Laurie Larmer was barely out of his teens when he took part in bombing raids over Germany in WWII.
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Full of remorse some 70 years after the end of the war, Mr Larmer wrote to the mayors of the towns he bombed to apologise for the loss of civilian lives.
And to his surprise, five of the mayors wrote back and offered their forgiveness.
That heartfelt exchange of letters set in motion a series of events that will see 40 students from St Patrick’s College, Mr Larmer’s old school, travel to Europe on Wednesday to trace part of his wartime service.
The boys are just a couple of years younger than Mr Larmer was when he flew Halifax bombers for the RAAF, under the command of the RAF, over Germany.
“I was sitting around in 2015, which was the 70th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe, and started thinking about the war. I thought how would I have felt if Japan bombed Melbourne instead of Darwin, and realised it probably would have killed my mum and dad,” said Mr Larmer.
“Then I thought ‘wait a minute, I must have killed a lot of innocent civilians as I flew in nine bomber operations over Germany’.
“I probably killed lots of people so I decided to write to these cities and tell them i was sorry. I wrote a letter and said I didn’t know what the military reason for the raid was and for that I make no apologies, but for the fact I killed so many innocent civilians I’m deeply sorry.”
Mr Larmer returned to the school last year to speak at an Anzac Day commemoration and told his wartime story. The school mentioned they were taking a tour to France and Germany and Mr Larmer gave them the list of towns he had written to.
The school made contact with the local councils and will be guests of honour at two civic receptions in honour of the unique relationship between Mr Larmer, the school and the towns.
Now aged 94, Mr Larmer sees the trip as a tour that cements the notion of peace and forgiveness.
“It really gets to me that here are these 40 young men going over, and they will spend half a day with 40 young German boys the same age,” Mr Larmer said.
“What came out of the five letters I received was understanding and forgiveness. If these boys who are going on this trip can meet these people and understand their point of view, their thinking and be as generous in their forgiving of people generally as these Germans were it will be wonderful.
Until now, Mr Larmer has been unable to face the thought of returning to the German cities he bombed, but that is about to change.
Mr Larmer and 15 other former WWII bomber command officers from Australia are travelling to England next month for the official opening ceremony of the International Bomber Command Centre visitor centre, including the UK's tallest war memorial - a spire dedicated to those involved with Bomber Command in WWII.
After that service Mr Larmer will travel to Germany for 10 days to meet up with Carsten Korr, the former German Defence Attache in Australia who helped him identify the right people to send his letter to.
The pair have since formed a close bond.
“We have become quite good friends … to think that he’s a Luftwaffe officer and that he and I could become good friends,” Mr Larmer mused.
"I met with him in Canberra (at the German Embassy) ... and as I was going he put his arms around me and gave me a hug."
After visiting Mr Korr in Berlin, Mr Larmer will visit some of the towns he once flew over in anger.
“The Germans had every reason to detest and hate me … but they wrote back saying they understand I was a young man obeying instructions. They understand and forgive.”
- WWII bomber pilot Laurie Larmer
St Patrick’s College spokesman Paul Nolan said the school had traced the history of many of the 298 Old Collegians who fought in WWI and would visit many of those buried in Europe, as well as visits to WWI and WWII battlefields and memorials.
After arriving in Paris the group will travel to Versailles, to the WWII D-Day landing sites in Normandy, through the western front of France and Belgium, and to Dortmund, Dusseldorf and Cologne in Germany.
“When Laurie spoke at our Anzac Day service about his experiences and letter writing, he spoke to the whole school community of 1400 boys and you could have heard a pin drop,” Mr Nolan said.
“For them to be able to follow in his footsteps means a lot to them. He’s revered in a lot of ways.”