LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Harold Classen THOMPSON
Service No: 401864
Born: Latrobe TAS, 1 December 1908
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 April 1941 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 12 Squadron (RAF), RAF Wickenby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 12 Squadron Wellington aircraft BJ776), North West Europe, 26 September 1942, Aged 33Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George T. and Caroline A. Thompson; husband of Roma Anne Thompson, of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Caulfield VIC
Remembered: Panel 111, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington BJ776 of 12 Squadron took off from RAF Station Wickenby at 7.30 pm on 26 September 1942 to carry out a sea mining mission in German territorial waters in the Kiel Bay area. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1948 that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of BJ776 were:
Flight Sergeant Jack Bruce Harden (411320) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Phillip Rossiter Mitchell (406812) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Alwyn Charles Rich (403375) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Harold Classen Thompson (401864) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Jack Stratford Ward (402989) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/166/262