Rex De Silva
Born29 November 1918
Colombo, Ceylon
Died18 August 2005(2005-08-18) (aged 86)
Australia
AllegianceSri Lanka Ceylon
 United Kingdom
 Australia
Service/branchRoyal Air Force
Years of service1941-46
RankProbationary Pilot Officer (Flight Sergeant)
Unit504 Squadron
Battles/warsWorld War II
Other workChief Pilot Air Ceylon

Mervin Rex de Silva (1918-2005) was Ceylonese aviator. He served as a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force in World War II and later became the Chief Pilot of Air Ceylon.

Early life

Rex de Silva was born on 29 November 1918. His father was John Walter de Silva (a head guard in the Ceylon Government Railway) and his mother Freda (née Ebert).[1] He was educated at St Peter's College, Colombo and later worked as a stenographer. He had flying lessons after winning a scholarship awarded by Lord Leverhulme of Lever Brothers.

Flying career

He volunteered to join the RAF with the onset of World War 2 and was trained at the Elementary Flying School at Fairoaks. He flew Spitfire VB aircraft with 504 Squadron from 1943 to 1944, from Ibsley, Church Stanton and Redhill as an interceptor as well as flying bomber escort missions, escorting Marauder bombers. In 1944 he was posted to 17 Squadron and flew Spitfires (notably MT719/YB J) from Minneriya Ceylon, Calcutta and Chittagong, Assam and Burma.[2] After serving in Bangalore and as Flight Controller in Katunayake, Ceylon (RAF Negombo) he was demobilized.

He was appointed a probationary pilot Officer in the RAF volunteer reserve and gazetted on 9 October 1945.[3]

Later career

On demobilization he was recruited to Air India and flew DC-3 Dakota and Vickers Viking aircraft out of Bombay. He also flew Indian pioneer aviator and founder of Tata Airlines, J. R. D. Tata in a private Beechcraft C-45. In 1947 he joined Air Ceylon and became its Chief Pilot. He married Dorothy Armer in 1947. He immigrated to Australia in 1955, working as a Senior Administration Officer for the City of Waverley in Glen Waverley, Victoria and retired in 1982. He died on 18 August 2005.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "From Piano Stool to Spitfire Cockpit Roger Thiedeman". The Sunday Times. 23 February 1997. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  2. ↑ "Forgotten Campaign;Forgotten Veterans by Sergei de Silva Ranasighe". The Sunday Times. 5 November 1997. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  3. ↑ "The London Gazette 1396937 Mervin Rex DE SILVA (200773). 27th Dec. 1944.1 353200 A" (PDF). london-gazette.co.uk. 4 December 1945. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "More Burgher Obituaries from Australia". Sri Lanka Genealogy Forum. 11 February 2006. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
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