LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Frederick Vincent PARKER
Service No: 401629
Born: Colac VIC, 29 December 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 March 1941
Unit: No. 14 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Injuries from an Aircraft Accident (loss of No. 14 Squadron Marauder aircraft FK152 on 10 July 1943), Tunisia, 16 July 1943, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Medjez-El-Bab War Cemetery, Tunisia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter H. and Elsie M. Parker, of Colac, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Due to engine failure at about 1030 hours on 10 July 1943 Marauder FK152 crashed at Bou Bicha between the sea and the 69 kms stone on the main Tunis Course road. One crew member was killed, five were fatally injured and two survived.
The crew members of FK152 were:
Flying Officer Ernest James Bertuch (401294) (Observer) Fatally injured, Died: 16 July 1943
Flight Sergeant J T Collyer (591195) (RAFVR) (Supernumerary Pilot, flying in Bomb Aimers seat) Survived
Sergeant Emlyn Thomas Enoch Jones (1078263) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Mason (1054965) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Warrant Officer Frederick Vincent Parker (401629) (Wireless Air Gunner) Fatally injured, Died: 16 July 1943
Flying Officer Christopher Posford Martin Phillips (114395) (RAFVR) (Pilot) Fatally injured, Died: 12 July 1943
Sergeant Daniel MacIntyre Mungin Rice (1070428) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner) Fatally injured, Died: 10 July 1943
Pilot Officer Alan Finlay Smith (412728) (Supernumerary Pilot) Survived, Killed in an Aircraft Accident: 21 October 1943
Flight Sergeant Collyer later stated: “on the morning of 10 July 1943 when flying as a Pax in the Bomb Aimers position FK152 captained by Flying Officer Phillips crashed at Bou Bicha at about 1030 hours. We were flying at about 50 feet in an easterly direction about 12 miles off the coast from when the aircraft swung violently to starboard upon failure of the starboard engine. At the time Phillips was in the second pilot’s seat and Mason at the controls as first pilot. Mason tried the fuel booster pumps without result. After trimming the aircraft for level flight, the pilot turned the aircraft to port and headed back to the coast at a speed of 170 mph height approximately 50 feet. After crossing the coast Phillips told the crew to hold on. We crossed a ridge of sand dunes running parallel to the coast very low down, but did not feel the aircraft hit them. Immediately after the port wing dropped and touched the ground when the pilot throttled back the port engine in preparation for a belly landing.. The aircraft then straightened up and slid forward on its belly. I was thrown forward through the nose prior to the aircraft coming to rest. The inner port wing petrol tank exploded and the aircraft burst into flames.”
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, 166/32/141
Bibliography:
Napier, Michael Winged Crusaders: the exploits of 14 Squadron RFC & RAF 1915-1945, Pen & Sword Books, Barnsley UK, 2012