Bega-born farmhand and Spitfire pilot who never returned from World War II

Flight Sergeant Marshall 'Marsh' Edmund Parbery handed his wallet to one over to mind because he didn't want to take it with him, then took off from RAF Redhill in Surrey, along with 11 others on Royal Air Force bomber escort duties.

As the No. 457 Squadron approached their target of Lille, France at 15,000 feet, it had been believed a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 German fighter aircraft dived upon the young yet highly capable pilot who was flying 'Tailend Charley' in the formation.

Engaged by considerable flack through both enemy aircraft and anti-aircraft fire, Marsh disappeared, failed to return to base, had been posted as missing, then later presumed dead.

The son of Charles Percival and Merle Edith Parbery of 'Allawah', Bega, was said to have had a quiet and happy disposition, which Air Commodore Peter Malam Brothers later described as strengthening and a helpful influence to his brother pilots and airmen.

In the days leading up to his disappearance, Marsh undertook tasks which included formation stooge, target support for Douglas A-20 Havoc 'Boston' bombers targeting the Abbeville railway marshalling yard, and high cover for the Bostons aiming for St. Omer railway station.

In a letter dated April 29, 1942, typewritten, signed and sent to the pilot's father, Squadron Leader Peter M Brothers said the late-pilot was "held in high regard and affection" by his Officers and the airmen of 457 Squadron.

"I may add that he was a most efficient NCO Pilot and has been recommended for his Commission by me only last week. I am endeavouring to have this Commission put through," he wrote.

"He was known to be with the rest of the formation up to the time we reached the target area, but from then onwards no one actually saw him and at the same time no one noticed him disappear or saw him in any difficulties.

"One must hope therefore, at the worst, that your Son had to bail out and came down and was made a prisoner of War," the letter said, with the Squadron Leader stating how he would communicate immediately if new details emerged.

Nothing further was ever made known about the circumstances surrounding his death, and his body was never found, even though in 1980s, nephews of the deceased, tried to uncover their uncle's whereabouts.

Cross-referenced German records determined it was 'highly likely' the young pilot was shot down by Wilhelm Gath, a Hauptmann (captain) of the Luftwaffe at 1550 hours near Wylder in Northern France, and the likely buried as unknown.

Marsh's younger brother by a year, Dudley, recalled how Marsh used to spend hours in an outside shed studying papers on aeronautical engineering and making model aircraft, and the pair when 12 and 13, shared a flight with [Sir] Charles Kingsford Smith, taking off from Jellat Flats.

The names of more than 20,000 men and women of the air forces who were lost during World War II during operations across Europe, and had no known grave, had been recorded within the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede, England.

Engraved on the wall, was the Bega-born farmhand and 23-year-old Flight Sergeant, one of many service personnel to be commemorated on Anzac Day.