LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Colin William WALKER
Service No: 403291
Born: Sydney NSW, 14 August 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 5 January 1941
Unit: No. 454 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 454 Squadron Baltimore aircraft FW282), near Antikythera Island, Greece, 3 December 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frederick William Walker, and of Gladys Irene Walker, of Elizabeth Bay, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Column 277, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 105, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
While on an Aegean reconnaissance, Baltimore FW282 was attacked and damaged by Me 109 aircraft and forced to ditch near Antikythera Island. Two of the crew members had already wounded by the fighter aircraft and only the pilot survived the ditching and was taken prisoner.
The crew members of FW282 were:
Warrant Officer John Gartside (404599) (RNZAF) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant William Alroy Hugh John Horsley (403829) (Pilot) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 5 October 1945
Flight Lieutenant Leslie Norman Row (117013) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Colin William Walker (403291) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Lax, M. R. (Mark Roger) Alamein to the Alps: 454 Squadron RAAF 1941-1945, M R Lax Wanniassa ACT 2903, 2006
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/43/435