Malcolm Frederick MERRETT
Year of Birth: 1909
Place of Birth: Victoria, Australia
Date of Enlistment: 20 Nov 1940, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Australian Defence Force: Royal Australian Air Force
Rank: Leading Aircraftman
Unit(s): No. 20 Squadron
Service Number: 19710
Died: 13 April 1943
Age: 33 years
Buried: Cairns War Cemetery – Plot A – Row B – Grave 7
Malcolm Frederick Merrett was born in Donald, Victoria, 29 September 1909 to Richard Ackland and Catherine (McKinnon) Merrett. He had five siblings, Richard Henry born 1908, Amelia Alice 1911, Marjorie Catherine 1913, Elsie May 1918 and Dulcie Ruth 1920.
In the 1936 Electoral Rolls of Donald, Victoria, he is listed as a labourer and his father Richard as a farmer.
He met Phyllis Jean Tooth and married in Victoria in December of 1940, they had one son Malcolm Gary, who was born in 1942 but only lived six months. After Malcolm’s death in April 1943, Jean joined the RAAF in November 1943 as an Aircraftswoman.
Malcolm was killed, along with his Captain and four other crewmen, when their aircraft crashed on its approach to Cairns.
RAAF PBY-5 Catalina, A24-36 ( USN 08190) of 11 Squadron RAAF, crashed into Cairns harbour on return from a night-time search patrol. They had flown for 23 hours 23 minutes and ran out fuel. There were only two survivors, Sgt. Geoff Suckling (1st W/T) and LAC Murray Byham (armourer). The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
The following crew members were buried in the military section of the Cairns Cemetery:- Pilot Flt./Lt. Arnold Hinchcliffe; 2nd Pilot, Sgt. Len Carr; Navigator P/Off. Leslie L. Henstridge; 1st. Engineer, Sgt. Harold McGillivary; 2nd Engineer LAC Malcolm F. Merrett; Rigger Sgt. James N.S. Lahey
Malcolm Frederick Merrett’s name in on Donald Roll of Honour board and is located at panel 101 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial.
Online Resources
NAA: A705, (MERRETT Malcolm Frederick) National Archives of Australia
Department Veterans’ Affairs Nominal Rolls
National Library of Australia: Trove Digitised Newspapers
Queensland Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages
Victorian Births Deaths & Marriages Index
Electoral Roll 1936 – Ancestry.com
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