Anthony Seton Luxmoore

Born 17 May 1914 - Died 26 Jun 1940

Service number: 40628 AWMM
Also known as: Tony AWMM
Armed force / branch: Air Force AWMM
Last rank: Pilot Officer AWMM Royal Air Force, No. 50 Squadron AWMM
War: World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM

Pilot Officer Anthony Seton Luxmoore, of Feilding, whose death on active service is reported. Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 38, 13 August 1940, Page 5 © CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

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Biographical information

Anthony Luxmoore was the son of Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Luxmoore, of Cunningham, Wellington, New Zealand.

Educated at Feilding Agricultural High School. Qualified with Distinction at Milson School.

Selected in 1938 as a cadet in the Royal Air Force.

Attended Feilding Agricultural High School (Source: RNZAF Biographies (R17845612))

Anthony Seton (Tony) Luxmoore: Biography by Paul Hickford
Biography kindly provided by Paul Hickford, New Zealanders who served with 50 Squadron RAF Biography Project (2026).
Anthony Seton (Tony) Luxmoore was the first New Zealander to join 50 (RAF) Squadron and flew his first operational mission (aka sortie) with the squadron on 14 December 1939 in the company of Wing Commander L Young who was piloting their Hampden L4164 on coastal sweeps. Over the next seven months Tony was to undertake a further 14 sorties, 11 as Navigator/2nd Pilot and three in command of his own aircraft, before his final, fateful flight on 26 June 1940 in Hampden L4078 ton an attack of Langenhagen aerodrome.[i]
Tony, who was born in Feilding, Manawatu on 17 August 1914, was the only son of Charles and Eileen Luxmoore. In the late 1800s Tony’s father Henry ‘Charles’ Coryndon Luxmoore had emigrated from England to New Zealand with his widowed mother, Helen Georgina Luxmoore née Oldershaw, and his three siblings. Within 15 years of his arrival Charles had met and married Eileen Margaret Revington Jones in St John’s Anglican Church, Feilding on 2 July 1913.[ii]
On completing his education at Feilding Agricultural High School, Tony worked as a farm assistant on his father’s farm at Kiwitea, approximately 20km north-east of Feilding.[iii] Tony was also a keen sportsman and, in his youth, played rugby, cricket, tennis and later golf at Kimbolton Golf Club (est.1904) but it wasn’t long before flying became his passion.[iv]
Tony showed a natural talent for aviation and began learning to fly at Milson Aerodrome, site of today’s Palmerston North Airport. In August 1936, his abilities were recognized when he was selected as the winner of the Middle Districts Aero Club Scholarship, a competition that included participants from Feilding, Levin, and Palmerston North Aero Clubs. Out of 87 entrants, Tony distinguished himself not only by his technical skills but also by his composure and control during flight.[v] Following further instruction and flying experience Tony gained his pilot’s licence on 9 December 1936.[vi]
Less than 15 months later Tony was one of 12 candidates selected for short-service commissions in the Royal Air Force (RAF).[vii] He departed from Auckland for England on 1 December 1937 aboard the SS Ruahine.[viii]
Following his arrival in London in January 1938, Tony was posted to the Elementary and Refresher Flying Training School at White Waltham, Windsor and Maidenhead, England.[ix] From White Waltham he proceeded to No. 8 Flying Training School at Montrose, Angus, Scotland where he was awarded his flying badge.[x] Next it was on to a series of courses - armament, navigational and meteorological training - which he completed prior to joining 50 (RAF) Squadron at Waddington, Lincolnshire, on 25 February 1939.[xi] War with Germany was declared seven months later on 3 September 1939.
In September 1939 Tony’s squadron took delivery of 44 brand new twin-engined Handley Page Hampden aircraft replacing their outdated Hawker Hind biplanes. The Hampden, as it was more commonly known, was crewed by a pilot, navigator/bomb aimer/front gunner, wireless operator/dorsal gunner and ventral gunner, all situated at stations in a narrow fuselage measuring less than a metre wide. The aircraft had a maximum speed of 409kph and generally cruised at 155kph. In flight communications with base were conducted using Morse Code. [xii]
Initially the Hampdens were used for daylight reconnaissance work before being assigned to bombing missions.
While Tony was a pilot his role in the squadron was also that of a navigator. Before the war wireless-equipped aircraft depended on position fixing signals from ground stations to find their way. These were useless over enemy territory and navigators were to use dead reckoning: following a course by means of sextant sightings of the sun or stars or landmarks below and setting them against speed and wind strength. Over a blacked-out landscape in skies that were frequently thick with cloud the margin of error was enormous, often pilots found they were as much as fifty miles from their target.[xiii] Unfortunately, Tony was never to experience the advanced navigational equipment that later featured in the Lancaster heavy bombers.
Also, winter weather posed hazardous conditions for flying as was the case in the first year of the war. Due to the prevailing inclement weather, the squadron’s operational flying activities were curtailed from 15 December 1939 until 10 February 1940. The Guardian newspaper reported that January 1940 was the coldest month on record for almost 50 years, freezing the river Thames.[xiv]
The squadron’s first significant bombing raid was an attack on the German seaplane base at Hörnum on the island of Sylt on 19/20 March 1940 and involved five Hampdens.[xv] Tony was however not required for the mission.
Meanwhile, back in New Zealand it was reported in the Manawatu Times,
“Just poor country lands,” said Dr Goebbels, Germany’s noisy war propagandist, when the New Zealanders arrived in Egypt [sic]. Perhaps he will revise his estimate of the 1940 Anzacs after the Sylt raid. Here is one of “the poor country lads”, Pilot-Officer Anthony Seton (Tony) Luxmoore, whose name is mentioned in the cable.”[xvi]
Between 6 March 1940 and 13 June 1940 Tony flew on eight operational missions serving as the navigator/2nd pilot in Hampden aircraft under the command of various pilots including the squadron’s Wing Commander R T Taafe.[xvii] On two of his missions in April 1940, he flew in Ansons which were engaged on searches in the North Sea. Finally, on 17 June 1940 he gained command of his own Hampden bomber and was to successfully complete three sorties before the planned attack on Langenhagen aerodrome.
Tony and his aircrew were last seen departing Waddington airfield on the evening of 26 June 1940 in the company of four other Hampdens of 50 (RAF) Squadron. Near Hanover and in the vicinity of the target, Tony’s Hampden was subjected to heavy flak causing severe damage to the aircraft which struggled to remain airborne. It’s conceivable that to save himself and the lives of his crew Tony attempted to land his aeroplane on a road [xviii] but instead crashed at 2.48am on 27 June 1940 killing all on board.
Within a week the following article about Tony’s navigator Walter ‘Cecil’ Harding, appeared in the Widnes Weekly News:
“Official intimation has been received by Mr and Mrs Harding of Fairmonte, Fairfield Road, Widnes [Halton, England] that their son, Sergeant Observer Walter ‘Cecil’ Harding is reported missing. The telegram giving the news was followed by a sympathetic letter from the commanding officer. Hopes are entertained that he may be safe in one or other of the countries now under control of the enemy. Sergeant Harding has made a name for himself in the flying operations and has taken part in quite a number of effective raids. He was in the very first raid over Kiel and Heligoland right immediately after war was declared in September, he took part in the leaflet raids, was in the Sylt raid in the latter part of March when acting pilot in a Hampden bomber, his big disappointment was that he could not see the flash of the explosions as the bombs were released because they had to climb quickly into the clouds and a month ago he flew over Bergen with a formation that did damage to enemy shipping in that port.”[xix]
Tony was survived by his parents and sister Margaret Beatrice Luxmoore (1918-2006) who was married to Cyril Montague Conduitt Dermer (1918-1988) in 1941.[xx]
Tony is buried in the Hanover War Cemetery[xxi] and is memorialised on the Roll of Honour of the Feilding Agricultural High School and the Auckland War Memorial Cenotaph.
Sources cited
[i] 1939-1945, Operations Record Books (ORBs), 50 (RAF) Squadron.
[ii] Feilding Star, 3 July 1913, p.2.
[iii] RNZAF Biographies for Deceased Personnel (RNZAF Bio), 1939-45, Archives NZ, Ref: 17845612, pp.691-2.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Manawatu Times, 6 August 1936, p.6.
[vi] Errol Martyn, For Your Tomorrow, Upper Riccarton, Christchurch, Volplane Press, 2008, Vol. 3, p. 308.
[vii] New Zealand Herald, 14 October 1937, p.18.
[viii] Auckland Star, 1 December 1937, p.4.
[ix] Errol Martyn, p.308.
[x] RNZAF Bio.
[xi] Ibid.
[xii] Colin Hill, The Last Flight of AD730, Oxford, 2000.
[xiii] Patrick Bishop, Air Force Blue, Wiliam Collins, London, 2017, p.112.
[xiv] www.theguardian.com
[xv] ORBs.
[xvi] Manawatu Times, 23 March 1940, p.7.
[xvii] ORBs.
[xviii] No. 50 Squadron Royal Air Force In World War Two, p.46: www.no-50-and-no-60-squadrons-association.co.uk
[xix] RAF Hero Missing, Widnes Weekly News, 5 July 1940.
[xx] NZ BDM 1941/7276.
[xxi] Service personnel file of NZ40628, Anthony Luxmoore, NZDF Personnel Archives and Medals, Trentham Camp (Wellington), (NZDF PAM). AWMM

Sources

External links: Commonwealth War Graves Commission record
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2074737
Further Reference
RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Biographies of Deceased Personnel 1939 - 1945 (Bound Volumes) - Ib - Ly. Archives New Zealand (R17845612)
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R17845612
Sources Used
List of RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Personnel - List of Personnel Killed or Missing in Various Theatres, 1940 - 1945. Archives New Zealand (R17845744)
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R17845744
Sources Used
References: Martyn, E. (1998-2008). For Your Tomorrow (Vols. 1-3). Christchurch, N.Z.: Volplane Press.
Feilding Agricultural High School War Memorial volume. (1948). Feilding, N.Z.: Feilding Agricultural High School (N.Z.). Old Pupils' Association.
Please note that the 11 volumes of the "RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Biographies of Deceased Personnel 1939-1945" held at Archives NZ (formerly known as AIR118) should be used in conjunction with Errol Martyn's "For Your Tomorrow". FYT reflects detailed examination of all of the AIR118 bios which contain many inaccuracies and omissions.
Feilding Agricultural High School War Memorial volume. (1948). Feilding, N.Z.: Feilding Agricultural High School (N.Z.). Old Pupils' Association.
Portrait p.22.
Feilding Agricultural High School War Memorial volume. (1948). Feilding, N.Z.: Feilding Agricultural High School (N.Z.). Old Pupils' Association.
Obituary: p.39-40.
RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Biographies of Deceased Personnel 1939 - 1945 (Bound Volumes) - Ib - Ly. Archives New Zealand (R17845612) - Former archives reference: AIR118
List of RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Personnel - List of Personnel Killed or Missing in Various Theatres, 1940 - 1945. [(New Zealanders Attached to R.A.F. [Royal Air Force]) (Officers), (Europe) - Airmen]. Archives New Zealand (R17845744)
List of RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Personnel - List of Deceased New Zealanders (Formerly) serving with RAF [Royal Air Force]. Archives New Zealand, Wellington (R17845760).
Biography kindly provided by Paul Hickford, New Zealanders who served with 50 Squadron RAF Biography Project (2026).

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Anthony Seton Luxmoore