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War Memorial
Australia

Son of Arthur Thomas Caswell and Ethel Gertrude Caig Caswell of Brewarrina, NSW

Flight Sergeant Caswell 413735 was killed in the loss of Halifax MZ604 of Number 76 Squadron RAF near Bretigny-sur-Orge, France

Harry Caswell, the son of the Arthur and Ethel Caswell, was born in Coonamble, NSW. He was a twenty-five-year-old grazier from Brewarrina when he enlisted in the RAAF on 13 September 1941. He was known as Hal to his family and RAAF friends. His oldest brother, Thomas, would remain on the family property, ‘Eurah’, while his second brother, Arthur,[1] would join the 2nd AIF.

Three months before Hal was called up, his was the first name drawn in a ballot for the release of a 21,700-acre parcel of land, known as the Tom’s Lake block, near Brewarrina. Hal, like so many children of the outback, was first educated by correspondence and then at a boarding school. In Hal’s case, the school was All Saints’ College in Bathurst. He undertook his recruit training at 2 ITS in Bradfield Park before joining 5 EFTS in Narromine on 11 December 1941.

At Narromine Hal’s instructor was P-O Fenly. And he flew solo for the first time on 29 December in a Tiger Moth A17-89. Hal successfully completed his initial flight training on 22 February, but he was assessed as below average. He then took a period of embarkation leave before he rejoined his course mates and sailed from Sydney on the SS President Monroe on 24 April. He landed in San Francisco on 15 May and arrived in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada three days later.

After three weeks in Edmonton, Hal and all the Narromine men proceeded to 10 SFTS in Dauphin. The training there was punishing. The men flew almost daily and their progress was constantly reviewed to identify any weaknesses that may put an aircraft and crew in danger. Hal lasted three months into the course. In early August, around the time that the men were doing their night flying and navigation tests, he underwent his hundred-hour flying test with his flight commander F-O Dodd. It did not go well. The following day, he had to fly with the Chief Flying Instructor (CFI), F-Lt Marshall. Immediately after that flight, he was removed from the course.

Although he had failed pilot training, Hal still had much to offer. He was immediately posted to RCAF Trenton in Ontario where he re-mustered as an observer. He undertook courses at 8 BAGS in Lethbridge, 3 AGS and No. 3 Air Observer School (3 AOS) in Regina, Saskatchewan and at 7 BAGS in Pearce, Alberta. Hal was awarded his observer’s badge (half wing) on 20 February 1943, on which date he was also promoted to sergeant. He later specialised as a bomb aimer and wore the bomb aimer’s half wing when it was introduced.

Hal embarked for the United Kingdom on 4 April 1943. He arrived at 11 PDRC in Bournemouth on 17 April, and remained there for three weeks before beginning his training at 5 AOS in Jurby on the Isle of Man. He flew for a month with No. 1476 (Advanced Ship Recognition) Flight at RAF Skaebrae in the Orkneys. He then joined 19 OTU at RAF Kinloss in north-east Scotland on 29 June.

Hal’s operational training was conducted in the outdated Whitley bomber. While at Kinloss, he became a member of a crew that posted to No. 1663 HCU to convert to the Halifax  bomber and then went on to No. 76 Squadron RAF on 14 March 1944. Hal was the only Australian in the crew of seven, led by F-Sgt Leonard (Smokey) Smith, RAFVR.[2]

On completion of his time at 19 OTU Hal had leave in London and was interviewed for radio by a journalist, Lester Powell, about his thoughts on London. Powell and Hal walked through the East End of London, the Docklands and China Town. When Powell asked Hal how London was compared to Brewarrina, he commented:

You couldn’t have found a spot on this earth that reminded me less of home. And not only because the appearance of it is different. The way the people live and how they look is completely different.[3]

Hal elaborated by saying that the main difference was that the people, in what was then one of the world’s largest cities, ‘seem dominated by the clock’. It is not known if Hal’s family heard the broadcast when it was broadcast in Australia in December 1943.

In the lead up to D-Day, 76 Squadron participated in raids on occupied France. On the night of 2–3 June, the squadron was tasked to attack the French town of Trappes to the south-west of Paris. The attack was successfully carried out, but as the aircraft left the target it was pursued and attacked by a night fighter. The aircraft crashed in flames near the town of Forges-les-Bains to the south of Trappes. The only survivor was the navigator, Sgt Ray Hood, RAF, who was badly burnt, suffered broken legs, a fractured skull and three bullet wounds.

In early January 1945, Hood arrived in the United Kingdom and was debriefed. His debriefing officer noted:

After leaving target badly shot up by Night Fighter. Caswell unhurt by this attack as he helped Hood and was seen fitting parachutes. Hood was endeavouring to quench fires in Wireless Operator’s cabin when aircraft went into dive and he lost consciousness. When recovered he was about 3 thousand feet and pulled ripcord. Hood saw aircraft burning on ground.[4]

It would appear that Hal and Ray Hood were thrown clear of the aircraft when it broke up in mid-air; Hal’s body was recovered a distance from the crash site. The remains of the rest of the crew were found in the aircraft.

Hal and his crew were buried in a common grave in the parish cemetery at Brétigny-sur-Orge, near Corbeil. In 1946, the War Graves Unit exhumed the bodies. They made a positive identification of Hal and he was reburied in a single plot.

Flight Sergeant Harry Cosgreave Caswell, RAAF is buried in Brétigny-sur-Orge Communal Cemetery in France.

[1] Spr Arthur Gordon Caswell, NX98270, 2nd AIF; b. Coonamble, NSW, 4 Oct 1913; d. Griffith, NSW, 20 Nov 1983.
[2] P-O Leonard James Richard Smith, 176021, RAFVR; of Ipoh, Perak, Malaya; KIA 3 Jun 1944, aged 24.
[3] AWM65, 639, CASWELL Harry Cosgreave 413735. ANZAC’s look at London – Transmitted in Australia 16 Dec 1943.
[4] National Archives of Australia: A705, 166/7/516.

Reference:  High in the Sunlit Silence, Vivid Publishing, Commander Tony Vine.