John McDonald: Australia’s last-surviving WWII Spitfire Pilot visits Canberra for Victory in the Pacific Day

“It was just luck that you didn’t get shot.” Those are the words of Australia’s last surviving WWII Spitfire Pilot, John McDonald. The Perth local was working for Victorian Railways when he enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in 1943 when he was just 18 years old. “(I joined the RAAF because) it sounded like a good idea flying planes,” the now-100-year-old told The West Australian. “I didn’t find them very hard to learn.” Mr McDonald was mustered as a pilot and completed his initial training in Australia, before travelling to England to fly Spitfires for the RAAF 451 Squadron. Spitfires were high speed single-seater fighter planes, used to provide air support and intercept and engage enemy aircrafts. Mr McDonald said most of his missions involved escorting bomber planes into Germany. “We were escorting bombers . . . German troops were shooting at the bombers (from the ground) because they didn’t like the look of us,” he said. “You could see (the German troops) because there was a big burst of cloud ... they were about 30 or 40 yards away.” Mr McDonald was discharged from the force in 1946 after serving a stint in Germany as part of the British occupation forces. He married Patricia Moloney in 1953 and is now the great-grandfather to four young children. More than 80 years later, Mr McDonald is still the proud owner of his original RAAF identification card, which includes administrative information like his rank, weight, eye colour and birth date. Mr McDonald will visit Canberra to attend the Last Post Service to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Pacific Day — the end of WWII — at the Australian War Memorial on Friday. He was one of 12 veterans from across the country invited to attend by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. “I was only there for 3.5 years, but you’ve also got to remember that some people were away for five or six years,” Mr McDonald said. “It’s the unknown that took a toll on the families.” Veteran Affairs Minister Matt Keogh said it was important to honour the stories of WWII veterans and continue their legacy. “It’s important to remember both their personal sacrifice of being away from your family (and the fact) they were putting themselves a matter of feet away from danger,” he said. “It’s also important to remember the sacrifices that people made in defence of our nation.” There are believed to be 981 surviving WWII veterans in Australia, 94 of which are from WA.