Sergeant Reginald Mohr – Second World War
RSL Victoria remembers the sacrifice of Sergeant Reginald Mohr who lost his life in service of his country during the Second World War.
Reginald’s father had been working as the clerk of courts in Port Melbourne Magistrates Court when he relinquished his position in 1915 to enlist in the Army. Due to his position in the public service, he was assigned to the pay office in Egypt and then London where he married Maisie Pearson, originally from Perth.
Reginald Jr. was born in London on 15 June 1917, the first of two children born to Reginald Sr. and Maisie.
After the war the family returned to Australia and initially settled in Nhill where Reginald Jr’s younger brother, Lawrence, was born in 1921.
Reginald Sr. took up the position of police magistrate in the Mildura Magistrates Court in the early 1920’s and Reginald Jr. and Lawrence spent their early years in Mildura, attending the local school, until Reginald Jr. reached high school when his father was transferred to Melbourne.
Reginald Jr. first went to Northcote High School for year before moving to Melbourne High School and completing his final year of High School at Melbourne Church of England Grammer School.
He was a poplar student who passed all of his subjects, with the notable exception of geography, which was somewhat ironic in that he would later excel as a navigator in the air force.
After high school Reginald Jr. took up a job as a banking officer at the National Bank of Australia in Shepparton but returned to his parents’ home in Hampton when he got a transfer to the Essendon branch.
He enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force on 28 April 1940 and completed training as an Air Observer in Australia throughout 1940. In March 1941 he deployed to 39 Squadron of the RAF in the Middle East which conducted long distance reconnaissance over enemy territory and raids on Axis shipping in the Mediterranean and North Africa.
Meanwhile his brother, Lawrence, enlisted as an officer with the Australian Army and began training in various bases across Australia.
While serving in Africa in 1941, Reginald Jr. was the navigator on a bomber during a reconnaissance mission when the pilot became incapacitated and fell over the controls, sending the aircraft into a dive. Reginald Jr would be awarded a Distinguished Flying Medal for his actions in the moments that followed. His citation read:
“Mohr, with great coolness and initiative, fitted auxiliary control and succeeded in regaining control of the aircraft after it had lost some 4000 feet. He then flew safely back to base before handing controls over to the pilot who had recovered sufficiently to land the aircraft safely. By his initiative and promptitude Mohr saved the aircraft and crew from becoming lost.”
On 11 August 1941 the Argus newspaper reported on his heroism, noting that he was trained as an air observer, not as a pilot, and had never flow before the war. He was the first air observer to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal who was trained under the Empire Air Training Scheme.
With the Japanese invasion of Malaya progressing quickly down the coast towards Singapore Reginald was withdrawn from the Middle East and deployed to Java with the RAF’s 211 Squadron in January 1942. From here the 211 Squadron attempted to stop the Japanese advance but suffered heavy casualties through February as Singapore fell and the Japanese invasion spread across Southeast Asia.
By late February the Japanese were in Java, and the situation was hopeless for 211 Squadron. The allies attempted a hasty evacuation but on 1 March 1942 Sergeant Reginald Mohr Jr. was at the Kalidjati airfield when it came under ground attack by Japanese tanks and was overrun. The squadron suffered heavy casualties both in terms of crew and aircraft.
The last time Sergeant Mohr was seen was on 1 March 1942 when he was walking down a road towards the airfield. His body was never found, and he has no known grave.
His brother Lawrence was still in Australia when the family received word that Reginald Jr was missing. He would go on to survive the war, serving in New Guinea through 1943 and 1944. He died, aged 91, in 2012.
Sergeant Mohr’s father, Reginald Sr., became Chief Stipendiary Magistrate of Victoria and was awarded an OBE. He died in 1964 and his wife, Maisie, died thirteen years later in 1977.
RSL Victoria pays tribute to Sergeant Reginald Mohr Jr., his family and all those who have sacrificed in the service of their country.
Lest We Forget.
