Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

This is a story about two airmen, Keith Bruce Chisholm and his cousin Graydon Raymond Howe. The two grew up together.

Keith Bruce Chisholm was born on 22 December 1918 at Petersham, Sydney, son of Australian-born parents Kenneth Bruce Chisholm, and his wife Marion Wilson, née Whitford. He was a great grandson of Joshua Chaseling Everingham and grandson of Joshua’s eldest daughter Eleanor. As such, he was also a ggg-grandson of First Fleet convict Matthew James Everingham and his wife, second fleet convict Elizabeth Rimes. Both had been transported for seven years for pawning something they had borrowed rather than stolen in order to pay the rent. The law makes no such fine distinctions.

His life was probably influential on his younger cousin, Graydon Howe. Born in Marrickville on 26 November 1919, Graydon Howe was the son of Percy and Pearl Everingham Howe. Pearl was one of Joshua Chaseling Everingham’s younger daughters, so Graydon and Keith were 1st cousins, once removed, with Keith being the elder but Graydon the more ‘senior’. Both of their fathers were dentists and both boys attended Newington College, presumably with Keith one grade higher than Graydon.

After matriculation, both young men went on to study dentistry at the University of Sydney, the profession of their fathers. When World War II broke out, Keith enlisted first. On 24 June 1940 he joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Graydon followed six months later, on December 1940. He chose the army, and was assigned to the armoured car division. Graydon was soon promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. During his time in the army, Graydon completed a leaving certificate in mechanics, graduating with a first grade.

Keith trained as a pilot in Australia and Canada as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme. This scheme saw 16,000 Australians—pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners and engineers—sent to Britain for war service with the Royal Air Service. He was promoted to sergeant and posted in March 1941 to Britain where he joined No. 452 (Spitfire) Squadron.

In August and September, during offensive patrols over France, Keith destroyed six German aircraft for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal. On 12 October, however, Keith was shot down. Parachuting into the sea near Berck-sur-Mer, France, he was rescued by the Germans and sent to Stalag VIIIB, Lamsdorf, Silesia, Germany (Łambinowice, Poland). He was promoted to pilot officer in absentia on 1 May 1942.

Graydon soon asked to be discharged from the army and in July 1942, he joined the Air Force where, like his cousin, he trained as a pilot.

On Christmas Eve, 1942, Graydon married Judith Rothwyn, of Burwood, Sydney. Five months after marrying, he left Australia for the UK, flying via Canada to become part of the Empire Air Training Scheme. He joined No. 42 Operational Training Group, which formed part of the Royal Air Force No. 38, Transport Command Group.

Back at Stalag VIIIB, Keith escaped three times by exchanging identifies with ANZACs who were not pilots and hence were not as closely guarded. He did this by joining working parties that left the concentration camp. In his first attempt, Keith got as far as Czechoslovakia before being apprehended. In the second, he made it to an airfield before being caught once again. He succeeded in the third attempt, making it to Warsaw where he was assisted by the resistance with travel plans and identity changes. He travelled across German-occupied Europe to Paris, arriving on 10 May. There he joined the French Forces of the Interior and engaged in the street fighting that preceded the city’s liberation.

Meanwhile Graydon was part of Operation Tonga. Flight Lieutenant Howe piloted an Albemarle twin-engine transport, which towed a Horsa or Hamilcar gilder filled with British troops. This was the airborne component of the British D-day operations.

Flying Officer Graydon Howe was piloting an Armstrong Whitworth Albermale with RAF No. 42 Operational Training Unit when his aircraft crashed near the village of St Sylvain in France on 6th Jun 1944. Presumably they were hit by anti-aircraft fire after deploying their glider. All on board the aircraft were killed. Flying Officer Graydon was 24 years old.

Having survived being shot down and escaping from a concentration camp three times, Keith was back in Australia by February 1945 and was awarded the Military Cross for ‘his dogged persistence and careful planning’ (NAA 9300) in successfully escaping from the enemy. From December, he flew with No. 38 Squadron, RAAF. They were based at Archerfield in 1945-46 and flew throughout the South-West Pacific. He was demobilised on 5 March 1946 with the rank of flight lieutenant.

After the war, Keith became a wool buyer with a French company. He married in 1952, divorced his first wife and married again. In 1957 he moved to New York and joined J. P. Stevens & Co. Inc., one of the world’s biggest textile firms, rising to executive vice president and becoming an American citizen. Survived by his wife, he died there of liver disease on 23 August 1991. His ashes were re-interred at Sydney’s Rookwood Cemetery in 1993.