Country boy who died in the Battle of Berlin

Kenneth Kirkland, who distinguished himself at Trinity as a musician and Rugby player, signed up for one of the most dangerous jobs in World War II – night bombing raids over Germany.

He completed eight successful operations attacking coastal gun batteries and VI rocket storage sites, eventually fighting in the Battle of Berlin, Bomber Command’s third major assault on the German homeland after the Ruhr and Hamburg.

These massive air strikes were based on the belief that destruction of the capital could lead to a surrender, or at least undermine a Nazi regime that boasted no Allied aircraft would ever fly over its skies.

Berlin, though, was a dangerous target, lying at the outer range of the heavy bombers and at the end of a powerfully defended flight path.

Operations were costly, resulting in losses of one in ten aircraft, even though they destroyed almost a third of the built-up area of Berlin.

On January 30, 1944, Pilot Officer Kirkland climbed behind the controls of his Lancaster bomber in Lincolnshire to take part in another dangerous mission to Berlin.

On the return journey his aircraft was intercepted and shot down by German night fighters, crashing into the icy waters of the North Sea. None of the crew survived.

Five weeks later his body was found on the shores of Vlieland in the Dutch Frisian Islandsand he was laid to rest the following day in the island’s general cemetery.

He had come to Trinity from Bellingen in northern NSW in 1932, leaving four years later after gaining a good pass in the Intermediate Certificate.

He won the Music prize and played in the 1st XV before returning to the country to work as an auctioneer.

He enrolled in the Air Force in 1940 and joined the RAAF’s permanent forces a year later, training on Tiger Moths at Tamworth.

In November, 1942, he left for South Africa for advanced flying training before sailing to the UK for final training and a posting to a bomber squadron based at Metheringham in Lincolnshire.

*Source: Trinity Remembers by Robert Scott

This article originally appeared in our July 2025 Edition of Trinity News which you can
view on our online digital bookshelf.