LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Rex Edward BEACH
Service No: 419023
Born: Bentleigh VIC, 7 March 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 June 1942
Unit: No. 86 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 86 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft A29-621), near Merauke, 30 April 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harry Edward and Nellie Margaret Beach, of Bentleigh, Victoria
Roll of Honour: Moorabbin VIC
Remembered: Panel 6, Lae Memorial PNG
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1530 hours on 30 April 1944, Kittyhawk A29-621 flown by Flying Officer Beach crashed in the sea two miles from the Merauke airstrip, Dutch New Guinea. The aircraft burst into flames and Flying Officer Beach was killed. A29-621 had collided with Kittyhawk A29-616 at a height of 25,000 feet during a practice scramble. The Pilot of A29-616 Flight Sergeant Victor Reginald Waldemar Andrews (401606) (O35259) (Discharged: 17 March 1948) crash landed on the beach and was uninjured.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/15/522; A9845, 163