CARLYLE, Maxwell Sinclair
Service Number: | 417563 |
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Enlisted: | 9 June 1942 |
Last Rank: | Flying Officer |
Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
Born: | Wayville, SA, 6 October 1923 |
Home Town: | Clarence Park, South Australia |
Schooling: | Edwardstown Primary School |
Occupation: | Aircraft Production Rivetter, Bookkeeper |
Died: | Adelaide, 17 August 1979, aged 55 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
Cemetery: |
Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia Derrick Gardens of Remembrance, Tree Bed 20, Position 6 |
Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
9 Jun 1942: | Involvement Flying Officer, 417563 | |
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9 Jun 1942: | Enlisted Adelaide | |
9 Jun 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 417563 | |
12 Sep 1945: | Discharged |
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Completed by Great Grandson who attends Thomas More College, Adelaide
Aerial bombardment was a key part of the allied victory over Germany in World War II, with many young men from around the world volunteering to fly in some of the best aircraft of the era. These men came from all over the world and one of those thousands of young men was Maxwell Sinclair Carlyle, my great grandfather.
Max was born on the 6th of October 1923, in Wayville, Adelaide [1]. He grew up with his brother (Tom), sister (Margaret), and parents (Walter and Ruby). He attended a number of local primary schools, including Edwardstown Primary [2, 3]. Following school, he worked as a rivetter in aircraft production at General Motors Holden, Woodville [1].
After joining the Reserves at the age of 18 years and 4 months on 20 February 1942, Max then joined the Royal Australian Air Force at No. 5 Recruitment Centre, Adelaide, on 9 June 1942 [1]. He began training in July and went through four different schools of gunnery, bombing, and service flying, before he arrived at 2 BAGS (Bomb and Gunnery School) at Port Pirie, where he took to the skies for the first time in a Fairey Battle light bomber [4]. He flew roughly 12 hours in the aircraft and passed all qualifications for the school [1].
Max finally set off for Britain from Melbourne on the 27th of September 1943 and arrived on the 9th of November the same year. After arriving in Britain, he was deployed to 27 Operational Training Unit; it was at this Unit where he started to fly more frequently in preparation for duty. He trained on Wellington I, III, IX, X’s and Halifax II’s for a combined flying time of 159 hours [1]. He was trained as a mid-upper gunner on the bombers, which are the auxiliary turrets mounted on top. It was at this Unit that he would have met his eventual crew members with which he flew in 466 Squadron. From the available personnel records of his crew members, he was the last member of the crew to arrive at 27 Operational Training Unit [5-8].
Finally, after completing all his training, he was deployed to 466 Squadron on 11th of May 1944 [1, 4]. His crew consisted of 7 people: Warrant Officer Thoms, the pilot; Flight Sergeant Silverstone, the bomb aimer; Warrant Officer Forgan, the navigator; Flight Sergeant Waite, the wireless operator; Flight Sergeant Wilson, the rear gunner; Sergeant Cross, the flight engineer who was a British Air Force member; and Max, the mid- upper gunner (see Figure 2, 3) [9].
On his first sortie on the 24th of May 1944, he was on one of twelve aircraft ordered to attack Collines-Beaumont, France (blue marker on Figure 3) [9]. They took off at 10pm on the 24th of May and were over the target around midnight. Flight records report that all bombs were dropped, his plane suffered no damage, and he landed back at Leconfield at 2am on the 25th of May. After two missions, the entire Squadron was relocated to Driffield Air Base, East England just prior to the launch of D-Day on 6th of June 1944.
Over the next four months of his operational tour, he would go on to complete a total of 40 sorties of which 17 were during the day and 23 were at night [9]. Out of these 40 sorties only 7 were outside of France (see Figure 3). His first flight to Collines- Beaumont and his last flight to Boulogne (red marker on Figure 3) on 17th of September 1944 were only 50 kilometres apart. Most bombings were of general areas that included battle areas, marshalling yards, railway bridges, and airfields [9].
During these flights, Max sat in his gunner turret. Max’s turret was difficult to get into as the process, which was done in full flight suit, required Max, who was almost 6-foot, to squeeze into an area that was very difficult to get into as he had to get into his chair from the underneath by stretching up and pulling himself through the foldable seat, and then sit in that position for upwards of 4 hours, while freezing and having limited movement with his body within the turret [10, 11]. His turret was designed with a full 360 view of the top of the plane however in the design it does not allow fast movement at low angles because of fears that the gun fire could cause damage to the aircraft (see Figure 4).
On his penultimate flight over Kiel (15th of September 1944), his plane came under attack by an enemy fighter and was illuminated by searchlights and a flare, temporarily blinding him and the other gunners [12]. For successfully evading the fighter, despite losing valuable height, the pilot, Thoms, continued to complete a successful mission and earned a Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions [12]. Although there were six other people on that plane, none were awarded for their actions, apart from the standard medals awarded (see Figure 5).
After the end of his operational tour, his deployment at 466 Squadron ended, and he was sent back to 27 Operational Training Unit to “rest” and to teach new recruits before the potential of being sent back to Bomber Command for a second tour [1, 4, 10]. Normally, this rest period was for 6 months, however, the war ended before he could be sent back to bomber command, and he began the long process of demobilisation and return to Australia. During this time at 27 Operational Training Unit, he was commissioned to the rank of Pilot Officer on the 4th of October 1944 [1, 4]. He was later promoted to the rank of Flying Officer on the 4th of April 1945 before demobilisation was completed on the 12th of September 1945 [1, 4].
Following the war, Max attended the Dawn Service and ANZAC Day March every year, leaving home early in the morning [2]. ANZAC Day was a day for Max to spend with other returned servicemen, with his family only seeing him as he would march past. His daughter, Anita, remembers finding him curled up in the cot of her younger brother Leigh, on the afternoon of Anzac Day when they would return home [2]. This could have been a way for him to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder and may have also been a position he was most familiar with as it would be similar to when he was in his turret.
Despite being the only member of his crew from South Australia, he would write to his crew regularly and even travelled to Sydney on Anzac Day in 1964 for a crew reunion (see Figure 6) [2, 3]. Although he didn’t seem to have a lot of friends, Anita remembers that catching up with his mates was very important to him as he would often be happier when he was around them [2]. In addition, Max became a member of the Freemasons, where he also maintained close friendships [2, 3].
Max married Gwen on the 26th of March 1949, with Anita born in 1952 and Leigh in 1954 [2]. Max continued working in civil aviation, although as a bookkeeper, eventually working at Parafield Airport. Unfortunately, Max was involved in a fatal accident with a lady killed by his motorbike in 1950, although he was found innocent [13]. Max and Gwen separated, after 25 years of marriage [3]. Max died at 55 years of age on 17th of August 1979, with his ashes buried at Centennial Park [3]. Many years later, his son Leigh fought against the cemetery as they were going to reuse his plot (Figure 7).
Reference List
1. Personnel records of Maxwell Carlyle (SN 417563), available from National Archives of Australia. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx
?Barcode=5381104&isAv=N
2. Anita Hillier, interview with the author, 21st of May 2023
3. Leigh Carlyle, interview with the author, 21st of May 2023
4. Statement of Service for Maxwell Carlyle (SN 417563), provided to Leigh Carlyle by the Department of Defence, 21 June 1996
5. Personnel records of Auburn Thoms (SN 420079), available from National Archives of Australia. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5263014
6. Personnel records of Albany Silverstone (SN 421405), available from National Archives of Australia. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5523368
7. Personnel records of James Forgan (SN 412424), available from National Archives of Australia. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx
?Barcode=5382255&isAv=N
8. Personnel records of David Wilson (SN 408449), available from National Archives of Australia. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5256729
9. Unit History of number 466 Squadron – October 1942 to October 1945, available from National Archives of Australia. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx
?Barcode=1191788&isAv=N
10. Halifax Aircrew. Description about Halifax bombers and the roles of members of air crew. https://tailendcharlietedchurch.wordpress.com/halifax-bomber/halifax- aircrew/#:~:text=The%20Aircraft%20required%20a%20Crew,Nose%2C%20Mid%20%26%20R ear%20Turrets
11. Military Aviation History. (2018) Inside a Halifax heavy Bomber: Crew, Turrets and Guns [HP Halifax 2/2]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zypfAVMRJc
12. Supplement to the London Gazette, 17 November 1944 – Citation for Acting Flying Officer Auburn Edward Thoms for Distinguished Flying Cross. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36799/supplement/5283/data.pdf
13. 1950 'Woman Ran Into Motor Cycle, Coroner Told', The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), 14 June, p. 13. , viewed 22 May 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44938115