Posthumous award for Guyra aviator

Justin Newberry with wife Kaye, accepting the Commendation for Gallantry awarded to his uncle, Pilot Officer Justin Mulligan (pictured right) from NSW Governor the Hon. Margaret Beazley

12th Nov 2024

Eighty years after his service in the skies of occupied Europe during the Second World War, a Guyra born Air Force aviator has been posthumously awarded the Commendation for Gallantry.
Pilot Officer Justin ‘Joe’ Mulligan flew Mosquito fighter bombers on 60 missions with 464 Squadron RAAF, sharing the plane with Warrant Officer William ‘Billy’ Kinloch who also received the same award.
Tragically, Joe Mulligan and Billy Kinloch would not survive the war to see their loved ones and tell their story. Early on January 13, 1945, their Mosquito crashed near the German border with Belgium. Both men were 22 years old. Three years later, their bodies were found and interred in a war cemetery at Rheinberg in Germany.
A lifetime after the war’s end, relatives of Justin recently accepted a posthumous Commendation for Gallantry on his behalf at Government House in Sydney. The commendation recognised acts of gallantry in action over two tours of operational service with 464 Squadron.
Justin Newberry accepted his namesake uncle’s award at a ceremony in September. He is the son of Sheila (nee Mulligan) and Jack Newberry and was born in April 1945 whilst his uncle was listed as missing presumed killed.
Mr Newberry said his uncle worked as a woolclasser and grazier before enlisting in June 1942 and enjoyed embarkation leave and Christmas with his family in Guyra in December 1942. It was the last time they saw him.
Growing up Mr Newberry only knew of his uncle as having been killed in action, and that it caused immense sadness within the Mulligan family. On the death of his Aunt Kathleen a book came into his possession that sparked a voyage of discovery that has lasted more than 20 years.
The book was ‘The Gestapo Hunters’, a history of No. 464 Squadron during World War 2. It led him to research the exploits of his uncle with the help of his wife Kaye.
Over time he met with surviving members of the squadron, and their families. Among the stories they shared was a daring raid undertaken on the Gestapo Headquarters in Aarhus. The mission led to the airmen being gifted gold cufflinks by the King of Denmark in gratitude. The cufflinks are now a treasured possession of Mr Newberry.
Several 464 Squadron aviators received Imperial Awards like the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for their service. Mr Newberry believes the squadron’s relocation to France in February 1945, followed by the war’s end, led to Mulligan and Kinloch’s service not being likewise awarded.
The Directorate of Honours and Awards researched the pair’s service, and recommended the Commendation for Gallantry be awarded.
“Justin went from putting around the farm on a tractor to flying dangerous missions at low level in one of the fastest planes in the world,” Mr Newberry said. “Not bad for a bloke from Guyra.”
“I started to ask questions in 2017 of the Honours and Awards about the possibility of having Justin Mulligan and Bill Kinloch awarded the DFC, which their families were told they had earned,” Mr Newberry said. “I was elated that after all those years, they were to be recognised.
“I know that Justin Mulligan would have appreciated being recognised, I am proud to have achieved this outcome for him.”

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Posthumous award for Guyra aviator

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