LEST WE FORGET
Squadron Leader Keith William (Bluey) TRUSCOTT DFC and Bar
Commanding Officer, No. 76 Squadron
Squadron Leader Bluey Truscott is the equal third highest scoring Australian ace of WWII with a tally 16 confirmed kills and unofficially 20.5 kills. A Spitfire Aircraft he once flew is on display at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. Truscott Airfield, located on the Anjo Peninsula in the extreme north of Western Australia, is named in his honour.
Service No: 400213
Born: Melbourne VIC, 17 May 1916
Prior to enlistment: Worked as a School Teacher and a Clerk
Enlisted in RAAF: 21 July 1940
Pilot, No. 452 Squadron, 11 Fighter Group, UK, 1941
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 17 October 1941 (Citation Title: No. 452 Squadron)
Commanding Officer, No. 452 Squadron, UK, 25 February 1942 – 18 March 1942
Awarded the Bar to the Distinguished Flying Cross, 27 March 1942 (Citation Title: No. 452 Squadron)
Commanding Officer, No. 76 Squadron, Milne Bay PNG, Strauss Field NT, Onslow WA, Potshot Airfield Northwest Cape WA, 27 August 1942 – 28 March 1943
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 76 Squadron P40 Kittyhawk aircraft A29-150) Exmouth Gulf WA, 28 March 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Karrakatta War Cemetery WA
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Edward and Maude Mabel Truscott. of South Yarra, Victoria
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
DFC Citation: “This officer joined No. 452 Squadron after a period of training in Australia and Canada. He has participated in many operational sorties against the enemy and has displayed great courage and determination throughout. Pilot Officer Truscott has destroyed at least six enemy aircraft.” (London Gazette 17 October 1941 page 6035)
Citation for the Bar to the DFC: “This officer is a skilful and courageous fighter pilot. Since May 1941, he has participated in a large number of sorties and convoy escorts. Throughout he has shown
Fine fighting spirit and in combat destroyed 11 aircraft, probably destroyed three, and damaging two further hostile aircraft. Squadron Leader Truscott participated in an attack on an enemy destroyer which was left in a damaged condition with black smoke issuing from behind the bridge. The next day he assisted in the destruction of a German float plane.” (London Gazette 27 March 1942 page138)
Before enlisting, Squadron Leader Truscott was a prominent Australian Rules Football player with the Melbourne Football Club.
On March 28th 1943 I was AMM / First Class Plane Captain of Crew 18 of VP l0l based at Perth, Australia. I was at advanced base Exmouth Gulf on the sea plane Tender USS Willie B Preston also the USS Childs was there. At 1630 I was standing on the deck waiting for our PBY-5s (Catalina aircraft) to return from Patrol. Squadron Leader Keith (Bluey) Truscott was flying in from R.A.A.F. Base Pot Shot in a Kittyhawk. He flew under and slightly ahead of VP 101’s PBY-5 as it was on the final approach to land in the sea. The water was glassy – Bluey misjudged the distance, hit the water, yanked back on the stick, the plane rose with a right spiral, the engine cut, caught and made another spiral, the engine cut, caught and made a third spiral, the engine cut then plunged into the bay. That night I was the mechanic to stay aboard, we listened to Tokyo Rose news and music, she said the Imperial Japanese Air Force had shot down Australian Ace, Squadron Leader Bluey Truscott and that they also shot down an American PBY Patrol plane.
Eyewitness Account of Squadron Leaders Truscott’s fatal accident from Mr. Dan Dennison of Chula Vista California as written to Mrs Avis Koenig (see Bibliography)
References:
Australian War Memorial Honour Roll
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line Nominal Roll
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Australian Government On-Line Honours Records (It’s An Honour)
Biography:
Southall, I. (Ivan) Bluey Truscott: Squadron Leader Keith William Truscott RAAF DFC and Bar, Ivan Southall, Monbulk Victoria, 1957
Bibliography:
Garrisson, A. D. (Arthur) Australian Fighter Aces 1914-1953, Air Power Studies Centre Fairbairn ACT 2600, 1999
Gillison, D. (Douglas) Royal Australian Air Force 1939-1942, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1962
Herington, J. (John) Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1954
Koenig, A. M. (Avis M.) Catalinas on the Swan River – Perth 1942-5, Avis M. Koenig, 1994 (copy held State Library of Western Australia)
Powell, G. (Gordon) Twp Steps to Tokyo: A story of the RAAF in the Trobriand and Admiralty Islands, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1945
RAAF Directorate of Public Relations, These Eagles, Australian War Memorial Canberra, 1942
RAAF Directorate of Public Relations, RAAF Log, Australian War Memorial Canberra, 1943
RAAF Directorate of Public Relations, Victory Roll, Australian War Memorial Canberra, 1945
Stephens, A. (Alan) Going Solo: The Royal Australian Air Force 1946-1971, Australian Government Publishing Service, 1995