HALSALL, Clifford William
| Service Number: | 418268 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 May 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Flying Officer |
| Last Unit: | Operational Training Units (RAF) |
| Born: | Euroa, Victoria, Australia, 16 November 1914 |
| Home Town: | Euroa, Strathbogie, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Natural causes, Euroa, Victoria, Australia, 16 June 1995, aged 80 years |
| Cemetery: |
Euroa Cemetery, Victoria |
| Memorials: | Euroa Fire Brigade WW2 Honour Roll, Euroa Lodge No 185 Roll of Honor WW2 |
World War 2 Service
| 15 May 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Aircraftman 2 (WW2), 418268, No. 5 Initial Training School Pearce | |
|---|---|---|
| 15 May 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 418268 | |
| 22 Jun 1944: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 418268, Operational Training Units (RAF), Air War NW Europe 1939-45, 21 Operational Training Unit (RAF) | |
| 30 Sep 1945: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 418268, Operational Training Units (RAF), 21 Operational Training Unit (RAF) | |
| 30 Sep 1945: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 418268 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Vicki Worland
CLIFFORD WILLIAM HALSALL
Eldest son of William Arthur Halsall and Anastasia Withers. Born 16th November 1914 Euroa, Victoria.
A member of the Halsall Family to gain distinction in the royal Australian Airforce was Cliff who enlisted in December 1941 and after some preliminary training in Australia arrived in England in September 1943 where he received advanced training in the heavy bombers of the period.
He commenced operational flying as a Flight Sergeant Tail Gunner in No. 460 Squadron RAAF Lancaster , and on June 22nd 1944 took part in ‘D Day Bombing’ on the Normandy Beachhead, then inland against railways, flying bomb launching sites, German panzers, oil storages, bridges, and Luftwaffe aerodromes in France, Holland and Belgium in the months that followed the allied invasion of Europe.
Bomber Command played a key role in disrupting German lines of communication during that grim time and is well known, and their raids on military targets in the big cities of Germany itself did so much to hasten the end of the war. Cliff bombed targets in Stettin, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Brunswick and other centres and took part in all thirty sorties in their allocated operational tour. While attached to 460 Squadron he received his commission as Pilot Officer, and at the conclusion of the operational tour was promoted to Flying Officer.
For their part in these important raids three members of the crew were awarded Distinguished Flying Crosses, not so much for the work of those individual members, but for the overall effort of the entire crew of eight. Eighteen of these raids were made at night and the other twelve in daylight. Cliff was then posted as Gunnery Instructor to an Operational Training Unit in Oxfordshire, and eventually embarked from Liverpool; as his Great Grandparents had done ninety years before; and returned via the Panama Canal and New Zealand, landing at Sydney on 20th June 1945.
Cliff’s journey from Liverpool to Australia which was rather slower than peace time journeys take, but compared quite favourably with the 120 days voyage of the ‘Dirigo’ with Gilbert and Charlotte Halsall aboard in 1858, the family's original immigrant ancestors.
Written by:
Alfred Vernon Halsall in 1963 for the Halsall Family Reunion Booklet.
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