Yass resident and war veteran John Cockburn is to be a guest of honour at the Royal Australian Air Force 100th birthday celebration next month due to his years of service as a telegraphist throughout WW2 along with a remarkable coincidence of birth date.
99-year-old John Cockburn is a current resident of Thomas Eccles Garden RSL Lifecare Linton Village in Yass. He was born in Perth on the 31st of March 1921, the same day the Australia Air Force was formed.
The Yass Valley Times is the first media to reveal the celebration high lights with John as the honoured guest along with the Chief of Air Force who will attend the ceremony at the Governor General’s residence in Canberra on March 31st, 2021.
The celebrations will also include a low fly-over of fifty types of aircraft which have served the Air Force and the awarding of new Queen’s Colours to the Air Force.
Royal Australian Air Force Director General, Air Commodore Andrew Elfverson met with John Cockburn over lunch in Yass recently to invite him to the significant event. John will be attended by Retired Air Vice Marshal Bob Richardson who is an Alpaca farmer at Bowning, Chairman of Legacy and regular visitor to John.
John Cockburn was delighted with the invitation and is the only centurion who has served the Air Force who is physically able to attend, something John puts down to luck along with his twice-weekly trips to the local gym in Yass.
AIR CDRE Elfverson revealed research by the Air Force into its retired service men and women was surprising.
“We actually found out we have 86 veterans that are turning 100 in 2021 but we could only find one that was actually born the day the Air Force was born so John is celebrating his 100th on the same day Air Force is turning 100.”
Enlisting as an Aircraftsmen at the age of 19 after first being rejected by the Post Master General army recruitment at 18 due to his age, John was devastated when a medical assessment scrubbed him from flight service due to a colour blindness test and was cleared for ground duties only. His younger brother by three years, Peter later entered the Air Force as well and flew as a fighter pilot.
John recounted his extraordinary and precarious tale of escape from Singapore, with part of the journey aboard a Collier, The Edendale, all the way to Fremantle, Western Australia. The ship which was commandeered in Batavia, passing through the same waters just days prior to a Japanese submarine sinking the HMAS Perth with considerable loss of life.
“A ship appeared, on the far horizon, and when it saw us it changed course and made for us. We thought this could be it. We didn’t know what the ship was, we had no signalling equipment. The ship came 300 yards from us, it seemed it was then satisfied and then made off in another direction.”
Note that a second similar ship is moored at the wharf, across which they clambered to leave the Edendale. John says this in the SS WHANG PU that was the vessel that took him and others from Singapore to Sumatra when they were ordered to leave just before the Japanese took over on 13 Feb 1942.
John also recalls the fragile lifeline they had aboard their escape vessel with only one propellor and the ship manned by just the servicemen escaping the war.
“If that (propellor) had come off; the ship would have had no propulsion and we couldn’t have any control over the ship and we could only speculate on what would have happened…it would have sunk.”
The journey taking nine days; arriving in Fremantle on the 5th March 1942.
With no signal equipment, the Captain along with John deciphered the morse light signalling which told them to “stop and drop anchor” until morning when the ship and its crew could be identified as not hostile.
“John Cockburn served Air Force for five years during the war, particularly around Singapore and we’re very interested in using and telling John’s story so that it is not lost. So that it is kept forever, for future generations to appreciate the contribution that John made to Australia and particularly the Air Force and of course celebrating his birthday on the birthday of the Air Force is a special thing,” said AIRCDRE Elfverson.
The Air Commodore also revealing for the first time a special honour for the Air Force which John will be present to witness.
“Air Force will be presented with a Queen’s Colour and we’re going to invite John to be a part of that celebration at the Governor General’s residence in Canberra on the 31st of March. In appreciation and recognition of the steadfast service that a military force has provided. And Air Force has been presented with that honour and we are getting a replacement because they do wear out. So in our centenary year, the Governor-General is going to present our Chief of Air Force with a replacement Queens’s Colour. So, it’s going to be a big day. There will be a big flypast and hopefully, John will agree to come and be part of that.”
Local Chair of Legacy Bob Richardson also noted where the Australian Air Force sits in the history of aviation.
“The Royal Australian Air Force is the second oldest Airforce in the world. The RAF was formed in 1918 at the end of WW1 and the next Air Force in the world was the RAAF.
“And a very proud one” John Cockburn added.
Bob reflects on John’s story as one of incredible survival.
“John escaped Singapore just as the Japanese were capturing Singapore but just ahead. He got out to Sumatra, down to Java and then caught the Edendale. That was an amazing escape remembering how many thousands of people were captured in Singapore and put on the Burma Railway and Changi. He just got out.”
Yass Valley Times readers will see John Cockburn’s remarkable life story in full including his service in the war and precarious escape from Japanese capture during the war in a special edition next month.
Jasmin Jones
