LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Robert Wesley SKILBECK
Service No: 430063
Born: Carlton VIC, 6 July 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 4 December 1942
Unit: No. 15 Squadron (RAF), RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk
Died: Air Operations: (No. 15 Squadron Lancaster aircraft HK626), Germany, 4 December 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Robert and Elsina Elizabeth Jane Skilbeck, of Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster HK626 took off from RAF Mildenhall at 1151 hours on 4th December 1944 on a day mission to bomb Oberhausen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. HK626 was seen by other crews from the Squadron on the same mission, to explode in the air and crash at Oberhausen. Oberhausen is 8 miles north east of Duisburg Germany. It was believed the aircraft was hit by flak. All crew members were killed.
The crew members of HK 626 were:
Flying Officer Vincent Davis (429452) (Pilot)
Sergeant John George Shewen (2211742) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer John Howell Furness (429111) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer James Thomas Lowe (427002) (Bomb Aimer)
Pilot Officer Robert Wesley Skilbeck (430063) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Stanley William John Taylor (3000350) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Patrick Byram Wilson (3040116) (RAFVR) (Rear 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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/37/645