LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Allen Benjamin THOMAS
Service No: 429069
Born: Broadmeadow NSW, 13 October 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 October 1942
Unit: No. 1668 Conversion Unit (RAF), RAF Station Bottesford
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1668 Conversion Unit Lancaster aircraft LM619), Lincolnshire, 15 January 1945, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Oxford (Botley) Cemetery, Oxfordshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George William and Muriel Millicent Thomas; husband of Gladys Florence Thomas, of Hamilton, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Hamilton NSW
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1820 hours on 15 January 1945, Lancaster LM619 took off from Bottesford for night bombing practice. The aircraft crashed at 2039 hours at Westborough, Lincolnshire. Six of the crew members were killed and one was injured. The aircraft was returning from the bombing detail and overshot the landing approach successfully. Visibility of 1,200 yards was poor at the airfield. The aircraft made another circuit to come around and land and just after calling control from the “downwind” position, the aircraft crashed colliding with a large tree after first impact.
The crew members of LM619 were:
Sergeant G F Ashby (1629627) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner) Injured
Sergeant Dennis Gilbert Burn (1251125) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant John Gordon Hazelden (1623968) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Cyril Reuben Clifford Mann (1586368) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant James Rawlinson (2218660) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Allen Benjamin Thomas (429069) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Ivan Lindsay Vinall Thompson (429081) (Pilot)
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, 166/39/442