LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Thomas James BURGESS
Service No: 409663
Born: Heatherton VIC, 23 October 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 10 October 1941
Unit: No. 207 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Spilsby
Died: Air Operations: (No. 207 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND564), France, 21 April 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Clichy Northern Cemetery, Hauts-de-Seine, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frederick James Burgess and Josephine Margaret Burgess, of Mentone, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Mentone VIC
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2212 hours on the night of 20 April1944 Lancaster ND564 took off from Spilsby detailed to bomb railway yards at La Chapelle, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was lost and six of the crew were killed and one evaded capture.
The crew members of ND564 were:
Pilot Officer Thomas James Burgess (409663) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Derrick Roy Dearman DFC (161700) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Pilot Officer Donald Everton Fonseca (J/85529) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant H W Moss (1339161) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber) Evaded capture
Sergeant Michael O’Connor (1852461) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Robert Calderwood Robinson (1037933) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Edward Noble Smith (1211031) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/94/300