SPENCER, Frank George
| Service Number: | 427360 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 June 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Flight Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Maylands, Western Australia, Australia, 22 February 1923 |
| Home Town: | Maylands, Bayswater, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Perth Modern School, Perth, Western Australia, Australia |
| Occupation: | Junior Draughtsman |
| Died: | Flying Battle, France, 19 July 1944, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
Choloy War Cemetery, France Coll. grave 3. E. 1-7. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Carnamah War Memorial, International Bomber Command Centre Memorial, Kings Park Western Australia State War Memorial, Subiaco Perth Modern School WW2 Honour Board |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Flight Sergeant, 427360 | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Jun 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 427360 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Rod Hutchings
Frank George Spencer was born on 22 February 1923 at Maylands, Western Australia, the son of Frank and Nellie Spencer and brother of Elsie. His father worked as a plumber and store packer. Frank attended Perth Modern School, and after failing his leaving certificate he took night classes at Perth Technical College to sit it again. He was working as a junior draughtsman when the war came. He played football and swam, and was fond of badminton.
Spencer enlisted in the RAAF at Perth on 21 June 1942, aged 19. Selected for training in navigation and observation, he was promoted sergeant in March 1943 and embarked from Sydney on 25 May 1943, reaching the United Kingdom in July. He was one of almost 27,500 Australians who served with Bomber Command under the Empire Air Training Scheme. Promoted flight sergeant in September 1943 and remustered navigator (bomb aimer), he completed operational training and joined No. 463 Squadron RAAF at Waddington, Lincolnshire, on 29 June 1944.
On the night of 18/19 July 1944, No. 463 Squadron despatched eight Lancasters against the railway junction at Revigny, France, part of a force of 110 aircraft of No. 5 Group. Spencer flew as bomb aimer in Lancaster LM551, JO-G, which took off just before 11 pm. The target was all but destroyed, but German night fighter defences were strong and 24 of the 110 bombers failed to return. LM551 was one of them. Investigators later established that the aircraft exploded and crashed on the edge of the Marne-Rhine Canal, about 145 kilometres east of the target, killing the crew of seven: Flying Officer Beverley Gifford, Warrant Officer Raymond Shipway, Flight Sergeants John Boydell, Alan Fripp, Frank Spencer and Philip Pearce, all RAAF, and Sergeant Harold Newell, RAF.
The crew could not be individually identified. They were buried together at Revigny-sur-Ornain and after the war reinterred at Choloy War Cemetery, where they lie in collective grave 3. E. 1-7. Frank's headstone carries his family's inscription, "Ever remembered." He was 21.
His name is on Panel 109 of the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour.
By
Rod Hutchings
OIC Media and Communications
Directorate History and Heritage Services
History and Heritage Branch - Air Force
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