Mervin Rex de Silva (1918-2005) was

Ceylonese Sri Lankan or Ceylonese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Sri Lanka * A person from Sri Lanka, see Demographics of Sri Lanka ** Sinhalese people, the ethnic majority ** Sri Lankan Tamils, an ethnic minority ** Sri L ...

aviator. He served as a fighter pilot in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and later became the Chief Pilot of

Air Ceylon Air Ceylon was the former flag carrier airline of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The airline discontinued flights to Europe in early 1978 and finally ceased all local services on 31 August 1979, when it was replaced by Air Lanka and then rebranded to Sr ...

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). He was educated at

St Peter's College, Colombo St. Peter's College ( Sinhala: සාන්ත පීතර විදුහල, Tamil: செயிண்ட் பீட்டர் கல்லூரி) is a Roman Catholic boys-only primary to secondary (inclusive) school in the Bambalapitiya ...

and later worked as a stenographer. He had flying lessons after winning a scholarship awarded by

Lord Leverhulme William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme , (, ; 19 September 1851 – 7 May 1925) was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician. Having been educated at a small private school until the age of nine, then at church school ...

Lever Brothers Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and successfully promoted a new soap-making p ...

Flying career

He volunteered to join the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

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. 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.

Later career

On demobilization he was recruited to

Air India Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the sa ...

and flew

DC-3 Dakota The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

and Vickers Viking aircraft out of

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. He also flew Indian pioneer aviator and founder of

Tata Airlines Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the sa ...

J. R. D. Tata Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (29 July 1904 – 29 November 1993) was a French-Indian aviator, industrialist, entrepreneur and chairman of Tata Group. Born into the Tata family of India, he was the son of noted businessman Ratanji Dadabhoy ...

in a private Beechcraft C-45. In 1947 he joined

and became its Chief Pilot. He married Dorothy Armer in 1947. He immigrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1955, working as a Senior Administration Officer for the City of Waverley in

Glen Waverley, Victoria Glen Waverley is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Monash local government area. Glen Waverley recorded a population of 42,642 at the 2021 census. History T ...

and retired in 1982. He died on 18 August 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Silva, Rex Ceylonese military personnel of World War II 1918 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Sri Lankan people Sri Lankan emigrants to Australia Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Air India Sri Lankan aviators