The Australian War Memorial will commemorate the service of Flying Officer Peter Norham Birt in a Last Post Ceremony this afternoon.
Birt, who was born in Albany on April 19, 1924, enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in 1942 and was posted to No.460 Squadron in October 1944 to fly the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber, flying 14 operations over Germany in World War II and earning the respect of his crew for his calmness, professionalism and skill.
However, on the evening of January 28, 1945, Birt and his crew took off from RAF Binbrook in the Lancaster “S for Sugar”, but were struck by a burst of cannon shells from an approaching German Junkers Ju-88 night fighter.
Birt, realising the Lancaster was seriously damaged, told his crew to bail out while he fought to keep the plane steady before crashing near Vaihingen, close to Stuttgart in Germany’s south.
Birt was killed in the crash. He was just 20 years old.
Wednesday’s ceremony will be watched by Birt’s older brother James Birt, 103, who himself is one of Australia’s last surviving WWII pilots from 100 Squadron.
“It will be interesting to watch Peter’s story in the Memorial’s Last Post Ceremony live, even from the other side of the country in Perth,” James said.
James will be surrounded by his family and current RAAF members while he watches the ceremony. James’ niece, Jill Birt, and great-grandson Bailey, have travelled to Canberra to lay a wreath in Peter’s honour at the Australian War Memorial ceremony.
The Last Post Ceremony will be live-streamed here.
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