FLIGHT, Oscar Thomas
| Service Numbers: | 3018, VX102724 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | 5th Field Company Engineers |
| Born: | Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, 3 February 1895 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Student of Civil Engineering |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Bendigo Church Honour Board, Bendigo Great War Roll of Honor, Bendigo Quarry Hill Congregational Church Roll of Honor, Bendigo St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church Honor Roll, Bendigo St. John's Presbyterian Church Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Nov 1915: | Involvement Sapper, 3018, 5th Field Company Engineers, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Nov 1915: | Embarked Sapper, 3018, 5th Field Company Engineers, HMAT Ceramic, Melbourne |
World War 2 Service
| Date unknown: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lieutenant, VX102724 |
|---|
Help us honour Oscar Thomas Flight's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Jack Coyne
From the Australian War Memorial records
Lt Flight was a 20 year old university student from Bendigo, Victoria when he enlisted in the AIF and embarked for overseas as a Sapper (service number 3018) with the 5th Field Company Engineers (FCE) from Melbourne on 24 November 1915 aboard HMAT Ceramic. After serving in France with the 5th FCE, he transferred to the AFC on 28 August 1917 and graduated as a pilot on 22 January 1918. After being posted to France on 27 February 1918, he was captured on 28 March 1918 and held as a POW in Germany until repatriated to England on 13 December 1918. Lt Flight arrived back in Australia on 7 April 1919.
Biography contributed by Larna Malone
Oscar Thomas Flight was born in Bendigo, the son of Oscar G C Flight, the well-known musician and bandmaster of the Bendigo Citizens’ Band. The family lived at 253 Mitchell St, Bendigo. Oscar Thomas Flight was a student at Melbourne University, studying Civil Engineering. He enlisted in Melbourne on 2.8.15, aged 20 years and 5 months. He was 5’ 8” tall, with a sallow complexion, brown eyes and black hair. On 20.11.15 he was appointed to 5th Field Company Engineers as a Sapper with Service No. 3018. He embarked for overseas on 23.11.15.
He embarked for France from Alexandria, Egypt, on 17.3.16. On 10.5.17 he was promoted to Lance Corporal. He transferred to the Australian Flying Corps with the rank of 2/am, entering the AFC Training Depot on 7.9.17. On 30.10.17 he was attached to 29th Training Squadron and was transferred to 28th Training Squadron in December. Having graduated, he was appointed as Flying Officer (Pilot) to be 2nd Lieutenant. (22.1.18) He departed for France on 27.2.18 and, on 1.3.18, joined 2nd squadron Australian Flying Corps.
On 28.3.18 he was reported as “Missing”. He was later known to have been captured.
“A ‘circus’ of 7 German aviators, swooping suddenly ‘out of the blue’ upon the aeroplane driven by Lieut Oscar Flight of Bendigo had him at a disadvantage right from the onset and eventually was the means of his being taken prisoner. Lieut Flight was attached to a scouting party in France . . . Had left the aerodrome on a reconnoitring cruise with 3 companions, all in E5 single man scouting machines. The quartet flew into thick, heavy, cloud masses and Oscar lost his mates. Was speeding . . . over enemy territory when suddenly he was attacked from above by a flotilla of 7 German aeroplanes. They circled around him like hawks above him, peppering him with their Machine guns and gradually forcing him lower and lower and all the time damaging the machine. The supports were finally shot away and shattered and splintered, his aeroplane fell headlong to earth behind the German lines. With the greatest good luck, Lieut Flight escaped without serious injury, but was bruised, cut and badly shaken, and was made a prisoner.” [Bendigo Advertiser. 8 August 1918]
He became a POW in Karlsbruhe Camp, Germany, where he remained a prisoner until 13.12.18 when he was released and repatriated to England.
On 31.1.19 he was promoted to Lieutenant and was attached to the overseas Training Brigade. He embarked for Australia on 19.2.19.
“The Men Listed on the Roll of Honour, St John’s Presbyterian Church, Bendigo”: Larna Malone
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