Historical information

Frederick Gardner DAVEY was born in Bendigo & worked at Hume & Iser prior to enlisting. He initially enlisted as No V24918 in the 17th Machine Gun Regt in 1939 aged 22. Fred was discharged from the Army with the rank of Sgt in 10.9.1941. He then applied to join the RAAF & was finally accepted & began his service on 30.1.1942 No 410533. Finally he was posted to No 44 Sqd RAF Rhodesian which were Lancasters on 16.3.1944, so named because 25% of the aircrew & ground staff were from Rhodesia.

Fred flew on the Nuremberg Raid on 30/31.3.1944 which suffered the costliest in terms of RAF losses in a single night. A total of 779 aircraft were on the raid & 105 aircraft were lost with 534 crew & 157 captured. His Sqd during the war had the 3rd highest losses in Bomber Command. Fred flew 35 missions in total & was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944. He was presented with his DFC at an investure at Buckingham Palace on 18.5.1945. Fred was discharged from the RAAF with the rank of Flying Officer on 28.9.1945.

Physical description

Framed colour portrait photo of a man in RAAF uniform. Frame is metal with photo covered in clear plastic. Folding stand attached at back.

Inscriptions & markings

On mounting of photo: Vincent Riely Bendigo