AR banner
Search Tips Advanced Search
Back to Top

• Kracker Archive
• Allied Losses
• Archiwum Polish
• Paradie Canadian
• RCAF
• RAAF
• RNZAF
• USA
• Searchable Lists

Info LogoAdd to or correct this story with a few clicks.
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.
Check our Research databases: Database List

.

We seek additional information and photographs. Please contact us via the Helpdesk.

Thomas Jacobs
3 LFS (Lancaster Finishing School) Lancaster I R5846 A5-H Fl/Sgt. Thomas G. Jacobs

Operation: Training

Date: 18th December 1944

Unit: No. 3 LFS (Lancaster Finishing School)

Type: Lancaster I

Serial: R5846

Code: A5-H

Base: Feltwell, Thetford, Norfolk

Location: Hockwood cum Wilton, Thetford, Norfolk

Pilot: Fl/Sgt. Thomas George Jacobs 428122 RNZAF Age 22. Killed

Fl/Eng: Sgt. Leslie Arthur Raymond Potter 3006136 RAFVR Age 19. Killed

Nav: Fl/Sgt. George Ridley Telford Taylor 1521681 RAFVR Age 36. Killed

Air/Bmr: Sgt. James Duffin 1568139 RAFVR Age ? Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. John Watson Hutton 1822192 RAFVR Age 20. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Frank Albert Oxlade 3031334 RAFVR Age 19. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Cyril Symonds 2235152 RAFVR Age 19. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Took off at 18:56 hrs. from Feltwell near Thetford Norfolk on a general night flying training exercise - this was the final parts of 63 training course and this nights training included air to air firing, circuits and landings at Waterbeach, Methwold and Tempsford.

On the return to Feltwell several aircraft were on a circuit preparing to land when, at 21:51 hrs. two aircraft collided, crashing, killing all the crews of R5846 and R5674. (see archive report on R5674)

In 1984 the AAPS (1) found four Merlin engines, machine guns and other equipment. Most of which are now on display at the Norfolk and Suffolk Museum in Flixton, Suffolk.

(1) Anglian Aeronautical Preservation Society



The aircraft came down in the village of Hockwold cum Wilton between South Street and the river opposite Winton Cottage.
In 1984 the Anglian Aeronautical Preservation Society found four Merlin engines, machine guns and other equipment. Most of which are now on display at the Norfolk and Suffolk Museum in Flixton, Suffolk.

Burial details:

Fl/Sgt. Thomas George Jacobs. Cambridge City Cemetery Grave 15356. Son of Thomas George and Margaret Agnes Jacobs, of Timaru, Canterbury, New Zealand.

Sgt. Leslie Arthur Raymond Potter. Cambridge City Cemetery Grave 15357. Son of John D. Potter and Violet Potter, of South Norwood, Surrey, England.

Fl/Sgt. George Ridley Telford Taylor Merrington (St. John) Churchyard Grave 384. Son of William and Mary Taylor; husband of Harriett Jane Welburn Taylor of Spennymoor (1912-1973), County Durham, England.

Sgt. James Duffin. Bannockburn Cemetery. Compt. C37. Grave 23. Son of James and Mary Breslin Duffin, nephew of Elizabeth Kelly, of Bannockburn, Scotland.

Sgt. John Watson Hutton Harvieston Cemetery Sec E. Grave 19. Son of William John and Janet Howden Hutton, of Gorebridge, Midlothian, Scotland.

Sgt. Frank Albert Oxlade Hambleden (St. Mary) New Churchyard. Son of Fred and Edith Ada Oxlade, of Hambleden, Buckinghamshire, England.

Sgt. Cyril Symonds Highmore (St. Paul) Churchyard. Son of Thomas and I.L.M. Wells, of Highmoor, Oxfordshire, England.

Acknowledgments: With thanks to the following: Ian McLachlan "Final Flights", Bill Chorley - "Bomber Command Losses", the work of the CWGC

Pages of Outstanding Interest
History Airborne Forces •  Soviet Night Witches •  Bomber Command Memories •  Abbreviations •  Gardening Codenames
CWGC: Your Relative's Grave Explained •  USA Flygirls •  Axis Awards Descriptions •  'Lack Of Moral Fibre'
Concept of Colonial Discrimination  •  Unauthorised First Long Range Mustang Attack
RAAF Bomb Aimer Evades with Maquis •  SOE Heroine Nancy Wake •  Fane: Motor Racing PRU Legend
Acknowledgements
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.
Click any image to enlarge it

Click to add your info via ticket on Helpdesk •Click to let us know via ticket on Helpdesk• Click to explore the entire site
If you would like to comment on this page, please do so via our Helpdesk. Use the Submit a Ticket option to send your comments. After review, our Editors will publish your comment below with your first name, but not your email address.

A word from the Editor: your contribution is important. We welcome your comments and information. Thanks in advance.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior permission.
© Aircrew Remembered 2012 - 2025
Last Modified: 26 March 2021, 17:16

Monitor Additions/Changes?Click to be informed of changes to this page. Create account for first monitor only, thereafter very fast. Click to close without creating monitor