out to the aircraft, do their flight checks, start their engines, and take the fight to the enemy. I’ve never met an airman who served in Bomber Command who didn’t have a twinkle in their eye and understand the value of life.

ME449 has five members who earned the right to wear a small caterpillar on their tie.  I was fortunate in 2013 to dine with the members of the Escape Lines Association who parachuted to safety and choose to recognise the contribution of the humble ‘silk worm’ in saving their lives.  I’m sure Slater, Foster, Bertie, Mitchell and Fairclough would have all been thanking their luck stars in March 1945 for the humble silk worm and the Danish people who assisted in their escape and evasion back to England.  They were the lucky ones.

Whilst these men were making their way back to England, their families and mates were worrying about them, just like so many Mums and Dads and other loved ones of aircrew, soldiers and sailors.

Today we also remember the loved ones who farewelled them, who worried for them, who welcomed them back home or too often, lost them on foreign fields far away from their homes.  The large numbers of promising young lives lost during war time is devastating for families and communities; it is important that we continue to pay tribute and to remember those who didn’t return.  It is of comfort to family members to know where their loved ones are laid to rest and to know that these places are cared for. And, I must say as an Australian it is a great comfort to me and my fellow countrymen that our compatriots rest here on Danish soil in a country that upholds the values and freedoms for which our men and women fought.

This site recognises the contribution of Porter and Morris and ensures they are not forgotten. And also those that served, those that made the ultimate sacrifice, and the community that showed both humanity and courage in caring for and assisting them in their hours of need.  Their legacy is reflected in the community that has chosen to remember, and who have contributed to the healing of others through the compassion and goodwill that is visible today.

On behalf of the Australian Government I would like to thank all of you for being here today, and the many people and organisations who have contributed to the success of this commemoration. 

We would especially like to thank the local councils and the nearby communities, and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, who made and continue to care for these airmen graves.

May this site continue to be a reminder of the continued solidarity and bonds of friendship between the people of Australia, Denmark and the United Kingdom, who have fought together over many years throughout the world to promote international peace and security and our shared values.  

On a personal note it is a humbling experience to be representing the people of the Royal Australian Air Force in thanking those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the finest tradition of ANZAC. It is our legacy, our responsibility and our privilege to uphold the memory of those who have fallen, and to carry the memory forward.

I would like to finish with a prayer written by an Australian airman, FSGT Hugh Brodie, 460 Squadron, Bomber Command.

Acknowledgement: FSGT Hugh Brodie, 460SQN, RAAF (Killed on Operation to Bremen 3 Jun 1942)

Almighty and all- present power
Short is the prayer I make to thee
I do not ask, in battle hour,
For any shield for me.

The vast unalterable way,
From which the stars do not depart,
May not be turned aside to stay
The bullet, flying to my heart.

I ask no help to strike my foe,
I seek no petty victory here,
The enemy I hate, I know
To Thee is also dear.

But this I pray – be at my side
When death is drawing through the sky,
Almighty God, Who also died,
Teach me the way that I should die. 

Lest we forget.