LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Frederick John SILK
Service No: 401676
Born: Bayswater VIC, 16 September 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 March 1941
Unit: No. 450 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 450 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft FR125), Libya, 26 February 1943, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frederick John and Florence Grace Silk, of Bayswater, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Bayswater VIC
Remembered: Column 277, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 105, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 26 February 1943, Kittyhawk FR125 flown by Pilot Officer Silk was one of eleven aircraft carrying 40 lb wing bombs which took off at 0741 hours detailed to bomb enemy concentrations in the Gabes area. Light inaccurate anti-aircraft fire was encountered over the target area. After bombing, ME109s were sighted and attacked and individual fights ensued and continued from Gabes to Medinin. FR125 failed to return from the mission and Pilot Officer Silk was missing.
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, 166/37/41