Sergeant Mervyn Wilfred Marshall enlisted to the Royal Australian Air Force on 3 February 1941. He completed his flying training in Australia and the United Kingdom, and qualified as a fighter pilot. Sergeant Marshall went on to serve with 234 Squadron, and transferred to West Africa to fly Hurricane aircraft with the Royal Air Force Defence Flight, based at Takoradi, Ghana. On 13 November 1942, while on a patrol, Sergeant Marshall's Hurricane aircraft caught fire in flight over Accra, Ghana. Although he bailed out successfully, his parachute failed to open properly and he did not survive. Sergeant Marshall is buried at Christiansborg War Cemetery, Ghana.