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Lawrence Keith Day (1916-1942)

Lawrence was born on 1 June 1916 in Richmond Victor ia, the fourth of five children. His father Ernest was an electrician work ing with the Victorian Railways. His mother Mary was a first generation Au stralian with an Irish mother and an Italian father. The family moved to S ydney in 1919, and Lawrence started school in the following year at ag e 4. A June birthday means you either start school at 4½ or 5½. We do not know where he started school, but most of his primary schooling was at Camperdown Public School. He attended Hurstville Technical High School, where he completed the Junior Certificate in 1929. He then did 12 months training in a fitting & turning workshop. In his early twenties he moved to Queensl and and worked on cattle stations, where his technical schooling allowed him to be in demand as a fitter, working mainly on windmills. He also started flying lessons, accumulating 10 hours solo. In Dec 1940 Lawrence enlisted in the RAAF and comme nced flying training at Narrandera NSW. He continued his flying training i n Canada and after gaining his wings he joined the RAF in Southern England. He transferred to India in 1942 and was killed in a flying accident there on 3 Dec 1942.

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Lawrence Keith Day – RAAF Service Summary

Lawrence was working near Winton in Queensland, when he signed the RAAF Application for Air Crew form on 27th July 1940. It then took a few months before he was accepted for the Empire Air Training Scheme in Brisbane on 6th December 1940. Three days later he was attending 2 Initial Training School at Bradfield Park in Lindfield Sydney. He spent just under 12 weeks there learning the basics of military life, as well as mathematics, navigation and aerodynamics. This park was located between Lady Game Drive and the Lane Cove River and after the war was resumed for housing. The present street names Brevet Ave and Squadron Close are a clue to its location. Lawrence finished at 2 ITS on 28th February 1941 and proceeded to 8 EFTS at Narrandera NSW, where he commenced elementary flying training on 6th March 1941. The course used Tiger Moths as the trainer aircraft and lasted 7 weeks. Lawrence passed and finished on 30th April. Three weeks later he embarked in Sydney for Canada, and 7 weeks later he was at the RCAF base at Uplands near Ottawa, to attend the Service Flying Training School 2 SFTS. Ten weeks later on 1st September, he passed the course and was awarded his wings and promoted to Sergeant. He left Canada on 18th September 1941 bound for England, arriving around 28th September. He then spent several weeks qualifying on Hurricanes and Spitfires before being posted to 234 Squadron on 15th January 1942, located at various airfields in South West England. He subsequently departed for India transferring to 146 Squadron on 12th May. This RAF squadron was formed in India on 15th October 1941. It converted to Hurricanes and moved to Calcutta (Kolkata) in May 1942. Subsequently he was promoted to F/Sgt and transferred to 79 Squadron on 29th August, operating out of the airfield at Kanchrapara, North of Kolkata. At that time the Japanese Army was still advancing through Burma towards India. Lawrence was killed in a flying accident on 3rd December to the North of Kanchrapara. Two Hurricanes from 79 Squadron were making low level dummy attacks on an Indian Army gun position, to exercise their anti-aircraft defences, when Lawrence’s aircraft struck the ground.

The Australian Hotel in Winton, where Lawrence was living, when he signed up for the RAAF.

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The “windmill expert” somewhere in mid West Queensland.

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A Brief History of 8 EFTS Narrandera NSW

Courtesy of the Clyde North Aeronautical Preservation Group - CNAPG

Lawrence Keith Day attended 8 Elementary Flying Training School (8 EFTS) from 6th March until 30th April 1941. He had already accumulated around 10 hours dual under private instruction, prior to joining the RAAF.

8 EFTS was raised at Narrandera, New South Wales on the 19th September 1940, operating from 331 acres of the municipal airport and 70 acres of adjoining crown land. The advance party arrived on the same day, consisting of Pilot Officers R.A. O’Donnell and A.M. Campbell, along with 37 airmen.

When the first Commanding Officer, Flying Officer G.F. Hughes, MC, AFC arrived to take command 19th September, the accommodation consisted of a small number of sleeping huts, and no facilities at the airfield. However 60 trainees arrived from 1 and 2 Initial Training Squadrons on the same day, to commence training, although it was not until 14th of November 1940, that flying times were fully utilised. The base developed, with the addition of relief landing grounds, and the strength of the unit increased to 36 officers and 433 airmen by the end of November. The development of the unit was retarded by cyclone damage on the 6th of December 1940. Hail and rain struck the unit during mid-afternoon and within minutes, 22 Tiger Moth aircraft had been wrecked. Those, which were not destroyed, were unserviceable. Telephone communications with the Narrandera town ship ceased due to the cables becoming saturated and contact was only maintained with the town by motor vehicle.

The first course graduated from 8EFTS on 10th December 1940. The second course graduated on 7th January 1941. This marked a pattern of training, which would continue until the school ceased training operations in December 1944. Trainee pilots had their share of forced landings and accidents, and training was disrupted by the elements on at least one occasion.

At the end of December 1944, there were 83 Tiger Moths on charge, but instructions had been received that the unit would function as a care and maintenance unit, specifically tasked to store aircraft, before disbanding on the 16th of June 1945. Here is a photograph of a group of trainees at Narrandera c.1941, from the Point Cook Museum collection.

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31 Course 2 SFTS at Uplands RCAF base 1941. Laurie is at the 2nd row from the front, 3rd from left. The circles above 7 of the students are halos drawn by Lawrence, indicating those on 31 Course killed, before Lawrence himself was killed on 3 Dec 1942. A fellow student on 31 Course was Paul Brickhill, a Sydney journalist, who was subsequently shot down over Tunisia and taken prisoner. While a POW in Stalag Luft III he was involved in preparations for a big escape. After WW2 he wrote a book The Great Escape , which was subsequently made into a feature film in 1963. Other books authored by Paul and subsequently made into feature films were, The Dam Busters (1955) and Reach for the Sky (1956), the story of Douglas Bader.

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Lawrence was awarded his wings on 1st Sep 1941, 3 months after his 25th birthday.

RAF airfields, where 234 Squadron operated from, while Lawrence was on strength indicated by the red dots from left to right, Portreath, Warmwell, Charmy Down and Ibsley

RAF VB Spitfire in 234 Squadron markings, in service with the Squadron Sep ’41 to Oct ’44.

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Letter from Laurie to his mother, while he was serving with 234 Squadron, sent from Gloucester in the west of England, where the regional RAF HQ was located.

Note that he expected to be home by Christmas 1942.

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Hurricane Mk IIC in 79 Squadron markings, applying at the time Lawrence flew with 79 Squadron.

When Lawrence was killed 79 Squadron was operating from Kanchrapara, North of Kolkata (Calcutta). The accident occured near the Hooghly River, which is faintly visible running North from the red dot.

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The airfield at Kanchrapara in India still exists, now used by the Indian Air Force.

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Lawrence was killed just over 3 months after I was born. Two and a half years later in 1945, on Lawrence’s birthday, 1 June, my brother Michael was born. I recall my aunty Nell, Lawrence’s sister, taking me to the movies to see Song of the South. The film was released in November 1946, so we were probably seeing it in 1947, putting my age around 4 to 5. We saw other film footage at the same session, perhaps a newsreel and a segment showed aircraft plunging to the ground and exploding, most likely some WW 2 scenes. I recall my aunty sobbing uncontrollably in the seat next to me. There was only the two of us and at that age I could only sit and wait for her to recover. I composed this service summary in May 2012, the 70th year after the flying accident, in which Lawrence Keith Day was killed. Robert Cantwell