Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John Oliver Flight was born at Middle Brighton in Victoria on the 16th of July 1918.  He was the son of Oliver Charles Hermann Flight and Gladys Amy Kempster. Later in his childhood the family moved from Victoria to Glenelg, South Australia where John attended Adelaide Technical High School. His family was religious and therefore John spent much of his childhood attending the Church of Christ. After finishing at Adelaide Technical High School John used his skills learnt to become an inspector’s assistant before enlisting with the army.

As a young 22-year-old, John Oliver Flight was enlisted as an officer of the Army on the 22nd of May 1940. His service number was SX3217.  On the day of enlistment, he was sent for duty to RRD Wayville as part of the 6th Division Reinforcement before being moved out of RRD Wayville with his Battalion to Cheltenham on the 24th of May 1940. The following month John and his Battalion were moved to Woodside joining the 2nd/27th Infantry Battalion.  At this time John was promoted to Sergeant and employed as an instructor. The following year on the 16th of January 1941 John was once more promoted, this time from Sergeant to Lieutenant.

On the 7th of June 1941 John was sent to fight in Syria and was allocated the job of being an operation exporter. On this day the Allied powers were attacked by the Axis powers which forced Oliver Flight’s Battalion to fight on a coastal route supported by the Navy before heading into much more tough terrain high up in the mountains.

John’s 2nd/27th Battalion was part of the 21st Brigade along with the 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion.  The troops of these Battalions were mainly from South Australia and Tasmania. The group was controlled and led by Lieutenant Connell Arthur Blackburn.

Flight finished his service in Syria at the start of 1942 before being relisted and sent to the Kokoda trail in Papua New Guinea on the 29th of November of 1942. During his time on the Kokoda trail Lieutenant John Oliver Flight was unfortunately killed in action while serving his country.  He was killed on the 29th of November of 1942 on the Kokoda Trail in Papua at the young age of 24. He was buried at the Port Mosby War Cemetery in Papua New Guinea.

Information on the 2nd/27th Infantry Battalion

The 2nd/27th infantry Battalion was the second largest Battalion in South Australia formed for World War 2. The Battalion was formed in the Adelaide Hills at the Woodside Army Barracks in May 1940.  The Battalion sailed overseas to the Middle East in October to fight in Egypt. The Battalion disembarked from Egypt before heading to duty in Palestine. Once service had ended on the Egypt- Libya frontier the Battalion participated in the invasion of Syria and Lebanon, which at the time was held by the Independent French Army, Vichy French.

The Battalion fought in several major actions until January 1942.

The 2nd/27th Battalion disembarked the Middle east in early March 1942 to be sent back to Adelaide before being re-embarked and dispatched to Port Moresby in November to relieve the militia Battalions that had held the Japanese advance along the Kokoda Track.

 During the Pacific Southeast War from 1942- 1946 the Battalion was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Cooper.

 After five years of war the Battalion returned to Australia in early February 1946 aboard the transport Winchester Victory. The Battalion was then disbanded on the 18th of March 1946 in Brisbane, Queensland. During the 5 years of service of the Battalion 2,769 men served their country of whom 268 were killed in action, with another 607 being wounded.

Bibliography

Virtual War Memorial Australia- https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/605801 , https://vwma.org.au/explore/units/11 , https://vwma.org.au/explore/campaigns/16

National Archives Australia - https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=6643981&S=1&R=0

Trove-  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47853567

 Australian war Memorial- https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1709349