Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Malcolm Allender was born in Goolwa to Thomas and Gertrude and was the youngest of three children. To gain a better education he moved to Adelaide and whilst living with his uncle at Fullerton completed his schooling at Unley High School. After leaving school he found work for two years as a clerk with the Department of Agriculture. But two weeks before his 18th birthday, war was declared in Europe and six days after turning 18 Malcolm joined the Army and was allocated to the Army Service Corps. 

Service life seemed to agree with Malcolm and after attending some camps at Wayville and Oakbank he was promoted to CPL after only six months. There was more to be had for Malcolm though, and in October 1940 he transferred to the RAAF as a pilot. Starting off in Gypsy Moths and Tiger Moths, Malcolm was a bit scratchy at first but would go on to be regarded as a pilot of great skill by the end of the war. Malcolm conducted his RAAF training at a number of locations including Victor Harbour, Parafield, and Point Cook, and by the end of hostilities he was qualified in no less than eight different aircraft, including Wirraway’s , Kittyhawks and Mustangs.

Like his fellow comrades, Malcolm had spent many months around Australia in training mode, however the events of 7 Dec 1941 would drastically shake things up. With the Japanese conducting simultaneous attacks on Pearl Harbour and the Malayan Peninsular, the war came another step closer to home. Malcolm was by now allocated to 24 Squadron, and with war declared on Japan, was sent with his squadron to Rabaul to help provide defence for New Britain. With Japanese forces sweeping south into the Pacific in large numbers, the island of New Britain came under attack from over 100 Japanese aircraft flying from two aircraft carriers, fresh from the attack on Pearl Harbour.  The 20 January saw 24 Squadron scrambled to defend the island with their eight cumbersome Wirraways against the speed and agile Japanese Zero’s. The exchange lasted only ten minutes, leaving three Wirraways shot down, two crash landing and another suffering damage. With only two Wirraways left and a Hudson bomber, the sick and wounded were loaded onto all available space on the aircraft to be evacuated. Being one of the pilots guaranteed Malcolm the chance to leave, but for those of the support crew left behind, some surrendered in good faith only to be massacred by the Japanese ground forces in a sign of what was to come under the Nippon.

Following his evacuation back to Australia, Malcolm transferred amongst 23rd, 82nd, and 83rd Squadrons as well as some training units to learn some new types of aircraft and also instruct new pilots in the art of aerial combat. March 1944 saw Malcolm heading to New Guinea to join 75 Squadron to fly Kittyhawks. The next nine months would see him fly many various and dangerous missions all along the north coast of PNG as the allies pushed the Japanese back northwards. The RAAF had recently formed No. 10 Operational Group which consisted of a number of squadrons including 75th which was now directed to support the major offensive on Hollandia and take out the Japanese 4th Air Army. As the allies hit the beaches the RAAF ground personnel quickly repaired the Aitape airfield and Malcolm and the other Kittyhawks set about destroying the Japanese forces. This action was so decisive and carried out with such valor that No. 10 Operational Group would later be awarded the U.S. Presidential Unit Citation and the Netherlands War Cross.

In January 1945 Malcolm was rotated back to Australia and posted to Mildura as a flight instructor. It was here that the news came through that the war had ended and Malcolm wasted no time in getting back to Adelaide and be discharged. The reason for the rush home, apart from a long war, was that during a brief leave period in January Malcolm had married his sweetheart Dorothy Standish and the couple could now settle down in Col Light Gardens and start a family. Malcolm took up work with Elder Smiths and after a few years the family moved to Melbourne in 1967 before returning to SA and settling in Macclesfield in 1980. Macclesfield agreed with the Allenders and their small property gave them many happy times with their grandchildren.

Malcolm Allender served all but two weeks of the Second World War, and considering he flew a total of 1215 hours in a variety of fighter aircraft many in operations, it is a wonder that he came out in one piece. It was this fact however that burdened him the most for his remaining years.  The cost borne by those around him was very high, for as each squadron only had a small number of planes, as one would land and be refueled and rearmed, a fresh pilot would take off for the next mission. After a while Malcolm began to notice that after a mission when other pilots would not return his plane had not received a scratch, but when someone else took his plane up it would either come back terribly damaged or not at all, and this would happen time and time again. Bearing the weight of such memories on ones consciousness and still being able to live a long, successful and happy life surely mark the measure of the man.