Highly decorated war veteran Bob Cowper salutes the original Anzacs

FORMER Squadron Leader, Bob Cowper, one of the nation’s most highly decorated war veterans, has seen more than most in his 92 years but nothing will match the Centenary of ANZAC commemoration.

FORMER Squadron Leader Bob Cowper, one of the nation’s most highly decorated war veterans, has seen more than most in his 92 years but nothing will match the Centenary of Anzac commemoration.

The World War II flying ace is the embodiment of all those who have served their country since the first Anzacs landed on the beaches of Gallipoli on April 25, 1915.

His “keep calm and carry on” attitude helped the Netley resident survive dozens of missions as a fighter pilot.

His 12 medals include the Distinguished Flying Cross (with bar) for gallantry, the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) and the French Legion of Honour, awarded last year in France on the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings commemorations on June 6, 1944.

But Mr Cowper knows better than anyone that the commemoration of the Anzacs is not about personal glory.

“It’s our chance to tell the real story of war and to know that all those we lost didn’t die in vain,” he said.

“But no matter how bad things were in war, the outcomes if we’d lost would have been far worse and we always felt confident what we did was necessary.”

Robert Barson Cowper joined the RAAF on his 18th birthday in June, 1940 and was assigned to 456 Squadron (RAAF Night Fighters), flying radar-equipped Mosquito night-fighter aircraft.

He lived with the firm assertion he would die well before war’s end, just as dozens of his mates had done.

He walked through enemy lines in the Sahara Desert after crash landing and defied death on another occasion, ditching into the ocean.

On his return to Australia, to be with his great love Kay — who passed away last year after 70 years together — the airman’s disquiet that he survived while others led to a recurring nightmare.

“I used to wake up every few nights, bolt upright in bed desperately trying to get out of my aircraft,” he said.

“I did that for many years but I was so busy trying to raise my young family and do my job that you just had to get on with it.

“It was a different world and a different time and we had never heard of post-traumatic stress — we all had it but we had to manage it ourselves.”

Mr Cowper is guest of honour at the South Australian Jockey Club for the Anzac Day services on Saturday.

“I’m a busy boy at the moment but it’s all for the best of reasons,” he said.

Two of his grandsons, David and Richard Jolly, are prominent Adelaide horse trainers.

David’s stable silks — RAAF colours of white and a royal blue and red roundel — honour his remarkable grandfather and will be on display in two Morphettville races.

Bob Cowper’s long and eventful life is recorded in his biography Chasing Shadows, released in 2007.

Originally published as Highly decorated war veteran Bob Cowper salutes the original Anzacs