LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Ronald Rashleigh SILLCOCK
Service No: 400840
Born: Morwell VIC, 26 August 1912
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 November 1940
Unit: No. 53 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 53 Squadron Hudson aircraft V9253), Atlantic Ocean, 10 November 1942, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Thomas Martin Sillcock and Evelyn Beatrice Sillcock, of Yinnar, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Yinnar VIC
Remembered: Panel 2, Column 1, Ottawa Memorial, Canada
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0945 hours on 10 November 1942 Hudson V9253 took off from Edinburgh Field, Trinidad, to carry out a routine anti-submarine patrol south east of Trinidad. The aircraft made a routine signal before it was due to return to base at 1600 hours GMT. At 1700 hours an attempt was made at radio communication but no acknowledgement was received. Subsequent searches found no trace of the missing aircraft or crew.
The crew members of V9253 were:
Seaman First Class Harold L Drew (USN) (Supernumerary)
Sergeant Robert Millar (1057521) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Patrick George Nelson (411726) (RNZAF) (Observer)
Flight Sergeant Ronald Rashleigh Sillcock (400840) (Pilot)
Sergeant William Skinner (1310678) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
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, 163/162/513
Bibliography:
Winter, V.A. (Vincent Adams) (408547) Noble Six Hundred: the story of the Empire Air Training Scheme with special reference to Australians who trained in Southern Rhodesia, V.A. Winter Brighton VIC 3186