Graves Too Far Away: Australians in Bomber Command

Six Australians, aged between 20 and 25 should have been standing in an Aussie backyard the day before Christmas 1944, drinking a cold beer and burning sausages on the barbeque. Their conversation should have been about the Boxing Day Test. Instead these young men with bright futures were at RAF Binbrook being briefed for an operation to bomb rail yards at Cologne. Their Lancaster exploded near the Dutch town of Oostelbeers. Stark white tombstones mark their graves. An elderly man in the nation on the other side of the world considers a photo of the tombstones and speaks tenderly of a brother he has missed for seventy years. But he smiles at the knowledge that children of St Joseph’s School, care for the graves – the small sign they placed nearby reads “Bedankt” (Thank you).
By war’s end several thousand Australian aircrew would lie in European cemeteries or would never be found. Their families, communities and nation would struggle with the loss of so much human potential and, graves too far away. Their service and sacrifice would reverberate for generations.

Presenter: Dr Kathryn Spurling

Date: Thursday 13 March, 12.30pm start

Cost: FREE, gold coin donation welcome