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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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272 Squadron Beaufighter EL472 F/O.Herron

Operation: Coastal Patrol

Date: 6th June 1943 (Sunday)

Unit: No. 272 Squadron

Type: Beaufighter

Serial: EL472

Base: RAF Luqa, Malta

Location: Mediterranean Sea off Filfla, Malta

Pilot: F/O. Thomas Alfred Herron J/20126 RCAF Age 19. Missing

Nav: Sgt. Reginald Jack Hawksley 1212996 RAFVR Age ? Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

We have very little information on this loss and a relative of the pilot seeks any further details.

Lost over off the island of Filfla on an operational patrol. The navigators body was recovered, the pilot, is remembered on the Malta Memorial.

 

272 Squadron Beaufighters

                    

Left: F/O. Thomas Alfred Herron (courtesy of Philip Van Leeuwen)


Burial details:

F/O. Thomas Alfred Herron. Missing. Commemorated on the Malta Memorial. Panel 10, Column 1. Son of Thomas Edward (1895-1982) and Edith Beatrice Herron - nee Webb (1886-1974), of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Sgt. Reginald Jack Hawksley. Malta Naval Cemetery. Prot. Sec. (Men's) Plot F. Coll. Grave 28. No further information available as yet.

Researched for relatives of these crews with thanks for additional information to Philip Van Leeuwen, Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses' Vol. 2, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vol's. 1 and  2', Tom Kracker - 'Kracker Luftwaffe Archives', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

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Acknowledgements
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Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and Captain François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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