London, England. 1943-01-04. The RAAF Glee Club was formed by an RAAF Chaplain Squadron Leader (Sqn Ldr) Gordon Wood on board a ship which brought Australian airmen to England last year. Members of the Club are seen broadcasting in the weekly series "Britain Sings" in the BBC's Empire Services. Left to right: 413150 Pilot Officer (PO) Frank Walker of Wellington, NSW; Sqn Ldr H. C. Thrush of Adelaide, SA; Sqn Ldr G. Wood; 409597 PO L. Roper of Bentleigh, Vic; 412396 Sergeant Pilot C. Byrnes of Moree, NSW; 401317 Sergeant Observer C. Notman of Skipton, Vic; 408511 PO D. Pile of Camberwell, Vic.
underlined my late Father -5th from left
Group portrait of eight RAAF members of a Glee Party performing at a concert at Australia House, London on Australia Day 1943. Their songs were received with great enthusiasm by the audience. Identified from left to right: pianist 416307 Pilot Officer (PO) Hamilton Roland Dacre Budd (pilot) from Broken Hill, NSW (died 1 August 1943 on operations over the Atlantic Ocean); 413150 PO Frank Sutton Walker (observer) from Wellington, NSW; Squadron Leader (Sqn Ldr) Harry Clifford Thrush (chaplain) from Adelaide, South Australia; Sqn Ldr Gordon Gladstone Wood (chaplain) from Wellington, NSW who conducted the choir (died 18 June 1944 in UK); 412396 Sergeant (Sgt) Charles Keith Byrnes (pilot) from Moree, NSW; 401317 Sgt George Claud Notman (observer) from Skipton, Victoria; 408511 PO Donald Zalva Pile (pilot) from Melbourne, Victoria (died 26 October 1943 in Scotland); and 409597 PO Leslie Walter Roper (pilot) from Melbourne (died 4 September 1943 on operations over Germany).
Underlined 5th from the left my late father - passed away in 1969 from war related ailments.
3 comments:
Remarkable group of men, Lindsay, and a couple of great photographs. It was sad to see that most of them never made it to the other side of that war and that your dad had been seriously injured. Wouldn't you love to hear them sing? Perhaps one day you shall.
HI Susan,
RAF fatalities were horrendous and amounted to over 20% of the total for WW2 even though they only represented 2% of the total engaged. The War Memorial kindly made a CD for me which is quite clear and encapsulates their wonderful performances. Best wishes
My father wanted to join the RAF as a tail gunner until my mother objected most vehemently. Had he done so there's no doubt I wouldn't be here.
Post a Comment