Aussie World War II veteran Laurie Larmer remembered as a ‘great mate’

The thinning ranks of Australia’s World War II veterans has suffered another loss with the passing of a heroic RAAF bomber pilot and popular publican.

Victoria lost one of its few remaining World War II heroes when RAAF bomber pilot Laurie Larmer OAM — “one of the humblest blokes you’ll ever meet” — died on Friday.

Larmer, who flew Halifax bombers in daring raids into the heart of Nazi Germany, was 99.

Larmer was one of 106 Australians to be honoured by the French with the Legion of Honour for his role in liberating France from Nazi occupation.

Back home Larmer was was remembered as a popular publican, owning the Athletic Hotel in Ballarat, the Doutta Galla Hotel in Newmarket and the Court House Hotel on Sydney Rd.

Larmer joined the RAAF at 18 and was sent to Canada to train as part of the Empire Art Training Scheme.

He was then based in the UK where the RAAF’s bomber squadrons were launching raids into heavily defended Germany. Larmer himself took part in bombing raids on nine German cities.

After the war, Larmer famously wrote to the leaders of those cities, apologising for the carnage the Allied bombing wrought.

He received responses from several of the mayors and would go to forge close relationships with many of the cities.

The Lord Mayor of Dortmund wrote back: “We celebrate the end of World War II as the liberation of Germany from the Nazi dictatorship. The bombing of our city was part of this liberation even though it was undoubtedly associated with huge losses and sacrifices among the civilisation population.”

The German embassy in Canberra also wrote to Larmer: “There is hardly anything better than your letters to show how far reconciliation really stretches. Enemies can become friends indeed and your letters and the reaction in Germany has clearly shown that”.

Laurie Larmer was a bomber pilot for the Royal Australian Air Force in the Second World War. Picture: St Patrick's College Ballarat.

Larmer married Pauline Fitzgerald in 1949 and together they had three daughters – Anne, Bernadette and Margaret.

He attended St Patrick’s College in Ballarat from 1935 to 1940, and he often returned to address students and speak at special events.

Allan McKinnon, a former president of the St Patrick‘s College Old Collegians Association, described Larmer as the “humblest of humble men”.

Mr McKinnon remembered a speech Laurie gave at the school about his experiences during the war that left 1200 St Pats boys “stony silent”.

“You could hear a pin drop as he told his story and you could also hear boys crying...there were certainly a few staff that teared up as well,” Mr McKinnon said.

“He was a very, very humble man. He would’ve been close to their age when he was training to be a pilot and only a few years older when he went to war”.

Horse racing was one of Larmer’s greatest passion, racing several horses with good mate and one of Australia’s top jockeys Ron Hutchinson.

He also shared a “special friendship” with OTI Racing chief executive Terry Henderson, who said he owed a lot to his “remarkable friend”.

“He was a truly exceptional man,” he said.

“He was a great mate. There was nothing I couldn’t share with him and there was no topic I couldn’t raise him...he was always there for other people’s issues”.