‘Dinger’ Bell and brave Australians not forgotten for role in D-Day landings 80 years on

Eighty years ago today, Australian Spitfire pilot Colin “Dinger” Bell and more than 3000 of his countrymen braved enemy fire as they stormed the heavily-defended beaches of Normandy.

It was the largest seaborne invasion the world had seen and marked the beginning of the European continent’s liberation from fascism.

But the D-Day landings are a lesser footnote in Australia’s military history compared to the campaigns of Gallipoli, Kokoda and El Alamein - load-bearing pillars in the pantheon of the nation’s mythology.

Alongside British, American and other Allied forces, they would help form a beachhead from where the armies of the free world would march on Berlin.

The overwhelming success of the daring operation spelled the end for the Nazis and Adolf Hitler.

As Bell, the 25-year-old ace crossed over the English Channel, he would have witnessed a surreal vision - more than 5000 ships stretching as far as he could see.

“Some talked about how you could almost walk across from England to France, there were that many ships. And the whitewater being churned up - that was the lasting memory of the day,” military historian Lachlan Grant said.

Pilot Officer Bell’s Spitfire was one of more than 10,000 aircraft involved in the operation, sweeping the skies above the beach and escorting bomber crews.

He, like many of his countrymen in the European theatre, served under the command of British imperial forces, partly why it has failed to capture the public’s imagination in the way that Australian-led battles have, Dr Grant told AAP.

But in recent decades, the D-Day anniversary has evolved to become a commemorative event for the entire war, epitomising the almost mythic struggle of the Allied nations against Nazism.

D-Day was the event that turned the tide of the war in Europe, RSL national president Greg Melick said.

“While the majority of Australia’s armed forces were engaged in the war with Japan, Australia played a small yet important role in Europe, with some 3200 Australian airmen, sailors and soldiers participating in D-Day operations,” he said.

“Thousands more served in the wider Normandy campaign, and hundreds made the ultimate sacrifice.”

Dr Grant says Australian involvement in D-Day commemorations is important as it recognises the country’s contribution to the entire war from 1939 to 1945.

“Australia was heavily involved in this conflict and for a period of time in 1944 Australia was one of the very few liberal democracies left in the world and was fighting for the freedoms that we associate with democracy and the rule of law,” he said.

In times of heightened geo-political tensions, when the threat of war is more vivid in people’s minds, military memorials take on extra poignancy.

“You always have these background global events going on. Unfortunately there’s still conflict in the world today and concerns about conflict in the future,” Dr Grant said.

“That is very much the backdrop in which the commemorations take place.”

Bell’s mission was not done after June 6. Spitfire pilots continued to play a crucial role in the Normandy campaign, flying dangerous low-altitude raids on ground targets amid intense flak.

“Casualties were extremely high for those fighter squadrons through this period,” Dr Grant said.

Bell was one of about 27,000 Australian airmen to participate in the Western theatre during the Second World War, of whom one in five would not survive.

“An Australian squadron that served in Normandy - 453 squadron - went through its entire complement of pilots within the first four or five weeks of the Normandy campaign ... through losses from killed, wounded and the like,” he said.

“So the dangers to these crew weren’t so much necessarily German fighters that they’re engaging with and getting in dogfights, it’s the anti-aircraft fire coming from targets on the ground that they’re attacking.

“That’s what Pilot Officer Bell’s fate was in September 1944.”

He was shot down during a raid on enemy shipping off the coast of Holland. His body washed ashore four weeks later and was laid to rest at Oostende New Communal Cemetery in Belgium.

He and those he served alongside will be honoured at a Last Post ceremony at the Australian War Memorial ahead of the 80th anniversary on Thursday.

Lest we forget.

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