LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Albert Edward THOMAS
Service No: 415697
Born: Hawthorn VIC, 13 September 1909
Enlisted in the RAAF: 7 December 1941 (at Perth WA)
Unit: No. 156 Squadron (RAF), RAF Upwood, Cambridgeshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 156 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND349), Germany, 23 April 1944, Aged 34 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Edward George and Ellen Maud Thomas; husband of Phyllis Thomas, of South Perth, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Lancaster ND349 took off from RAF Upwood at 2120 hours on the night of 22 April 1944, detailed to bomb Dusseldorf, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire at 19,000 feet and crashed in the target area. Four crew members were killed and three became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of ND349 were:
Warrant Officer J Higgs (1334188) (RAFVR) (Pilot) PoW
Sergeant Maurice Fowler (1623556) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Derek John Chase (175174) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Warrant Officer Alfred Edward Thomas (415697) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant W R Parissien (1389267) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner) PoW
Sergeant G F Woodhead (962733) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner) PoW
Sergeant William Albert Webb (1890518) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/39/266