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Operation: Training
Date: 09th April 1943 (Friday)
Unit: No. Central Gunnery School. 25 Group
Type: Spitfire IIa
Serial: P7678
Code: -
Base: RAF Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire
Location: Tholomas Drove
Pilot: F/O. Gordon Griffith Thomas NZ/403999 RNZAF Age 25. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
Whilst practising stern attacks on a Wellington some 10 miles southwest of Wisbech.
The Spitfire dived vertically into the ground at Tholomas Drove and caught fire, killing the pilot.
It is thought that the pilot blacked out after entering the dive.
Burial and other details:
F/O. Gordon Griffith Thomas. Sutton Bridge (St Matthew) Churchyard. Sec. P. Grave 44. Born on the 13th of March 1918 in Te Awamutu. Educated at Auckland Grammar School. A chart clothing cutter for Cambridge Clothing Factory Limited in Auckland. Enlisted at Levin as a pilot under training on the 27th of October 1940. With No. 2 Elementary Flying Training School on the 23rd November 1940. No. 3 Service Flying Training School 18th January 1941. Mid-air collision with another on the 04th March 1941, pilot uninjured (1). The pilot badge was awarded on the 10th March 1941 and promoted to sergeant on the 12th of April 1941.
Embarked for England on the 29th of April 1941. With No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre 29th June 1941. 61 Operational Training Unit 30th September 1941 for training on the Spitfire. 603 squadron on the 19th of November where he carried out 9 operational sorties. 486 squadron on the 09th March 1942, 112 operational sorties. commissioned on the 22nd of May 1942. Attached to Central Gunnery School for instructor training 15th March 1943. Credited with 1 e/a destroyed and 1 shared destroyed. 604 flying hours logged with 75 on the Spitfire. 121 operational sorties completed.
Son of Thomas Dalrymple Thomas (died 20th October 1931, age 54) and Elizabeth Mason Thomas (née Gordon) of Epsom, Auckland, New Zealand
(1) Hind II NZ1507 flown by LAC. Evan Roy Archer also with 3 SFTS, LAC Archer lost his life but LAC Thomas made a forced landing and was uninjured. Further details here.
Above L-R: On wing; R.D Fairbrother, K.K Moore (both ground crew).
Standing; Vaughan Charles Fittall NZ/411873, Leslie Vincent Weir NZ/412294 ✞, Keith Granville Taylor-Cannon NZ/412284 ✞, Arthur Ernest Umbers NZ/494003 ✞, C.L.C Roberts (Commanding Officer), Harvey Nelson Sweetman NZ/40992, Gerald Edmond Rawson NZ/40493 ✞, Norman Edward Preston NZ/41937 ✞, Roderick Herbert Fitzgibbon NZ/411874 ✞, Brian Connatt Thompson NZ/412285, Arthur John Woodgate NZ/412300 ✞.
Front; T. Ness (Adjutant), Howard Charles Saward NZ/411943 ✞, Gordon Griffith Thomas NZ/403999 ✞, Charles Norman Gall NZ/411492, Frank Murphy NZ/411928, Ian Dousland Waddy NZ/402915, Leo Walker NZ/412290, Raymond Ignatius Phillips NZ/402893 ✞, Robert James Dall NZ/41535 ✞.
Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot, thanks to the extensive research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Auckland Library Heritage Collection, Weekly News of New Zealand, Air Museum of New Zealand, Museum of Transport and Technology, Auckland, other sources as quoted below:
KTY 22-08-2022
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Last Modified: 22 August 2022, 21:44