LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Herbert James THOMSON
Service No: 401470
Born: Rochester VIC, 9 April 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 February 1941
Unit: No. 12 Squadron (RAF), RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 12 Squadron Wellington aircraft Z8644), Germany, 9 September 1942, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Herbert James Stewart Thomson and Alice Elizabeth Thomson, of Echuca, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Echuca VIC
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington Z8644 took off from RAF Binbrook at 2031 hours on the night of 8/9th September 1942 to bomb Frankfurt, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. It was later established that the aircraft crashed at Nackenheim on the east bank of the Rhine, 11 kms south south east of Mainz, Germany and all crew members were killed.
The crew members of Z8644 were:
Sergeant William Charles Budd (1262254) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Howard Flavell (951190) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Ronald Gerard McCauley (405452) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Charles Henry Doyle Moseley (406574) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Herbert James Thomson (401470) (Navigator)
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, 163/58/93