​​FLIGHT SERGEANT NAVIGATOR  437422

MAXWELL BENTLEY KILSBY 

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Maxwell Bentley Kilsby was born on the 26th December 1921 in the town of Waikerie which is in South Australia and situated approximately 180 kilometres to the north east of Adelaide.  His parents, Rex Henry and Kathleen May Kilsby had married on the 17th September 1917.  Kathleen was from Semaphore in Adelaide and her husband Rex from further away in Mount Gambier.  The couple, with their only son, later moved to Toorak Gardens, a pleasant residential district of  Adelaide, where Maxwell grew up and was educated.  As a lad, he attended Rose Park Primary School, that was only a short distance from where the family lived.  As a teenager he attended Adelaide High School and attained a solid education that led him into office work and employment as a Shipping Clerk at B.H.P. (Broken Hill Property Company Limited).

When war was declared in September 1939, Maxwell was only 17 years old.  However, by the 30th January 1943, he had enlisted and was ready for service with the Royal Australian Air Force. Following his training and embarkment to the United Kingdom, Maxwell was eventually assigned to RAF Sandtoft where he was assigned to 1667 Heavy Conversion Unit where his Navigator skills were adapted to the Lancaster bombers. 

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On the evening of the 4th April 1945, just weeks before the end of the war in Europe, Maxwell and fellow Australians left Sandtoft for an exercise that would take them around the north of England for 'BULLSEYE' training exercise that involved mock raids and cross-country navigation to find specific targets. A crew of seven were on board Lancaster B Mk1 ND639 that took off from Sandtoft at 22.00 that night and were en route for their exercise.  Maxwell was in the Navigator's seat and their pilot and skipper that night was Pilot Officer 424588 James Edward Grayson who was from Gympie in Queensland. Taking up the position of Air Bomber was Flight Sergeant 434240 Ernest John Castor from Mourilyan, Queensland and the Wireless Operator was Flight Sergeant 432937 Wilfred Stuart Bennett, born in Scotland but from Randwick, New South Wales. 

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In the north of England at that time of year, the weather wasn't kind and that particular night was no exception.  Carrying out the exercise, the Lancaster crashed into the ground and burst into flames at 02:58 on the morning of the 5th April.  It was believed that the crash was due to severe icing and subsequent loss of control.  None of the crew survived the crash that ended in a field near Crowle, a small market town in Lincolnshire, situated about 28 kilometres north east of Doncaster and around 7 kilometres from RAF Sandtoft. Parents of all of the crew members of Lancaster ND 639 were informed of their sons' tragic death. Four, young, brave Australians who died together as they flew... a team in friendship and comradeship, they now lie together, forever... side by side.

 

Rex and Elizabeth Kilsby chose to write an inscription on their son's headstone.  It reads ...   

 MAY WE WHO LIVE PROVE WORTHY OF HIS SACRIFICE

 

John and Eva Grayson chose to write an inscription on their son James' headstone.  It reads ...

​HIS DUTY FEARLESSLY AND NOBLY DONE. EVER REMEMBERED 

 

John and Pearl Castor chose to write an inscription on their son Ernest's headstone.  It reads... 

A GALLANT SON OF MOURILYAN, N.Q., AUSTRALIA HIS DUTY NOBLY DONE​​​​

 

Wilfred and Marie Bennett chose to write an inscription on their son Wilfred's headstone.  It reads...

WITH FAITH IN THE LORD WE SHALL MEET AGAIN 

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JAMES EDWARD GRAYSON IS BURIED IN SECTION G, ROW J, GRAVE 9

MAXWELL BENTLEY KILSBY IS BURIED IN SECTION G, ROW J, GRAVE 10

WILFRED STUART BENNETT IS BURIED IN SECTION G, ROW J, GRAVE 11

ERNEST JOHN CASTOR IS BURIED IN SECTION G, ROW J, GRAVE 12