Keith William "Bluey" Truscott DFCThe Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...
& BarA medal bar or medal clasp is a thin metal bar attached to the ribbon of a military decoration, civil decoration, or other medal. It is most commonly used to indicate the campaign or operation the recipient received the award for, and multiple bars on the same medal are used to indicate that the...
(17 May 1916 – 28 March 1943) was a
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
ace
fighter pilotA fighter pilot is a military aviator trained in air-to-air combat while piloting a fighter aircraft . Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and dogfighting...
and
Australian rules footballAustralian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
er with the
Melbourne Football ClubThe Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
. He was the second highest Australian World War II ace credited with 20 confirmed victories and .5 unconfirmed victories.
Early life and sporting career
Born in
Prahran, VictoriaPrahran , also known colloquially as "Pran", is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington. At the 2006 Census, Prahran had a population of 10,651. It is a part of Melbourne with...
the son of William Truscott and Maude Truscott (née Powell). Truscott attended
Melbourne High SchoolMelbourne High School is a selective entry state school for boys in years 9 to 12 located in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra. Being a selective school, it is known mainly for its strong academic reputation...
, where he captained the First XI for the school in cricket.
He mentored the young
Keith MillerKeith Ross Miller MBE was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. Because of his ability, irreverent manner and good looks he was a crowd favourite...
, who entered the First XI at the age of 14 and went on to be regarded as Australia's finest all round cricketer. After completing his scholling he worked as a school teacher and clerk.
Truscott played 44 games (and kicked 31 goals) of
VFLThe Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
football as a half-forward flanker from 1937-1940 including Melbourne's 1939 and 1940 premierships.
War service
Truscott joined the
Royal Australian Air ForceThe Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
in July 1940, a move that attracted much publicity. He almost failed pilot training; among other problems it was ascertained that he had a poor ability to judge heights. In the words of the
Australian Dictionary of BiographyThe Australian Dictionary of Biography is a national, co-operative enterprise, founded and maintained by the Australian National University to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's history....
: "[Truscott] never fully came to terms with landing and persistently levelled out about 20 ft (6 m) too high."
This problem would come to have a grim significance.
Truscott completed flight training in
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and joined
No. 452 Squadron RAAFNo. 452 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force air traffic control unit. It was originally formed in 1941 fighter unit formed in accordance with Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme during World War II, in England. The squadron flew Supermarine Spitfires for the entire war, initially over...
, flying
SpitfiresThe Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
on 5 May 1941. He destroyed at least 16
LuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
aircraft, was twice awarded the
Distinguished Flying CrossThe Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...
, and was made flight commander. Truscott was later made acting
Squadron LeaderSquadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
.
In 1942, he was then posted back to
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
with
76 SquadronNo. 76 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force flight training squadron. Established in 1942, the squadron operated P-40 Kittyhawk fighter aircraft and saw combat during World War II. Following the war it formed part of Australia's contribution to the occupation of Japan until it was...
, flying Kittyhawks. By this stage Truscott was, along with
Clive CaldwellGroup Captain Clive Robertson Caldwell DSO, DFC & Bar was the leading Australian air ace of World War II. He is officially credited with shooting down 28.5 enemy aircraft in over 300 operational sorties. In addition to his official score, he has been ascribed six probables and 15 damaged...
, one of the most famous
RAAFThe Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
pilots.
Truscott's squadron was posted to
Milne BayMilne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, southeastern Papua New Guinea. The bay is named after Sir Alexander Milne.The area was a site of the Battle of Milne Bay in 1942....
,
PapuaThe Territory of Papua comprised the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea from 1883 to 1949. It became a British Protectorate in the year 1884, and four years later it was formally annexed as British New Guinea...
and played a significant role in the
Battle of Milne BayThe Battle of Milne Bay, also known as Operation RE by the Japanese, was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Japanese marines attacked the Australian base at Milne Bay on the eastern tip of New Guinea on 25 August 1942, and fighting continued until the Japanese retreated on 5...
where he was mentioned in dispatches for his actions.
It was later transferred to
Darwin, Northern TerritoryDarwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
for a time, then
Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia-Further reading:* Western Australia. Ministry for Planning. Exmouth-Learmonth structure plan. Perth, W.A. : Western Australian Planning Commission...
. Truscott was killed in an accident in Exmouth Gulf on 28 March 1943. His Kittyhawk hit the sea at high speed, after he made a mock diving attack against a low-flying
CatalinaThe Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
. The surface of the sea was unusually smooth that day, and it is believed that Truscott misjudged its proximity. His body was recovered and he was buried at
Karrakatta CemeteryKarrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, with Robert Creighton. Currently managed by the Metropolitan Cemeteries Board, the cemetery attracts more than one million visitors each...
,
PerthPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
.
Memorials
The RAAF later named a base on the northern coast of the
Kimberley regionThe Kimberley is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northern part of Western Australia, bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy and Tanami Deserts, and on the east by the Northern Territory.The region...
as
Truscott AirfieldMungalalu Truscott Airbase, which during World War II was known as Truscott Airfield is today a commercial air field in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia. The airbase falls under the traditional ownership of the Wunambal Gaambera people...
.
The Melbourne Football Club's award for the
Best and FairestBest and Fairest is the term commonly used in Australian sport to describe the player adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition while not receiving a suspension for misconduct or breaching the rules during that season.In the...
player is named in his honour, the
"Bluey" Truscott Memorial TrophyThe Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Memorial Trophy is awarded to the Melbourne Football Club player judged Best and Fairest for the season.It is named in honor of Keith 'Bluey' Truscott, a former dual premiership player and World War II fighter ace killed in 1943....
.
At Melbourne High School (Vic, Australia), a scholarship is awarded in his name to a student displaying all-round achievement in academic, sporting and extra-curricular activities. For reasons unknown it was discontinued, apparently in 1948. In 1994 Old Boy – Dr John Miller AO, winner of the 1946/47 Bluey Truscott Scholarship, Principal Ray Willis and the MHSOBA re-established the Bluey Truscott Scholarship. Dr John Miller provided the Bluey Truscott bronze plaque (hanging in the school foyer) and the "John Miller Distinguished Achievement Medal" to be awarded to all subsequent MHSOBA Bluey Truscott winners.
Truscott Street in North Ryde, Truscott Avenue in Matraville, Sydney and Truscott Street in
Campbell, Australian Capital TerritoryCampbell is a suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Covering an area to the South East of the central business district, Campbell sits at the base of Mount Ainslie. On Census night 2006, Campbell had a population of 4,797 people...
are also named in his honour.
Honours and awards
- Distinguished Flying Cross
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...
and Bar (DFC*) - awarded 17 October 1941 and 27 March 1942
- 1939-1945 Star
- Air Crew Europe Star
The Air Crew Europe Star was a campaign medal of the British Commonwealth, awarded for service in World War II. Specifically, the medal was awarded to Commonwealth aircrew who participated in operational flights over Europe, from UK bases....
- Pacific Star
The Pacific Star was a campaign medal of the British Commonwealth, awarded for service in World War II. It was also awarded to certain foreign servicemen, such as Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz of the United States.-Entitlement:...
- Defence Medal
- War Medal 1939–1945
The War Medal 1939–1945 was a British decoration awarded to those who had served in the Armed Forces or Merchant Navy full-time for at least 28 days between 3 September 1939 and 2 September 1945. In the Merchant Navy, the 28 days must have been served at sea...
(With Oakleaf, Mention in Despatches published in London Gazette 26 March 1943)
- Australia Service Medal 1939-45
The Australia Service Medal 1939-45 recognises service by Australia's armed forces, Mercantile Marine and Volunteer Defence Corps during World War II....
- Mentioned in Despatches
See also
External links