LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Norman Leslie THOMAS
Service No: 407013
Born: Kapunda SA, 4 February 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 29 April 1940
Unit: No. 31 Squadron, Coomalie Creek NT
Died: Air Operations (No. 31 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft A19-67), Timor, 19 January 1943, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Hermann Julius Thomas and Eily Thomas, of Kapunda, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Kapunda SA
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On 19 January 1943, A19-67 was engaged in strafing operations between Bacau and Beaco in Portuguese Timor and is believed to have hit a mountain during low cloud conditions. The crew members of A19-67 were:
Pilot Officer Norman Leslie Thomas (407013) (Pilot)
Sergeant Donald Laurie Van Nooten (13981) (Navigator)
The pilots of other aircraft engaged in the operation were:
Flying Officer Kenneth William Frazer Blundell (260777) (A19-16) Killed in an aircraft accident: 17 August 1945
Flying Officer (later Flight Lieutenant) James Timothy Kearney DFC (400091) (A19-66) Discharged from the RAAF: 8 January 1946
Wing Commander (later Air Marshal Sir) Charles Frederick Read KBE CB DFC AFC (A19-72) Discharged from the RAAF: 20 March 1975
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 14
Bibliography:
Parnell, N.M. (Neville M.) Whispering Death: A history of the RAAF’s Beaufighter Squadrons, AH & AW Reed Terry Hills NSW, 1980
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990