John Raeburn Balmer, OBE, DFC was a senior officer and bomber pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force. Born in Bendigo, Victoria, he studied law before joining the RAAF as an air cadet in 1932. A flight lieutenant when war broke out, Balmer was promoted to squadron leader in June 1940. He led the Beauforts on bombing and torpedo missions against Japanese targets in the New Guinea campaign. Posted to England in June 1943, he took command of No 467 Squadron RAAF, flying Avro Lancasters in the air war over Europe. In April he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the following month promoted to temporary group captain. Days later, on the night of 1112 May
About John Balmer in brief
John Raeburn Balmer, OBE, DFC was a senior officer and bomber pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force. Born in Bendigo, Victoria, he studied law before joining the RAAF as an air cadet in 1932. An instructor at Point Cook from 1935 to 1937, he achieved renown in Air Force circles when he reportedly parachuted from a training aircraft to motivate his pupil to land single-handedly. He also became known to the general public as a cross-country motorist, setting records for trans-Australia and round-Australia trips prior to World War II. A flight lieutenant when war broke out, Balmer was promoted to squadron leader in June 1940, becoming the inaugural commanding officer of No. 13 Squadron, which operated Lockheed Hudsons out of Darwin, Northern Territory. He led the Beauforts on bombing and torpedo missions against Japanese targets in the New Guinea campaign. Posted to England in June 1943, he took command of No 467 Squadron RAAF, flying Avro Lancasters in the air war over Europe. In April he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the following month promoted to temporary group captain. Days later, on the night of 1112 May, his commanding officer, Balm failed to return from a mission over Belgium. His plane was later confirmed to have been shot down, and all of the crew killed. He was buried outside Brussels. Balmer’s son, Sydney, was a lawyer and a judge at the Melbourne Crown Court.
He died in a car crash in Melbourne in 1998. He is survived by his wife, Catherine, and their three children, all of whom were born in the 1930s and 1940s. The couple had three sons, one of whom was killed in a road accident in the early 1990s. He had a son, John, who served in the Australian Army Air Corps and the other two were killed during the Second World War. Balm was buried in a private funeral in Melbourne on November 11, 1998. His son was a member of the Australian House of Representatives and served as a judge advocate at the Australian Court of Appeal. He served as the Chief of the Defence Staff until his death in 1998, when he was made a Companion of the Order of the British Empire. He never served in World War II and was never promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He left the Air Force after the war to become a private contractor in the Sydney suburb of Wirraways. He went on to become the first Australian to be awarded the OBE for his services in the war. He later served as an instructor at RAAF Station Point Cook, Victoria. In the years leading up to the outbreak of World WarII Balmer gained national attention as a long-distance motorist. He and another driver set a record-breaking round Australia journey in October–November 1938, almost halving the previous best time.
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