LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Frank Walton SMILY
Service No: 415056
Born: Perth WA, 21 May 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 June 1941
Unit: No. 466 Squadron, RAF Leconfield, Yorkshire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 466 Squadron Halifax aircraft DT554), North Sea, 3 November 1943, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walton Alfred and Margaret Helena Smily, of Nedlands, Western Australia. Metallurgist.
Roll of Honour: Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 191, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 110, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Halifax DT554 took off from RAF Leconfield on 3 November 1943 to carry out an air to sea firing practice training exercise. While engaged in the exercise the aircraft exploded and crashed into the sea off Flamborough Head.
The crew members of DT554 were:
Sergeant Nevill William Dowie (426066) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Dennis Drury (1663138) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Alan Grant Harris (413862) (Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant William Whitelaw Johnston (425322) (Rear Gunner)
Pilot Officer Stephen John Lucas (410504) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Charles Peter North (405645) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Frank Walton Smily (415056) (Pilot)
These members are the Squadron’s first casualties since converting to Halifax Aircraft.
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/38/326