Colin Henry Eastgate
Stephen LearmonthColin was born on the 12th of November 1914 at Coburg, Victoria. He was the eldest of four children of Ernest William John and Myrtle Irene Hazel (née Pierce) Eastgate. Ernest went on to serve as a Lieutenant in the First World War with the Australian Flying Corps in France and then with the Royal Flying Corp in England.
Colin had two brothers, Jack and Robert, and a sister, June. He enjoyed sports, especially cricket, swimming and basketball. He also participated in AFL football and tennis. During his teenage years he attended the Colac West State School and the Colac Agricultural High School. In 1930 he passed the entrance exams to Melbourne University but after leaving school began work as a baker’s apprentice, which lasted for a period of 3 months. He went on to work as a clerk and finally a manager for the Permewan Wright Limited. On the 13th of May 1939 Colin married Jean Simpson from Horsham. In December of the following year they had a son, Colin John.
Colin was working as a commission agent for the Vacuum Oil Company when he enlisted in the RAAF on the 4th of December 1942 at Tallangatta. He was allocated the Service Number 430019. He provided his residential address at ℅ Hutton’s Court House Hotel, Hansen St in Corryong. Colin’s initial training was conducted at the No. 11 Training School. After this he was sent to No. 11 Elementary Flight Training School at Launceston in Tasmania. It was here that personnel were sorted into what path they would continue to follow in the RAAF. Colin was chosen as an air gunner. He underwent further training as an air gunner and was promoted to Sergeant.
On the 4th of August 1943, Colin embarked for overseas service from Adelaide, arriving the following month in the UK. As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme he was one of almost 27000 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners and engineers, who joined Australian and British squadron during the war.
He undertook further training and, on the 9th of March 1944, was posted to No. 463 Squadron RAAF. In early May he and his crew were flying back from a raid on Schweinfurt when evasive action caused two of the aircraft’s engines to fail. Just before dawn a third engine died, and the crew decided to attempt a landing in the English Channel, hoping to be picked up from the water. As they crossed the enemy coastline they were joined by a guard of friendly Spitfires. By jettisoning everything they could, they eventually made it back to English soil.
On the night of the 10th of May, 31 Lancaster bombers from 463 and 467 Squadrons, RAAF, departed as part of a major RAF raid from Waddington, England. Their target was the heavily defended railway yards in Lille in France. Colin was the mid-upper (dorsal) turret gunner of Lancaster Mk 1 bomber L.L.881 “JO-E” (see aircrafts nose art above), one of the squadrons few aircraft with an all-Australian Crew. Lancaster LL881 took off from RAF Wadington at 2214 hours. Their bomb load consisted of 1 x 4000 lb (1800kg), 6 x 1000 lb (450 kg) and 8 x 500 lb (225 kg) bombs.
Twelve Lancasters were lost on the raid, and 50 airmen were recorded as casualties. This included Colin. His Lancaster failed to return to base and was presumed shot down by enemy action. After the war it was discovered that the aircraft had exploded, and the bulk of wreckage fell onto a factory south of the target. The crew included: Flight Officer D.F. Ward (pilot), Pilot Officer W.J. Lewis (Flight Engineer), Flight Officer G.O. Jones (navigator), Flight Sergeant L.G. Mackenzie (air gunner/bombardier), Flight Sergeant J.H. Brown (wireless operator/air gunner), Flight Sergeant C.H. Eastgate (air gunner), and Flight Sergeant G.M. Dann (air gunner).
The bodies of the seven crew members were recovered by the Germans and interred in two separate cemeteries. Colin and five others were buried in the Forest-Sur-Marqe Communal Cemetery.
At the time of Colin’s death, his father, Ernest, was a Squadron leader in the RAAF stationed at the No. 1 School of Technical Training at the Exhibition Buildings in Melbourne. After Colin’s death, Jean and Colin jnr moved back to Horsham where they lived with Colin’s mother, Myrtle , at 28 Dimboola Road, in Horsham, Victoria. In April of 1945 Jean received notification that she had been granted a war pension of £5/19/- (equivalent to $481.75 in 2022) and per fortnight and a further £1/15/- ($141.69) per fortnight for Colin jnr.
Colin is remembered on the International Bomber Command Memorial, the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, the Horsham & District Cenotaph and War Memorial, and the Corryong War Memorial. For his service, he was awarded the 1939-1945 Star, Air Crew Europe Star, the Defence Medal, the War Medal 1939-1945 and the Australian Service Medal 1939-1945.
