On Sunday when Nancy Warbrook honours the memory of her brother-in-law shot down in the last days of the war against Japan, she will also be thinking of an exceptionally painful love story.
For somewhere in Australia, a mystery woman may still be alive, nursing her own agonising memories of two men she loved and lost during wartime.
Mrs Warbrook, now 85 and living in East Maitland, said she would take time out on Sunday to share her prayers and thoughts for pilot officer Clyde Samuel Joseph Warbrook and the woman he loved, a woman known only as Pearl Woods, from Sydney.
For when Pearl learned that her fiance Clyde was “missing in action” off New Guinea, she was already a widow - having lost her husband in a flying accident in Queensland.
The tragic story came to light this week when Mrs Warbrook was making preparations to attend a ceremony in Hamilton on Sunday to celebrate Victory in the Pacific Day and to honour the memories of Hunter men lost at sea during the war.
“I still remember Clyde who was killed when his plane was apparently shot down off New Guinea on February 11, 1945,” Mrs Warbrook told The Maitland Mercury.
“He was recorded as missing in action, but he was never confirmed dead,” she said.
“Clyde lived in Raymond Street, Telarah and the man who became my husband introduced me to his brother.
“Clyde had been born in Farley and he was a bright pupil, attending Maitland High School.
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“At the time of the war, Clyde was a book keeper at Nichols butchery.
“I remember him as a happy young man who, like all the other young men at the time, joined up to ‘do their bit.’
“Then he went away, to become a pilot officer and navigator-gunner in a variety of aircraft, including a twin-engined Beaufort bomber.”
Mrs Warbrook still has her brother-in-law’s log book, which in sparse detail tells something of what he did.
“Air-to-air gunner duel on April 21, 1944,” is one entry, revealing little of the terror entailed in surviving a dogfight with Japanese fighters.
“Low level bombing attack on Crab Island,” is an entry for September 4, 1944.
“Search for missing plane on Turtle Island,” is another entry.
Mrs Warbrook recalled the time Clyde came to see her - with his sweetheart on his arm.
“We were introduced to Pearl Woods. She was a pretty girl. She and Clyde became engaged and they seemed to be happy,” Mrs Warbrook said.
What they didn’t know then was that Pearl was already a widow - her husband having lost his life in a RAAF plane crash in New Guinea.
Mrs Warbrook told how Clyde could have chosen to fly only in Australia at the time - he did not have to fight the Japanese.
“They were both looking forward to a new life together when the war ended,” she said.
“But such was the spirt of the times, that Clyde volunteered to fly in New Guinea.
“We didn’t understand why Clyde wanted to continue fighting as the war against Japan was almost over,” Mrs Warbrook said.
“We didn’t understand it then and I don’t think anybody today would understand it either.
“But like everybody else then, you went to do your duty.”
One day they received the dreaded information: Clyde’s Beaufort bomber had apparently been shot down into the sea.
“His plane was never found,” Mrs Warbrook said.
“Pearl was utterly grief-stricken and she went away.
“We don’t know where she went or what happened to her.
“The war took such a terrible toll among so many innocent people.
“But I often think of Clyde and Pearl: of the terrible losses she suffered and of their future plans which didn’t have a chance to mature,” said Mrs Warbrook, now a great grandmother herself.
“So on Sunday, if I am unable to attend the memorial service in Hamilton, I will be there in spirit,” she said.
“And my prayers for Clyde and Pearl will be very strong.”
p The memorial service organised by the Family and Friends of Hunter Valley Prisoners of War will take place at Hamilton RSL Club on Sunday, commencing at 11am.
Hunter Valley-based military historian David Dial said the service will feature for the first time a roll of honour containing the names of more than 140 men and one woman from the Hunter who had all died at sea during the war.
And among those names will be that of Pilot Officer Clyde Samuel Warbrook from Maitland.
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