LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Geoffrey Charles SYKES
Service No: 418203
Born: Ballarat VIC, 4 April 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 April 1942
Unit: No. 1 Reserve Personnel Pool, Garbutt QLD
Died: Injuries from Aircraft Accident (loss of No. 13 Aircraft Repair Depot Beaufort aircraft A9-452 on 22 March 1942), Charters Towers, 23 March 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Charters Towers War Cemetery, QLD
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Wilmot Sykes and Mary Bell Stuart Sykes, of Haysdale, Victoria
Roll of Honour: Swan Hill VIC
Remembered: Panel 115, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1315 hours on 22 March 1944 Beaufort A9-452 crashed 8 kms north of Fanning, Queensland, after its starboard engine caught fire during a travel flight. On board were:
Leading Aircraftman William Glen Cadd (140268) (General Hand, Supernumerary) Fatally injured: Died 22 March 1944
Pilot Officer Donald William Ferguson (416943) (Pilot) Fatally injured: Died 22 March 1945
Flight Sergeant Geoffrey Charles Sykes (418203) (Navigator) Fatally injured: Died 23 March 1944
Flight Sergeant Roy Herbert Williamson (413920) (Wireless Air Gunner) Slightly injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 22 February 1946
Flight Sergeant John Neil Wise (408494) (Second Pilot) Seriously injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 25 May 1945
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 258