LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Francis Mathew SILVA
Service No: 413267
Born: Liverpool, England, 26 June 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 August 1941 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 456 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 456 Squadron Mosquito aircraft HK321), English Channel, 29 April 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Francis John and Mary Julie Silva, of Bellevue Hill, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 258, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 106, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2330 hours on 28 April 1944, Mosquito HK321 took off, scrambled for a defensive patrol over the English Channel. When approximately 30 miles south west of base, the pilot was told of a low flying target 5 miles away, when HK321 was at 5,000 feet. The aircraft reported that it was closing in to investigate. The last information available was a final transmission at 0034 hours. Another aircraft in the same area reported that at 0030 hours “aircraft not mine going down near me now”. A third aircraft reported sight of something burning in the water in the same area. The Navy reported that wreckage was found in the same area but this was not confirmed. A search by sea and air continued until about midday without success, and no trace of the missing aircraft or crew was found.
The crew members of HK321 were:
Flying Officer Robert Maxwell Joseph Pahlow (411255) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Francis Mathew Silva (413267) (Navigator Radio)
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, 166/37/391