Sub-Lieutenant Frederick Robert Akister served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War. He was the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. F. Akister of First Avenue, Rawdon, Yorkshire, England. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, he attended Leeds Technical College, Leeds, Yorkshire.
Referred to in Royal Naval documents as Robert, he died on 4th July 1944 aged 20 years old when Grumman Hellcat JV146 came down near Greyabbey, Co. Down. Pilot Akister served in the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm 800 Squadron based at HMS Emperor, an American Aircraft Carrier under Lend-Lease to the Royal Navy. Akister had taken off from Ballyhalbert Airfield, Ballyhalbert, Co. Down.
While making a steep turn, Akister lost control of the plane and spun out into the ground near Thompson’s Farm, Greyabbey, Co. Down. A brass plaque on a wooden fencepost on Tullykevin Road, Greyabbey, Co. Down marks the crash site.
In memory of Sub Lt (A) F.R Akister 800 Sqn RNVR. Aged 20. Killed when his Hellcat JV146 crashed here on 4th July 1944. He is not forgotten.
Frederick Robert Akister’s grave is in Section D, Grave 578 of St. Peter’s Churchyard, Rawdon, Yorkshire.